Apr. 18, 2003 - It was the Adam's Mark. 

It is the Park Vista. 

It will be the Memphis Hilton. 

The 27-story, 408-room reflective glass hotel tower on Ridge Lake Boulevard in East Memphis and the connected buildings are slated to undergo $12 million in renovations. 

Davidson Hotel Co. of Memphis, which bought the hotel April 1 from St. Louis-based Adam's Mark Hotels and Resorts, is launching the improvements. 

"They're going to do a much better job of making it work (than Adam's Mark)," said Chuck Pinkowski, president of Pinkowski & Co., a Memphis-based consultant to the hospitality industry. 

The first change was the name: Park Vista. That gives the property some recognition, especially among Tennesseeans, since Davidson's owns the Park Vista Hotel Resort in Gatlinburg, Tenn., said Robert H. Mercer, general manager of the Park Vista in Memphis. 

"It's an interim change until early in '04, when we will become a Memphis Hilton," Mercer said. 

To get to that point, Davidson will spend money renovating rooms, the main entrance and meeting room level and fixing up the outside of the building, although the trademark tower will retain its look, Mercer said. 

Parking lots are being repaved and that should be completed today, he said. 

That's a project two years overdue, and it is a good example of Davidson's commitment to the property that should make the venture successful, Pinkowski said. 

The inside work should start in late summer or early fall and be done by the end of the first quarter of next year, Mercer said. 

Meanwhile, the Park Vista will be a Hilton affiliate, allowing people to use the Hilton reservation system to book rooms and get frequent traveler points from the hotel chain. 

Hilton "is an excellent brand," Mercer said. "It's recognizable to Memphis customers, it speaks of quality, which we certainly intend it to have, and it's a natural fit with the other Hilton family of brands." 

Embassy Suites, Hampton Inns and Homewood Suites, all Hilton brands, have properties in the Park Vista's area and a Doubletree hotel is projected to open nearby early next year. 

The Hilton name is much more powerful than Adam's Mark from an identity standpoint, Pinkowski said. 

Although it may take two years for the positive effect to show, the revamped hotel will have a positive impact on the East Memphis market without adding rooms, he said. 

Davidson should be able to increase occupancy and room rates and other hotels in the area won't have to complete with the property based on price as they did when the hotel was in Adam's Marks' hands, Pinkowski said. 

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(c) 2003, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. HLT,