News
Business is booming for hotels this week
Augusta Chronicle, April 5, 2010Hotel rooms are hard to come by in town this week -- and many hotels are sold out -- as golf fans come to Augusta in droves.
Each of Jugal Purohit's five hotels are booked solid. He owns the Staybridge Suites, Country Inn & Suites, Best Western Garden City Inn and Suites, Days Inn and Suites and Ramada Inn.
Three weeks ago, the hotels were only 92 to 94 percent occupied, and Mr. Purohit attributes the final jump in business to Tiger Woods' comeback.
The Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau won't have final numbers for several weeks, but local hotels appear to be doing well this year, said president and CEO Barry White.
"We don't expect anything to be different from last year or the year before. Patterns are, from what I've heard, a little bit softer on the Sunday at the beginning of the tournament, but the tournament days and throughout the rest of the week, it sounds like everybody is pretty well booked up," White said.
- Empire Tickets Rolls Out the Most Affordable Corporate Masters Golf Tournament and Custom Hospitality Packages in Six Years
PNR Newswire, Atlanta, March 18, 2009Empire Tickets will offer hospitality all seven days of the event through Club Magnolia, the newest hospitality facility in Augusta. The club is just steps away from Augusta National and will offer a five star menu, three bars, a business center, a full time concierge, on-site masseuse, and a cigar patio.
"We pride ourselves on offering the most comprehensive corporate sports entertainment packages in the industry. We have earned the trust of many Fortune 100 and 500 companies, with personalized customer service, preferred pricing, and more than sixteen years as a leader in the ticket industry," says Robbi Raitt, President and Founder. "This year, with the recession, it will be one of the most affordable years to attend this historic event. We are seeing prices the lowest that they have been in many years."
Masters 2009 will be one for the ages, with the return of Tiger Woods and great prices on badges, hospitality, housing and more.
"This is the year for golf enthusiasts, who have never gone to the Masters because of price, to have a rare opportunity to attend one of golf's greatest tournaments," says Jugal Purohit, President of Purohit Holdings Hotel Group.
- Area Hotels Are Not Ailing in Downturn
Augusta Chronicle, March 15, 2009Hotels in Columbia County maintained a 67 percent occupancy rate last year, said county Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Beda Johnson.
Jugal Purohit, a managing partner at several local hotels, explained that Richmond County's occupancy rate was an average of all hotels. That includes new and old hotels and brand-name and "mom-and-pop" locations. "Our hotels are all brand names. Last year, we were doing pretty much 64 to 65 percent," Mr. Purohit said. His hotels include Staybridge Suites, Garden City Inn, Ramada Inn, Days Inn and Suites, and Country Inn and Suites.
Mr. Purohit said: "For the Masters, all the hotels are pretty much booked more than 90 percent average as of right now. Some hotels are pretty much jam-packed and some are about 85 percent." Mr. Purohit is getting ready to build a Four Points by Sheraton on Sherwood Drive. "New hotels are going to generate pretty much the same kind of revenue, whereas old hotels have slowdowns and have a little bit of a tough time to sell the room for a premium price. Newer hotels can demand the same kind of money they've been demanding for the last two or three years," Mr. Purohit said. Most of his hotels are less than 3 years old.
- Masters Week business could go into the rough.
Augusta Chronicle, Saturday, February 15, 2009Some local caterers, hoteliers and others in the hospitality industry are expecting at least a 10 percent decrease in business for the first full week in April because of the uncertain economic times.
Jugal Purohit, who owns five area hotels, including Country Inn and Suites and Ramada Inn, said his corporate client business during the Masters is taking a big hit. He said bookings for his hotels for the practice rounds are way down. "Our corporate America people are just sending out their people for the main tournament," Mr. Purohit said. "They're cutting costs left and right, so the Masters is a part of that."
- High-end lodging planned - Hotelier builds on Washington Road.
Augusta Chronicle, December 9, 2006The city could soon be looking at a handful of high-end hotels and a small convention center just off of Washington Road. Construction has begun on a $9 million, 95-room Staybridge Suites extended-stay hotel on Center West Parkway that will be finished by November 2007. The project is being developed by Augusta hotelier Jugal Purohit, who in September opened a 40,000-square-foot, 65-room Country Inn & Suites on an adjacent parcel. Mr. Purohit said he also plans to build on another adjacent 10 acres a 14,500-square-foot convention center and a $10 million, 95-room Radisson-branded hotel. Those projects, if built, would complement his existing cluster of hotels near the busy intersection, including the Best Western Garden City and AmeriHost Inn - the latter of which is being rebranded as a Ramada.
It might seem like a large concentration of hotels, but Mr. Purohit said his more than $40 million investment will pull hotel customers seeking high-end lodging back from Columbia County and other areas.
- Hotel staffers are prepared to meet golf guests' needs.
Augusta Chronicle, April 2, 2006Two hotels stand 1.4 miles from the front gate of Augusta National Golf Club. So close to the action, they've been sold out since October.Best Western Garden City Inn and Amerihost Inn & Suites total more than 120 rooms. This year will be chockfull of international guests paying $300 to $355 a night, General Manager Jasmine Shah said. The hotels, though lacking a bar, have a happy hour with complimentary beer, snacks and sodas all week in the lounge, where continental breakfasts normally are served, Ms. Shah said.
