LOUISVILLE, Ky. — (LBF) A Jeffersontown hotel with a troubled financial past will be divided into separate hotels under a new rebranding plan that could cost between $10 million and $15 million.
Mavtar LLC, the new owners of the nearly 400-room Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Louisville Hotel & Conference Center at 9700 Bluegrass Parkway, plans to demolish some of the hotel's rooms and fully renovate the property under two flags.
The hotel was built as a Ramada Inn in 1972 on the edge of what was then called Bluegrass Research and Industrial Park. It has undergone several flag changes since and was a Clarion Hotel and Conference Center until it lost that affiliation in 2008.
Mavtar LLC is led by Ashokkumar Patel, Sam Patel and Perry Patel, three business partners who have an extensive backgrounds in the construction and hospitality industries. Between the three of them, they own multiple hotels in Kentucky, including several in Elizabethtown.
They purchased the Louisville hotel in November from Executive Hotel LLC, a group of local doctors, for $6.2 million, according to Jefferson County property records.
With the renovations, the Ramada Plaza name will remain but be downsized to about 110 rooms. And the group is in talks to establish Radisson Hotel with as many 195 rooms in part of the existing property. The remaining rooms on site will be demolished to create new parking.
“They have been the most aggressive” hotel group the partners have spoken to, Ashokkumar Patel said of the Radisson brand.
The project could take as long as two and a half years to complete. The company hopes to start soon on a complete remodel of the Ramada Plaza’s guest rooms and amenities, and an indoor pool on the site might be removed. Ashokkumar Patel said the group is in discussions to replace the pool with a new fitness center.
The Spot, a full-service restaurant that offers traditional American cuisine, recently opened in the Ramada Plaza and is staying put as part of the renovation. Ashokkumar Patel also said the Ramada Plaza will remain open during the renovations to protect the roughly 40 jobs on site.
“We didn’t want anyone to become unemployed,” he said.
The partners hope to finish the bulk of the Ramada renovations in time for the 2019 Kentucky Derby.
