|
CASE HISTORY
How Suite it Is
A new Tampa hotel is decked out in 6,000 square feet of shutters.
When Embassy Suites Hotel was building a new facility in downtown Tampa, FL, you can be sure it wanted to provide its guests with "more of what matters," as its corporate tag line states it. A pioneer in the hospitality industry, Embassy Suites Hotels was the first brand to offer upscale all-suite hotels with amenities aimed at both leisure and business travelers.
One of the newest in the 180-plus-property chain, the Tampa Embassy Suites near the convention center on S. Florida Ave., offers spacious accommodations as a cornerstone to its success. It also offers 295 windows that must be treated!
To do the job, Eclipse Shutters were selected, partly to provide the high style the hotel's guests expect as well as the privacy required. A key characteristic of the shutters is that they are virtually indestructible. They will not chip, warp, crack or fade. They are moisture resistant and non-porous. Their two-part hinge system allow panels to be removed easily and washed with just soap and water. Perhaps most important, they are fire retardant and meet and exceed all NFPA 701 fire safety standards.
BEST VALUE
The dealer responsible for obtaining and installing the shutters was The Wonderly's Co. Inc., a commercial fabricator of draperies based in Kinston, NY. After being awarded the project through a bidding process, Wonderly's turned to Universal Window Covering, Orlando, FL, for the fabrication.
With a project calling for a total of approximately 6,000 square feet of shutters, Al Parsons, Wonderly's general manager, shopped around and, keeping his client in mind, found Eclipse Shutters and Universal Window Coverings provided the best value and were able to provide the product in time. Eclipse Shutters sets an industry standard of seven days or less for production and delivery of product-in this case, the Eclipse patented Polyresin3®P shutter in almond color in a 3 1/2-inch louver size. The patented Clearview (rear tilt) option was chosen in the L-frame.
PERFECT MATCH
The success of this project lies in the product selection and the working relationship between manufacturer, fabricator and dealer. "Most shutter applications in hotels and resorts are limited to the public areas," says Parsons. "Shutters were specified for the interior guest room windows looking into the atrium area. Using wooden shutters in 295-plus guestrooms would have been extremely expensive. Eclipse Shutters proved to be the perfect match for this project. Eclipse Shutters has a durable product backed by a 25-year lifetime warranty and a perfect color match to the paint color in the room."
Wonderly's used it's own professional installers for the job that took only four installers about six weeks to install, including all the shutters, draperies and sheer treatments required for the project. If that weren't amazing enough, consider the obstacles on a construction project of this size where space and resources must be shared by all the trades involved. Getting deliveries and unloading them can sometimes be a problem, and it takes a little getting used to when it comes to finding an elevator to take you and your supplies to the floor you are working on!
When it comes to product support from the manufacturer and fabricator, Eclipse Shutters and Universal Window Coverings were rated as excellent. Shutters were delivered on time as promised. |
