Post by wildre on May 16, 2006 17:17:07 GMT -5
From Todays Inquire
Monica Yant Kinney | Save a Doo Wop - book a room
By Monica Yant Kinney
Inquirer Columnist
There are worse ways for the Wildwoods to start the summer tourist season than having the National Trust for Historic Preservation declare the Doo Wop motels among the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in America - but not many.
Sure, it's great people are rallying behind the architecturally intriguing 1950s-era motels that line the island.
Reminiscing is sweet, but talk is cheap. If you really want to save the past, book a
"People need to make money," explains Dan MacElrevey, a property manager who runs the local Doo Wop Preservation League (www.doowopusa.org). "We can't do tours of motels that aren't there anymore."
Well, they could. Only that tour would have to stop at all the dusty construction sites where boring-but-big condo developments gobbled up quirky little neon nuggets for lunch.
That's the fine line they're cruising in the Wildwoods in 2006.
Can a seaside resort be historic and current - and still authentic?
Can you cater both to affluent baby boomers and to frugal families?
In this era of excess, can a mom-and-pop motel earn as much by staying put as it would selling out?
Time isn't the enemy. Luxury is.
From North Wildwood to the Crest, opulence has flooded the market.
Granite countertops. Tubs built for 10. Great rooms the size of Sweden.
Let the good times roll
Not far from the Tangiers Motel (1964, No. 57 on the Doo Wop tour), the forthcoming Ocean Walk condos promise penthouses with not one but two private balconies.
New construction is WiFi. Back at MacElrevey's office, he's still trying to persuade some of the Doo Wop motel owners to offer online reservations.
That's hard with some small businesses," he laments. But it's what the modern traveler expects.
The 90 or so Doo Wop motels still in business are independently owned operations with 25 to 60 units. Most are modest, their biggest draw being free beaches, the boardwalk, kitsch and kitchenettes.
To stay afloat, the Doo Woppers need to find ways to tap into the convention market, extend their season, and raise rates - whatever it takes to fend off developers.
For the Caribbean (1950, No. 73 on the tour), the answer has come in the form of new owners - a pair of nostalgic Washington lawyers - and a loving restoration complete with green carpet, grass wallpaper, leopard couches, and a tiki bar in the swinging cabana.
"This place was at a standstill when they took over," says Penny Bucsek, who manages the 29-room motel.
And while the budget was somewhat modest - think aesthetics, not additions - it's already paying off.
"We've been full the last two weekends," Bucsek says, dashing to check in a couple in town for a car show.
They have fuzzy dice dangling from the rearview mirror of a pampered 1964 Ford Galaxie. Clearly, they're in the right place.
When Doo Wop goes glam
A dozen blocks away, the Shalimar Motel (1962, No. 50 on the tour) is undergoing a more extreme fight for its life.
The new old Shalimar has 60 modernized rooms with Jacuzzi tubs, central air, flat-screen TVs, and wireless DSL service for vacationers who want to check e-mail while gazing at plastic palm trees and period fencing.
The renovations include an elevator, a fitness center, a kitchen for weddings, a sauna and spa facilities.
Yes, it is now possible to get a massage in a Doo Wop motel.
"We're never going to be the Taj Mahal, but the times have changed," owner Maria Tenaglia tells me as we tour the grounds.
"People are more savvy. They want what they have at home - only better. We have to keep up."
When the Tenaglias bought the Shalimar in 2002, the most they could charge for a room in the high season was $125. This year, it's $325 - and they already have bookings for 2007.
When guests enter the lobby, they'll stand under lamps salvaged from Doo Wop trash bins, in front of a "museum wall" decorated with old keys, and know they're renting a piece of history - with vacancies as long as history can afford the stay.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Monica Yant Kinney at 856-779-3914 or myant@phillynews.com. Read her recent work at go.philly.com/yantkinney.
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/columnists/14587451.htm
Monica Yant Kinney | Save a Doo Wop - book a room
By Monica Yant Kinney
Inquirer Columnist
There are worse ways for the Wildwoods to start the summer tourist season than having the National Trust for Historic Preservation declare the Doo Wop motels among the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in America - but not many.
Sure, it's great people are rallying behind the architecturally intriguing 1950s-era motels that line the island.
Reminiscing is sweet, but talk is cheap. If you really want to save the past, book a
"People need to make money," explains Dan MacElrevey, a property manager who runs the local Doo Wop Preservation League (www.doowopusa.org). "We can't do tours of motels that aren't there anymore."
Well, they could. Only that tour would have to stop at all the dusty construction sites where boring-but-big condo developments gobbled up quirky little neon nuggets for lunch.
That's the fine line they're cruising in the Wildwoods in 2006.
Can a seaside resort be historic and current - and still authentic?
Can you cater both to affluent baby boomers and to frugal families?
In this era of excess, can a mom-and-pop motel earn as much by staying put as it would selling out?
Time isn't the enemy. Luxury is.
From North Wildwood to the Crest, opulence has flooded the market.
Granite countertops. Tubs built for 10. Great rooms the size of Sweden.
Let the good times roll
Not far from the Tangiers Motel (1964, No. 57 on the Doo Wop tour), the forthcoming Ocean Walk condos promise penthouses with not one but two private balconies.
New construction is WiFi. Back at MacElrevey's office, he's still trying to persuade some of the Doo Wop motel owners to offer online reservations.
That's hard with some small businesses," he laments. But it's what the modern traveler expects.
The 90 or so Doo Wop motels still in business are independently owned operations with 25 to 60 units. Most are modest, their biggest draw being free beaches, the boardwalk, kitsch and kitchenettes.
To stay afloat, the Doo Woppers need to find ways to tap into the convention market, extend their season, and raise rates - whatever it takes to fend off developers.
For the Caribbean (1950, No. 73 on the tour), the answer has come in the form of new owners - a pair of nostalgic Washington lawyers - and a loving restoration complete with green carpet, grass wallpaper, leopard couches, and a tiki bar in the swinging cabana.
"This place was at a standstill when they took over," says Penny Bucsek, who manages the 29-room motel.
And while the budget was somewhat modest - think aesthetics, not additions - it's already paying off.
"We've been full the last two weekends," Bucsek says, dashing to check in a couple in town for a car show.
They have fuzzy dice dangling from the rearview mirror of a pampered 1964 Ford Galaxie. Clearly, they're in the right place.
When Doo Wop goes glam
A dozen blocks away, the Shalimar Motel (1962, No. 50 on the tour) is undergoing a more extreme fight for its life.
The new old Shalimar has 60 modernized rooms with Jacuzzi tubs, central air, flat-screen TVs, and wireless DSL service for vacationers who want to check e-mail while gazing at plastic palm trees and period fencing.
The renovations include an elevator, a fitness center, a kitchen for weddings, a sauna and spa facilities.
Yes, it is now possible to get a massage in a Doo Wop motel.
"We're never going to be the Taj Mahal, but the times have changed," owner Maria Tenaglia tells me as we tour the grounds.
"People are more savvy. They want what they have at home - only better. We have to keep up."
When the Tenaglias bought the Shalimar in 2002, the most they could charge for a room in the high season was $125. This year, it's $325 - and they already have bookings for 2007.
When guests enter the lobby, they'll stand under lamps salvaged from Doo Wop trash bins, in front of a "museum wall" decorated with old keys, and know they're renting a piece of history - with vacancies as long as history can afford the stay.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Monica Yant Kinney at 856-779-3914 or myant@phillynews.com. Read her recent work at go.philly.com/yantkinney.
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/columnists/14587451.htm
