2 SLO County hotels bought by Southern California development company. What comes next?
A Southern California company bought two San Simeon hotels and closed the restaurant operating at one of the inns, according to the man who’s managing both lodgings.
General manager Pratik Vyas confirmed that Greens Group, a real estate development firm in Irvine, recently purchased The Morgan, an upscale boutique hotel on the west side of Highway 1, and the Motel 6 across the way.
Both lodgings were originally constructed in the the mid-1980s, which Vyas said was a hotel-building boom time on the North Coast.
Greens Group bought Motel 6 in April and the Morgan in October.
The Motel 6 purchase included the now-shuttered Sunset Grill, which closed permanently on Dec. 1, according to a sign on the restaurant’s door.
That structure won’t be a restaurant again but will be repurposed, Vyas said, although the new owners haven’t finalized a plan for it yet.
Greens Group plans to upgrade the rooms in both hotels and make some changes, Vyas said, but the work hasn’t begun yet.
“We are in the planning phase” now, the general manager said. “Both hotels will be getting remodeled to improve amenities while preserving the current ambiance and vibe.”
Vyas estimated that the design phases of the renovation projects at The Morgan and Motel 6 would take another six months, followed by the process of getting permits to do the work.
Room rates at the two hotels “are based on market demands so (they) will fluctuate every day,” Vyas said.
On Feb. 2, the lowest mid-week prices per room listed on the motels’ websites for the following week were $99 per night at The Morgan and $59 per night at Motel 6.
Vyas said he has 30 employees between the two hotels.
2 SLO County hotels purchased by Irvine firm
The Morgan, which takes its name from Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan, is located at 9135 Hearst Drive in San Simeon.
According to a 2022 listing on real estate site Loopnet.com, the 30,000-square-foot hotel has 56 rooms, including two suites with separate sitting areas. The 1.7-acre property also boasts a pool and morning room where guests can enjoy a grab-and-go breakfast.
The Morgan originally was the Orchid Inn, but was substantially renovated in 2007 and 2008 by Broughton Hospitality, a Newport Beach-based management firm.
The Motel 6 location at 9070 Castillo Drive in San Simeon has 100 rooms and an outdoor pool.
Vyas said he didn’t know the property’s total acreage, but estimated it at about five acres. The motel has carried several brands through the years, he said, and was originally built as a Holiday Inn.
Greens Group doesn’t reveal purchase prices, Vyas said.
However, when The Morgan was on the real estate market in the spring of 2022, the property was listed for sale for $9.95 million.
According to Vyas, Greens Group currently manages 18 hotels with an additional four hotels under construction.
He said the firm started as an electrical company in India in 1980. After moving into the U.S. market as a construction firm, it began building individual hotels.
Greens Group now has interests in California, Utah and Arizona, according to Vyas.
“Most of their growth has been in the last two years, since their incorporation,” he said. “They’ve done six acquisitions in the past year. They buy underperforming motels, then renovate and rebrand them.”
Who is general manager of San Simeon inns?
Vyas said he has spent more than 20 years in the hospitality industry in his home country of India as well as the United Kingdom and the United States.
After moving to the U.S., Vyas spent 13 years at the Quality Inn in Blythe.
He, wife Geeta and sons Mantra, 10, and Shlok, 3, moved to San Luis Obispo County seven months ago, which coincides with how long he’s worked for Greens Group.
Pratik Vyas said didn’t take the job until he’d consulted with his family and brought them back to an area where they’ve vacationed several times since 2009.
Their approval was crucial to his decision, Vyas said.
“I asked my sons if they wanted to move here so I could work here,” Vyas recalled. “They said, ‘We’ve always paid to go here before. Now, we’ll get paid to be here!’ ”
This story was originally published February 3, 2023 at 2:02 PM.
