New York City's first gay hotel, the
Axel Hotel at The Out NYC complex, will open its doors to guests in
March, BusinessInsider.com
reported.
The $30 million project is a renovation
of a former three-story Travel Lodge hotel located at 508 West 42nd
Street. The complex will also house a gym and a restaurant, Kitchen
510. Its XL Nightclub will open later this month.
The project is being financed by
Parkview Developers, which was founded in 2003 by gay couple Ian
Reisner and Mati Weiderpass.
Spanish hotelier Axel Hotels will open
its first American outpost inside the complex. The hotel will be
moderately priced (starting at $250 a night) and include 105 rooms
and three courtyards. An Axel roadmap includes plans for three
additional U.S. Hotels to be built in its most gay-friendly cities:
Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.
But New York, which already commands
the lion's share of the red hot gay and lesbian tourism market, is
poised to set a new tourism record with the legalization of gay
marriage last June.
UPDATE: Sources tell us that the
complex's hotel will be owned and managed by Parkview Developers.
Details to follow.