The Goldbelt Hotel is changing hands again, this time with the backing of a national franchise.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts will reopen the hotel as a Sheraton Four Points on March 23 with reservations starting under the new company on March 31. The move has been confirmed by Starwood’s website and by Goldbelt Hotel employees. Current hotel ownership, YC Riverside Hotel, LLC, declined to comment.
The transition will mean a facelift and a retooling of customer service for the 43-year-old hotel. A retrained staff will run the business under new management and national direction.
“We are going to act different, have a new look, different uniforms,” Goldbelt Hotel assistant manager Oxana Ftadmikova said Tuesday. “It’s not going to be too hard and our staff is not that big. I think it’s going to be pretty smooth.”
These transitions can take time, said Ftadmikova, who has worked for big hotel chains before. Large companies like Starwood require consistency in color schemes, amenities, hotel design and customer service.
The move has been pushed back several times to accommodate branding changes, but Ftadmikova said Goldbelt’s 15 employee staff is feeling “comfortable” with the March rollout date.
“It’s not a surprise, everyone is waiting for it,” Ftadmikova said. The staff is just “working on details” so the new hotel looks like “one family” next to other Sheraton hotels.
McGivney’s Sports Bar and Grill, a restaurant working out of the Goldbelt lobby, stands to benefit from the new ownership, said manager Tucker Wilkins.
“I know it will definitely increase our business because we will start doing room service,” Wilkins said. While restaurant management is still working out the details of a restaurant-hotel agreement, Wilkins said he expects to be delivering room service for breakfast and dinner.
Goldbelt Hotel will continue to manage reservations until March 31. Those booking for dates after that currently need to go through Starwood’s website.
After the reopening, guests will be able to use Sheraton rewards system, which can be used at Marriott hotels in addition to other Starwood properties.
Starwood, acquired by Marriott International in 2016, will be the fourth company to run the hotel.
Built in 1974 as a Hilton, Goldbelt Inc. acquired the hotel in 1997, renaming it after a local gold-rich geological formation. The company — a for-profit Alaska Native corporation — sold the Goldbelt Hotel in 2015 to YC Riverside Hotel, LLC, as part of an ongoing move away from tourism and hospitality.
YC Riverside Hotel, LLC has owned and managed the property since purchasing it from Goldbelt Inc.
• Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 or kevin.gullufsen@juneauempire.com
