Articles

Our Marriott Courtyard Hotel Grand Opening

by Ed Barriskill (President, Co-founder)

In September 2008 we began construction on our new Marriott Courtyard Hotel (New Braunfels River Village) in New Braunfels, Texas. For those who are unfamiliar with our project, we built a 125 room Marriott Courtyard Hotel on H.W. 35 in New Braunfels. The hotel sits in a beautiful area, surrounded by 100 year old Pecan trees and right on the Guadalupe River. The River has an unusual color to it, it is an amazing aqua! The Pecan trees tower over the four story hotel which gives it a pleasant, tranquil feeling. From the balcony of your room there is a view of the pool, the attractive grounds and the Guadalupe river. While I was there, I watched as people water skied and kayaked up and down the river.

According to the Marriott Hotel Chain, the first three months of operation have set an “all time record” for the most revenue earned!

Never have they had a hotel that has done so well and attracted so many guests in it’s opening months, which is especially impressive since we are in recessionary times. According to the comments from the guests that stayed there, not only do they intend on returning, but have told many friends and family members. I believe much of the credit goes to the management, because they really made all of us feel very welcome and are dedicated to making everyone’s stay enjoyable. To say the least, the Marriott chain and our investors who are owners in the hotel, are incredibly happy with their investment.

On September 8th, 2009 we had our “Grand Opening” for the investors who own the hotel. The Grand Opening was certainly a outstanding evening to remember. The Oldham Goodwin (our management company) arranged a delicious dinner and festivities for us, as well as the many guests they invited.

The next day I took the group of investors to College Station (a two hour drive from the Hotel) to view the seven commercial properties we own and manage. It was a nice drive to College Station as we traveled through wide open ranges and cattle ranches. While we were in College Station we were able to see University Park Plaza (30,000 sq. ft. office complex), Southwood Business Center (office complex of 25,000 sq. ft.), three of our other Retail Centers (10,000 to 27,000 sq. ft) , and two apartment complexes; Brazos Point Apartments (134 units) and a our newest acquisition, Hunters Point (112 units). All of our properties are class “A” or class “B” and in excellent locations. Since most of the investors who viewed the properties are investors in at least one or more of these projects, I know it was important to them to actually visit them.

We also dropped by the Oldham Goodwin Group (our property manager and commercial real estate brokers office), visited with Casey Oldham and met his team of professionals. We all found it interesting that each employee either is a student or a graduate of Texas A & M University. Casey’s entire team consists of 156 employees. Casey then took all of us to C&J’s BBQ for lunch. C&J’s is the best BBQ place in College Station, not to mention, also a tenant of ours! At anyone time, there was no less than 15 people waiting in line to order.

We all had a wonderful time. It is a magnificent hotel and will be an excellent investment for many years to come. For Kathy and I, we feel very honored to be a part of the Marriott Courtyard Hotel.

Ed Barriskill (co-founder 37th Parallel Properties)

PS – Enjoy some pictures of this magnificent property ==>

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