Just ahead of the holiday season, there’s a lot to celebrate at the Holiday Inn Plainview Long Island, which has been acquired by a company that plans to invest in renovating rooms and other facilities.
J Group Corp. has acquired the Holiday Inn Plainview Long Island, an iconic landmark hotel located on the Long Island Expressway Service Road, for $21 million, giving the company its second high-profile hotel along with the Hyatt Wall Street. Laurel Hollow-based J Group Corp., the umbrella company for various companies that own and operate hotels, shopping centers and gas stations, acquired the prime property from Hangtian Capital, a group of hotel owners from China. J Group did the deal with half cash on hand and half financing.
“This hotel has the most convenient location on Long Island,” said J Group Corp President Shudh Parkash Singh.
The 127-room hotel, with the biggest banquet rooms of any Holiday Inn in Nassau County, is located at Exit 46, near companies such as Canon, Geico, Capital One, Bank of America, Mattress Firm, Leviton, and Grumman Studios.
It also includes Bistro 46 restaurant, a sports bar, a 24-hour fitness center, an outdoor swimming pool, cocktail rooms, a banquet hall and free Wi-Fi. In addition to welcoming guests, it hosts corporate conferences, reunions, receptions, celebrations and meetings in its eight meeting rooms totaling 6,572 square feet for up to 200 guests. The facilities include AV equipment and catering, all at a centrally located venue.
The company is investing in improvements on the Holiday Inn as well, with work slated to start after the holidays and be completed by the end of January.
“We are making a lot of changes. We are renovating the restaurant, bar, banquet and meeting space,” Sartag Singh, president of Holiday Inn Plainview and Shudh Parkash’s son, said of the full-service hotel. “Our goal is to give the best amenities to guests out of any hotel on Long Island with the most competitive rates.”
They are also renovating rooms at the hotel on a four-acre property, visible from the Long Island Expressway.
“The rooms will be new with new 65-inch TVs and wine cellars,” Sartag Singh added. “We’re improving the suites, one presidential suite, a bridal suite, four junior suites.”
The centrally located Holiday Inn is used by a large number of business travelers, as well as leisure travelers and family visitors this time of year.
“When it comes to the holidays, and Christmas time, families live nearby,” Sartag Singh continued. “A lot of parents or family members, brothers and sisters stay at the hotel. They have relatives nearby in Plainview, Hicksville, Bethpage and other communities.”
Shudh Parkash Singh said he first saw Holiday Inn Plainview many years ago, and has seen it many times since, due to its location near the Long Island Expressway.
“When I moved to Long Island 35 years ago, I remember on the LIE, I saw this big Holiday Inn sign. I was an immigrant,” Shudh Parkash Singh said. “Every time I went to the city, I passed by it. I saw this sign and admired the location. When this came to us, we acquired it.”
He added that hospitality is a key part of Indian culture, which made the hospitality industry a natural fit.
“Internationally, India is known for its hospitality,” Shudh Parkash Singh added. “We are a culturally hospitable community or ethnic group. This hospitality business naturally attracted us. You’ll see a lot of Indians all across America owning hotels. We love this business.”
The company also developed and owns what they say is the first ethnic South Asian shopping center in the region, the Kunban Mall in Hicksville.
“There was a need for that. There wasn’t any place where you could go and get everything,” Shud Parkash Singh said. “Our vision was to have everything South Asian, Indian, Pakistani, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal. It’s a South Asian shopping center.”
The region is home to a large and growing South Asian population, which has led to numerous stores catering to that community. Shudh Parkash Singh is chairman of the Indian American Business Council.
“This area was developing and already there were a lot of individual Indians stores on Broadway with no parking,” Shud Parkash Singh added. “Our vision was to create something where you find everything under one roof from groceries to jewelry to food, restaurants to clothing.”
The shopping center has five restaurants, clothing stores, salons, and the nation’s biggest Indian supermarket Apana Bazaar as its anchor tenant.
The hotel is already attracting events from Indian companies, such as Tata, an Indian jewelry store holding a trade show there.
They found out the building was available through a broker but had seen it many times before, in part thanks to its large sign visible from the Long Island Expressway.
They are planning a grand opening after the renovation is complete at the beginning of next year.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Town of Oyster Supervisor Joseph Saladino are expected to attend the event, which also will include ten food vendors providing complimentary food. “We spoke to a few wineries to have wine tasting,” Shudh Parkash Singh said.
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