by Luxury.Net
Good news for the travelers. The luxury Covington City Hall will be transformed into a $25 million luxury boutique hotel, according to the sources. It has been revealed that the Salyers Group is partnering with Aparium Hotel Group and the city of Covington to turn the 102-year-old building into The Hotel Covington, a 107-room hotel with a first floor bar and restaurant. Mayor Chuck Scheper has commented that, “This project will help transform all of Covington.” As well as the hotel officials expect the hotel could be ready to receive guests by mid-2014.
Guy van Rooyen, president of Salyers Group and son-in-law of Covington entrepreneurs Jim and Donna Salyers, said the hotel will feed off of the event business from the Madison Event Center and the Madison Avenue Wedding Mall, which draw 100,000 people and 500 events a year to Covington. Those events are responsible for about 3,500 hotel room nights a year, van Rooyen said. But the developers see the hotel as more than meeting the needs of those coming to events in Covington.
Mario Tricoci, who is the CEO of Aparium Hotel, has proclaimed that, “It is destined to be the pulse of the city, and perhaps, the region.” Mario also added that, “There’s no property like what we’re conceiving.” With offices in Chicago and Milwaukee, Aparium Hotel is a hospitality company that manages the Iron Horse Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. The partners, Tricoci, Kevin Robinson, and Tim Dixon, also developed and managed the Elysian Hotel Chicago, now known as the Waldorf Astoria Chicago. Mario Tricoci also disclosed that the bar and restaurant will be a key part of the hotel’s operations. He expects 35 percent to 45 percent of the hotel’s revenue to come from food and beverage sales. The entire first floor of the building will be dedicated to dining, meeting and lounge space.
