Quality Inn gets approval to reopen

  The License Commission has given the okay for the Quality Inn on Rt. 1, which has been closed since March 2020, to reopen. At last Wednesday’s meeting, the commission unanimously approved an application of renewal for Sudguru Hotel, LLC in Brockton for the hotel at 100 Morris St.

  Jiten Patel of Sudguru Hotel said there is no set date to reopen, but that the company is hoping to reopen the Quality Inn this year. “Just looking at the trend in the city, 2020 was at 25 percent capacity for hotels, and last year it was at 45 percent for all hotels,” said Patel. “So the trend is in the right direction and I think we are going to get there when we get more groups and there is travel back into the city, and also when concerts come back into the Garden. We want to reopen; no one is more motivated to reopen than us; we have landlords we have to pay; we have a mortgage, and the building itself costs a lot of money to maintain.”

  While License Commission Chair Robert Selevitch said the commission does want to see the hotel up and running again, he raised concerns specifically about the plans that were floated last fall to use the hotel as a temporary homeless shelter for people in the “Mass and Cass” section of Boston.

  “The way it was approached to us was a little different than what was represented in the public,” said Patel. Patel said the initial plans called for security, human services and structured programs to help the Mass and Cass population. He added that his company was not privy to all the discussions that went on regarding the proposal, and much of the discussion took place between the Cities of Revere and Boston and other public players.

  Selevitch read an email from Ward 6 City Councillor Richard Serino in which Serino expressed some concerns he and residents in North Revere had about the hotel. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I would have characterized Quality Inn’s relationship with the city of Revere, and the neighborhood of North Revere in particular, as a good partnership,” Serino stated. “The hotel used to provide community space to the North Revere Neighborhood Group to hold its monthly meetings, and when the hotel shut down in March of 2020, the manager at the time went out of her way to donate the remaining food from the hotel to the city’s food collection efforts.”

  However, Serino stated that since that time the relationship between the hotel and the community has deteriorated. “The Quality Inn has not only remained shuttered, but acted in a way I would characterize as unneighborly,” he stated. “The actions of last September caused much concern among the neighbors and officials in both Revere and the neighboring town of Saugus. Going forward, there is trepidation about the Quality Inn long term and how it sees itself as a business and a community partner.”

  Patel said he understood the concerns of Serino and the residents, and that the decision to close and remain closed for such an extended time was a difficult decision. “I think we can get back to our community outreach as we come to a determination of when we can reopen and when we can be a viable business,” said Patel. “We hope to be back in business and be a community partner and provide jobs again. We’ve been in operation in this location for years, and when we bought this property, we bought it from a larger corporation in Atlanta, and they had zero community outreach.”

  Selevitch said the reassurances that the business will remain a hotel should help reassure residents. The commission voted unanimously to approve the licenses for renewal.