Feb. 29, 2012--HYANNIS -- The former Radisson Hotel on Route 28 should be renovated and open as a Hilton DoubleTree Inn by late April, the property's owner said Tuesday.

"It's all coming together," owner Stuart Bornstein said of the renovations that started in October.

The number of rooms -- 160 -- will remain the same, he said. But the actual space is being upgraded. Rates for the hotel, at the corner of Ridgewood Avenue, will increase, but Bornstein would not say by how much.

Some of the rooms were still being rented last October as the Radisson, he said, for prior commitments such as weddings.

Bornstein said nearly all of the staff from the previous hotel have stayed on to work at the new facility.

He estimated renovations will end up costing about $7 million, including new furniture, drapes, curtains, bathrooms, lighting and reconfigured space to add conference rooms. The connected restaurant, with new flooring, tables and equipment, is also being refurbished.

The facility's gym, open during renovations, will be upgraded after the hotel work finishes, he said.

Bornstein planned to build a 132-room Hilton Garden Inn two doors over from the then Radisson in 2008. Some nearby residents and civic groups objected to the scale and appearance of the project, so Bornstein withdrew his plans for the property at the corner of Route 28 and Spring Street in September 2009. Instead, the two rundown buildings on the property were razed and replaced with a new retail space for rent. Bornstein said it hasn't been leased yet.

The decision to switch from a Radisson to a Hilton was not related to the failed attempt to build a Hilton Garden Inn nearby, he said.

Bornstein bought the property, a failed time-share project, in the mid-1990s and, after refurbishment, the hotel opened as a Radisson Inn in 1996.

Elizabeth Wurfbain, executive director of the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District, said the changes could draw more people despite the number of rooms staying the same.

"It will definitely help improve the area," she said. "We don't have a lot of hotels with the higher rating."

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