Costa Mesa-based Tarsadia Hotels is building two new hotels in Garden Grove and San Diego and has acquired another one in Las Vegas. 

The new hotels are the first in four years for Tarsadia and come as most hotel developers are holding back on new projects as they await a travel rebound. Rendering of Garden Grove hotel: set for summer opening (right). 

Tarasadia made another move this month when it converted the downtown Los Angeles Wyndham Checkers to a Hilton�the first Hilton in downtown in 10 years. 

The hotels being built by Tarsadia are slated to be Residence Inns, said David E. Zeuske, the company�s executive vice president.

They reflect a company focus on midsize hotels in the limited-service segment. 

Limited-service hotels are smaller than full-service counterparts and don�t have onsite restaurants or much meeting space. 

�It�s designed for both the business and leisure traveler,� Zeuske said. 
In Garden Grove, the 200-room Residence Inn, adjacent to Tarsadia�s Hyatt Regency Orange County, is expected to open in the summer. It will be the fifth hotel owned or operated by Tarsadia near the Disneyland Resort and the Anaheim Convention Center. 

Besides the Hyatt, Tarsadia owns the Anaheim Marriott, Portofino Inn & Suites and Jolly Roger. 

Residence Inns fill with business travelers during the week, leaving them open for leisure guests on the weekends, Zeuske said. 

A second Residence Inn is being built at Mission Valley�s Hotel Circle, where Tarsadia has owned various hotels for 20 years. The 192-room San Diego hotel is set to open early next year. 

Tarsadia owns or operates five other hotels in the area: the Comfort Inn & Suites at Hotel Circle, Comfort Suites Mission Valley, Comfort Inn & Suites Hotel Circle, Holiday Inn Mission Bay and Doubletree Club (formerly the Regency Plaza). 

The Residence Inns are set to feature four types of suites, including studio, one- and two-bedroom units and kid suites. Suites are designed for long-term business travelers or budget-conscious vacationers, with kitchens, high-speed Internet access and desks. 

There also are complimentary breakfast buffets and hospitality hours. Each hotel has 1,000 square feet of meeting space for small groups up to 35 people. 

In November, Tarsadia bought its first hotel in Las Vegas. 

The 201-room Crowne Plaza Las Vegas is on South Paradise Boulevard between McCarran International Airport and the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

The hotel doesn�t have a casino. The company hopes that will make it attractive to meeting planners looking to minimize distractions during their events, Zeuske said. 

The buy fits Tarsadia�s strategy of buying underperforming hotels and trying to turn them into profitable ones. 

�We always buy distressed properties,� Chairman Tushar Patel said. 

Tarsadia has its own reservation system, database and online marketing and works with other online services for Internet bookings. That lets the company make quick adjustments after buying a hotel, Zeuske said. 

�We can convert a hotel to our systems in two weeks,� he said. 

The company also has teamed with other investors in an $11 million deal in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, near the San Diego Convention Center and the new baseball stadium. Zeuske said it was premature to discuss specific plans for the property. 

Meanwhile, the company has converted its downtown Los Angeles Wyndham Checkers to a Hilton, effective Dec. 2. The hotel got a $4 million facelift as part of the conversion. 

Though small by convention standards�it has just 188 rooms�Checkers is a popular upscale hotel with business travelers and some conventioneers. 
In addition to room renovations, the restaurant was redesigned and renamed the Checkers Downtown Restaurant and Bar. A private dining area was added for groups of up to 16 people. The hotel has 3,275 square feet of meeting space. 

�The 30- to 50-person corporate meeting is what will get 100% of our (marketing) attention,� Zeuske said. 

Counting the Residence Inns and Crowne Plaza, Tarsadia owns or operates 20 hotels with roughly 4,500 rooms. The company, owned by the Patel family, counts yearly sales of about $200 million. 

The Patels are natives of Singgod, India, about 10 miles from the village of Tarsadia. The family moved to Africa when Chairman Tushar Patel was 2. 
His father, B.U. Patel, started a garment business in Zambia, the proceeds of which helped the family move in 1976 to Orange County and buy the family�s first hotel�the 20-room Dunes Motel in Anaheim. 
 

Sandi Cain is copy editor and a staff reporter covering hospitality,tourism, travel and sports. Cain holds bachelor�s and master�s degrees in education from Kent State University in Ohio, where she majored in social studies. A former high school teacher, she has written for niche-market sports publications in the U.S., England and Australia and formerly worked in both the printing and high-tech industries. A Cleveland, Ohio native, Cain hasbeen a resident of Laguna Beach since the late �70s. She enjoys travel, gardening, reading and spoiling her three cats.