While owner, Mr. Jugal Purohit's staff finishes prepping for Masters 2006, he already has next year's Masters Tournament on the mind. By that time, he will have an additional 157 rooms at his hotel complex with the opening of a Country Inn & Suites and a Staybridge Suites next door to his current hotels. Masters attendees will receive brochures for these hotels for next year. And the planning begins again.
- Older hotels upgrade amid construction of new ones.
Augusta Chronicle, October 15, 2005Augusta hotelier Jugal Purohit said next year he will build two hotels next to his existing Best Western Garden City and the Amerihost Inn, both off Washington Road. "Augusta is not overcrowded with hotels," he said. "We are overcrowded by the number of hotel rooms. But the number of quality rooms is very small."
- Owner will build two new hotels.
Augusta Chronicle, September 15, 2005By March 15, a Country Inns & Suites franchise will be built on Center West Parkway near Washington Road, owner Jugal Purohit said. Mr. Purohit also is planning to open another, unnamed franchise next year. Both hotels will house about 60 rooms and will be more than 30,000 square feet each. The hotels represent a $7 million investment and will create about 34 jobs, he said. When completed, the hotels will make up half of the owner's "plaza," which includes the similar-size Best Western Garden City Inn and the Amerihost Inn, which are near Washington Road and Center West Parkway.
- Many Hotel Rooms Vacant
Augusta Chronicle, April 5, 2005Jugal Purohit, AmeriHost's owner, said he was not surprised that some hotels have vacancies while his hotel is booked solid through the week. "The old hotels have to go," he said. "Customers would rather pay $300 for a new hotel than $225 for an old one."
- Best Western is coming soon.
Augusta Chronicle, November 23, 2004A Best Western Inn & Suites is under construction on Center West Parkway and is expected to open in late March. The $3.5 million hotel is being built on the site of the Guest Inn, previously a Motel 6, that was demolished earlier this year. The 61-room hotel, which will feature an indoor spa, will be the second hotel built on that site and one of a few hotels built along the Washington Road corridor in the past seven years. "I'm trying to bring business back to Washington Road," said Jugal Purohit, the owner of the Best Western and the adjacent AmeriHost Inn, which opened earlier this year.
- Augusta sees influx of hotels as occupancy rate plummets.
Augusta Chronicle, September 11, 2004The old Guest Inn off Washington Road had become a run-down place where crime was as much a part of the landscape as tourists.So Jugal Purohit, the hotel's owner, tore most of it down. "It's always better to take out the bad cancer right away and give a new look to the location," he said. Mr. Purohit is replacing most of the old hotel with two new ones. His AmeriHost Inn is set to open this month, and he'll soon break ground on a four-story, 62-room hotel next door, complete with an indoor swimming pool. Mr. Purohit, for example, is spending about $8 million total to build his two new hotels and renovate the remaining portion of his Guest Inn.
- Washington Road hotel is rebranded.
Augusta Chronicle, August 19, 2004The AmeriHost Inn on Center West Parkway is set to open at the end of the month. The hotel, owned by Jugal Purohit, features 61 rooms and suites with an interior corridor design. The site was previously occupied by the Guest House Inn and Motel 6. Mr. Purohit owns several hotels around Augusta, including the Wingate Inn on Gordon Highway and the Best Western Augusta Inn off Belair Road.
- Businesses hope for post's survival.
Augusta Chronicle, May 28, 2003Whether Jugal Purohit's new Wingate Inn hotel on Gordon Highway can stay in business in coming years should matter to most Augustans.Located just a few miles from Fort Gordon's Gate 1, Mr. Purohit says nearly half the guests at his 64-room hotel are directly tied to goings-on at the military post. And with the specter of another round of nationwide base closures again placing Fort Gordon in Washington's cross-hairs, Mr. Purohit fears the $3.4 million it took to build his hotel could turn into a bad investment.
- Global Tension.
Augusta Chronicle, June 9, 2002Chandra Purohit, who with her husband, Jugal, owns several Augusta hotels, calls her 85-year-old father at least once a week. He lives in Jodhpur, a city in India about 90 miles from the Pakistani border. Tensions between the countries have escalated in the past few weeks to the point that the State Department has urged Americans in Pakistan and India to evacuate. But Mrs. Purohit's father is not American - and he's not going anywhere. "He's not afraid; he's very confident," Mrs. Purohit said. "He said to me, 'The clouds are here, but I don't think it's going to rain."'
- Developer plans hotels.
Augusta Chronicle, May 30, 2002Augusta's 66th hotel is under construction on Gordon Highway near the Bobby Jones Expressway interchange. The same developer will create No. 67 later this year. The two projects, representing a capital investment of $6 million, will result in a 64-room Wingate Inn on Gordon Highway and a 70-room hotel next to the Guest House Inn, formerly the Motel 6, on Center West Parkway, said Jugal Purohit, the developer of the two projects. He said the Center West Parkway project will be either a Holiday Inn Express or a Comfort Suites.
- Businesses keep rates reasonable during storm.
Augusta Chronicle, September 16, 1999"People are coming to us saying they have nowhere to stay -- small children and families,'' said Chandra Purohit, owner of the Travelodge on Washington Road and Best Western on Belair Road. ``We just wanted to help them out.'' Mrs. Purohit has created semi-shelters in the banquet rooms and lobbies of her two hotels and is offering them free of charge to stranded evacuees.
