Local developer Keith Kite remembers when he first mentioned building a hotel at the Miracle Mile intersection of Sixth Avenue and 20th Place – on the site of the old Rita’s Italian Ice.
People didn’t believe it was possible.
“They didn’t think you could build a hotel there,” Kite recalled, “and make it fit.”
Kite, though, has done more than build a 90-room Hampton Inn & Suites on the 2.7-acre parcel on the south side of one of Vero Beach’s busiest shopping and dining areas. He has filled a gaping void.
Since the Hampton opened its doors in April 2015, guests have flocked to the hotel in greater numbers than Kite expected, and he predicts business will be even better this winter.
“Our October bookings were helped by the hurricane, because of the evacuation of the island, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by November’s numbers,” said Kite, the hotel’s developer and managing partner of The Kite Team of Coldwell Banker Commercial.
“I’m not sure why November was so good, but we’ve seen an increase of around 20 percent over last year’s bookings, and we have a very strong booking into April,” he added. “So I’m very pleased with the hotel’s performance.”
In fact, the Hilton-affiliated Hampton got off to a noticeably better start than Kite’s Marriott-affiliated Spring Hill Suites on Indian River Boulevard, across from Grand Harbor.
“With the Hampton, we hit the right time with the economy,” said Kite, who is managing partner of the 83-room Spring Hill Suites, which opened in 2009. “With the Marriott property, we opened slowly because the economy slowed, but we’ve been doing well the last two years.”
The Hampton, he said, has won a Hilton award for its strong start, but he’s not at all surprised the hotel is doing well – because of its close proximity to downtown Vero Beach and both the bridges to the barrier island.
“It’s also right there at Miracle Mile and not far from Royal Palm Pointe,” Kite said. “It’s the right location for the market we want to reach.”
Kite said about 50 percent of the hotel’s guests are in town for business reasons, mostly connected to the aviation, citrus and financial services industries, commercial development and what he called the “medical node.”
“The hospital is at the heart of that node,” he said, “but it also includes hospice, the VNA and independent assisted-living facilities, as well as insurance companies and suppliers.”
The arrival of Elite Airways at Vero Beach Regional Airport has helped fuel business, as has the construction of new restaurants, retail outlets and other businesses on U.S. 1 and SR-60, including the new Cumberland Farms and Wawa stores.
The other half of the Hampton Inn’s room nights – and a big part of the Spring Hill Suites’ business – is being generated by tourism related to local sports, cultural and beach-related events and activities.
“The rest are people who come to town for weddings and other celebrations, and vacationers,” Kite said. “We’re even getting bookings from places like Germany and England, people who are going to come here for two or three weeks and want the comfort and convenience of staying in a hotel.”
The Hampton Inn offers guests a fitness room, swimming pool, business center, laundry service, complimentary breakfast and free WiFi in every room.
Kite said 48 percent of the Hampton Inn’s guests are Hilton Honors members, while 47 percent of the Spring Hill Suites’ guests belong to the Marriott Rewards program.
“I kept hearing Vero needed a mainland hotel, but I knew it needed to be in the right location,” Kite said. “That’s what we’ve done. You don’t need to be on the beach.”