BayStar Hotel Group opens Holiday Inn Express in downtown Largo

Two hotels, just a stroll away from meeting and banquet rooms at the Largo Cultural Center.

That's a concept the developer of downtown Largo's first brand-name hotel banked on as it opened a second flag hotel downtown Thursday.

Between both hotels, the new Holiday Inn Express & Suites and the 4-year-old Hampton Inn & Suites, BayStar Hotel Group has invested about $20 million in downtown.

"We think there is a lot of synergy between the two hotels and the cultural center," said George Glover, chairman and chief executive officer of Tampa-based BayStar, which develops, buys and runs hotels throughout the southeastern United States.

A lot of military, business, social and other groups will be able to take advantage of 187 guest rooms at both hotels and meeting space at the cultural center in Largo Central Park, said Glover, who grew up in Largo and is active in the Largo/Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce.

The Holiday Inn Express at 210 Seminole Blvd. is just east of Central Park. The Hampton Inn at 100 East Bay Drive is just north of it.

Seeing opportunities to attract hotel guests and beef up rentals at Largo Central Park facilities, the city and BayStar are working together to market the hotels and park amenities. They've also created a brochure promoting the area that both groups plan to distribute, said Joan Byrne, Largo's recreation, parks and art department director.

Together, meeting rooms at the hotels can accommodate about 200 people. Park facilities, including cultural center and library meeting rooms, can accommodate several hundred more, Byrne said.

The new hotel is opening just as other hotel projects have stalled. A number have succumbed to stagnant finance markets and concerns over waning occupancies.

For the first quarter of the year, Florida's hotel market was down about 27 percent, Glover said. Most of BayStar's hotels were down 15 to 20 percent, and the Hampton Inn in downtown Largo dipped about 10 to 15 percent. Several factors, including market crashes and bank failures, contributed to an overall decline, Glover said.

"Just as we started coming out of it, you had the swine flu," Glover said.

Despite the rocky climate, BayStar's president, Ford Smith, said his company is optimistic. "When times are tough like this, mid-priced hotels are going to do better," Smith said.

Seeing potential in the district, BayStar decided to build its second downtown hotel before someone else did.

"As soon as you're doing well in an area that may be underserved, someone is going to come in there," Smith said. "It's a defensive move as well as an offensive move."

Lorri Helfand can be reached at lorri@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4155.