Grand Opening: LaSalle’s Four Points by Sheraton features 141 rooms, a 2,500-square-foot patio and more

June 9, 2011
By Mark Scheer Niagara Gazette

NIAGARA FALLS — For the Merani family, it is now officially one down and one to go. Today, the local hotel developers are celebrating the grand opening of the Four Points by Sheraton, the newly renovated hotel that has replaced the old the Inn on the River on Buffalo Avenue in LaSalle.

The hotel features 141 rooms, a full-service restaurant, a 2,500-square-foot patio and four meeting rooms, the largest of which can accommodate up to 400 people. All carpeting, fixtures and other leftovers from the old hotel property have been replaced in keeping with standards set by the Four Points by Sheraton hotel chain.

The formal grand opening celebration will take this evening, but the new hotel has been catering to customers since a soft opening on May 19. So far, Merani said, business has been brisk, including sellouts every Saturday since the doors opened.

“We’re looking forward to a good season,” Merani said.

Merani is the son of prominent local hotelier Ashak Merani, who owns the Holiday Inn on Buffalo Avenue and the Days Inn & Suites and the Sterling Inn and Spa in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

LaSalle Hospitality Inc. purchased the old Inn on the River hotel property in 2009. A second company headed by Faisal Merani, Merani Hospitality Inc., also purchased the former Fallside Hotel and Conference Center at 401 Buffalo Ave. at that time.

On Wednesday, Faisal Merani said now that the renovation work is completed at the Four Points by Sheraton location, he will turn his attention to renovating and reopening the old Fallside hotel as promised. Merani said there is still a good deal of design work to be done for that project ,which he expects to involve a significant amount of demolition. He hopes to be able to begin actual work on the site sometime this fall.

“That’s definitely next on the agenda,” he said.

Contact Mark Scheer

at 282-2311, ext. 2250.

 

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