Changing rooms

When it reopens, Hotel Sequoia will give Redwood City something it lacks today: a boutique hotel in the heart of downtown. Although focused primarily on the business traveler, anyone will be welcome. And because its ground-floor restaurant and rooftop bar will be open to the public, locals should find much to enjoy.

The renovated Hotel Sequoia will undoubtedly be something special; however, in the context of the greater hotel scene, its 83 rooms will be a welcome, but relatively minor, addition. Redwood City already has a decent number of existing hotels, which, in early 2017, were augmented by the 177-room Courtyard by Marriott on Bair Island Road. And then there is the Grand Bay Hotel San Francisco (formerly the Pullman San Francisco Bay Hotel and, before, the Hotel Sofitel), in Redwood Shores.

I recently had the occasion to tour some of the Grand Bay’s public spaces, and was delighted to see that it still seems to be the relatively high-class business-focused hotel it originally was — albeit with lower prices than I would have expected. Those relatively low prices, which may be a reaction to societal changes brought about by the pandemic, could make this a great time for visitors to enjoy one of the hotel’s 421 rooms, as well as for locals wanting to employ its ballrooms and food service.

The Grand Bay may be trying to deal with the shift toward working remotely, but some hotels may be better off. For instance, because much biotech work cannot be done remotely, those offices should be staffed. And that should benefit hotels near to those offices. Thus, I’m guessing that San Carlos’ somewhat new Residence Inn, on Industrial Road just south of Holly Street, is probably doing better than most, given the preponderance of new life-sciences buildings that’ve been constructed in the area. Indeed, plans to construct yet another hotel right next door — the 188-room Hotel Indigo — are currently moving through San Carlos’ approval process. Hopefully, San Carlos’ recently opened Hyatt Place, on El Camino Real at the Belmont border, is also benefitting from the biotech boom.

Optimism, whether founded on biotech, or on an assumption that many workers will be back in the office within a few years, or on something else, also seems to be at work in Redwood City. The Hotel Sequoia project is just one of three currently approved hotel projects in or near downtown. One, planned for the small lot at the corner of Veterans Boulevard and Brewster Avenue, may be readying to get underway. Just a week or so ago construction fencing was erected around the Shell gas station operating on that corner, possibly signaling imminent demolition. And although no construction fencing currently surrounds Redwood City’s Garden Motel on Broadway (at Beech Street), those behind the project to build a 112-room Hyatt Place on the spot have showed amazing persistence in getting the project approved not once, but three times. I’d be extremely surprised if it doesn’t get underway soon.

Effects of the pandemic continue to negatively impact our hotels, but hopefully they can adjust. The recent surge in life-sciences office projects is surely having an effect, one that should be to our hotels’ benefit.

Lastly, our housing crisis has had an interesting, and very direct effect. To combat it, a couple of our hotels have been retired and turned into affordable housing for select segments of our population. In particular, the transformation of the TownePlace Suites hotel, in Redwood Shores, into Shores Landing has not only reduced (slightly) the demand for affordable senior housing, it has also removed 95 hotel rooms from our area’s inventory. Similarly, by turning Redwood City’s Comfort Inn (on El Camino Real just north of Woodside Road) into Casa Esperanza, the county has reduced the number of available hotel rooms by 52 while creating that number of studio apartments for homeless individuals. Fewer hotel rooms increases demand at other nearby hotels. Coupled with an increase in affordable housing, that’s a win-win.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.