Neighbor wrote on Sep 12, 2007 6:40 AM:More good news from San Marcos, a very nice place to live.

Carter: wrote on Sep 12, 2007 8:33 AM: Oh tell me please, oh tell me please, what we have in San Marcos to bring people to stay in this big grand hotel that will be competing with Escondido's big grant hotel that they can not get people to come stay in? Another boondoggle?

And what point . . . wrote on Sep 12, 2007 9:27 AM:. . . is there to having a hotel in a city where there is nothing to do? And spare me the arguments regarding how there "will be" something to do with the Creek development. Building a hotel now for something that won't be done for a good fifteen years (not to mention building the hotel a mile to two miles away from said development) makes no sense whatsoever. The reason our TOT is low has nothing to do with a lack of hotels; it has to do with a lack of reasons to visit. Surely people will not be coming from Nebraska or New York to visit Furniture Row! We all know this was Mr. Orlando's pet project - he said as much during his two campaigns - and his good buddies on the Council are more than happy to indulge him in his fantasy. Next up on the hit parade, surely, will be our luxury car dealership. And by the way, Mr. Orlando: you are hereby awarded the certificate of redundancy certificate, since "TOT tax" = "Transient Occupancy Tax tax" = the kind of brilliance I've come to expect from this City Council.

duh wrote on Sep 12, 2007 9:57 AM:This is just a wrong place to build a hotel if you ask me. Sure it's close to the new gigantic strip mall but it is surrounded by major streets on all side with limited space, and situated next to the freeway. I saw a group of surveyors about 2 months ago at the site and wondered what it was about. I guess I know now. The traffic during rush hour is a nightmare in the area. It would take a driver 10 minutes to move 200 feet. ... The only thing that matters is tax revenue. Sheesh! I can't wait for the 300 condos and etc between Discovery and San Marcos Blvd.

TOT lot wrote on Sep 12, 2007 10:56 AM:Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you need to have occupants in a hotel before you can collect TOT? What will the City do when - surprise! - no tourists come and no businesses want to hold meetings at the Residence Inn? Could someone tell me if the Ramada or the Hampton Inn are ever at capacity? I highly doubt that they are . . . and wouldn't that leave our TOT as "anemic" as ever?!

Great project wrote on Sep 12, 2007 11:11 AM:This is a great addition to the list of good decisions by the council! Way to go. Thanks, SM resident

I can't wait wrote on Sep 12, 2007 11:24 AM:to see the traffic study for this one!

Floyd wrote on Sep 12, 2007 11:26 AM:The point of having a hotel in San Marcos is really quite simple because the Chargers will continue to play football at Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley. You see, adoring fans flock to San Diego from around the country to see the Chargers play and they need a place to stay before and after the game. Since the hotel is close to Palomar Station, which is close to the Sprinter, it's very easy to get to the game. Just walk a mile or so to the station, hop on the Sprinter, change to the Coaster, transfer to the Trolley, and you've made it to the stadium in about four hours! And after the game, you can make the return trip in another four hours. That's much better than taking your car, which is only 2 hours each way and allows you to listen to your favorite radio station and stop for munchies along the way.

What? wrote on Sep 12, 2007 11:28 AM:Hey Carter, first line third paragraph. Let me help you out. "City officials estimate that the business-class hotel," It isn't a tourist destination. They never claim it will be.

Say What? wrote on Sep 12, 2007 11:57 AM:What sort of business do we really expect to come for a "business-class hotel" if, as Mr. Orlando stated before with respect to the whole Palomar Station debacle, we should be driving industry out of San Marcos? We don't have any large local employers who require this sort of hotel!-

duh wrote on Sep 12, 2007 12:08 PM:Hey Floyd, don't hint to them about the cost of the trip either. This so-called business class hotel would be better situated next to the new LA Fitness in the City Hall area. I have a feeling that the hotel er... motel will be like the Ramada Limited across from Home Depot.

Good plan wrote on Sep 12, 2007 12:36 PM:Good think SM doesn't have Tom Knight and Jim Crone to deal with...

San Marcos Res wrote on Sep 12, 2007 12:42 PM:Correct me if I'm wrong ... but I would think Marriott must see something here. These companies do market research up the wazoo (sp?) before they build or lease anything. This is a "business-class" hotel ... all the industry in SM, Vista and Carlsbad means lots of business travelers who need a place to stay. Marriott Residence Inn does not cater to families on summer vacations. While we're on the subject ... can anything be done with that Ramada ... yikes, what a dump!-

The surrounding areas need a business hotel for their customers wrote on Sep 12, 2007 2:27 PM:Businesses in Vista, Carlsbad, Escondido and San Marcos will benefit. Near a freeway is a good location for a business hotel. There are lots of places for business people to shop and eat in San Marcos during the evenings of their business trips.

Good Idea wrote on Sep 12, 2007 2:37 PM:Now the Gang Bangers at Gang Banger Station will have fresh victims! and once the word gets out they can do weekly rentals and sell drugs out of there New Hotel! San Marcos keeps moving forward, except at the traffic lights which seem to be programed buy demented Monkeys?

Hey Res . . . wrote on Sep 12, 2007 4:14 PM:. . . show me the guarantee that Marriott will build here. The article only says that the developer "plans" to build a Marriott. Marriott may just take one look at the location and say "forget it!" - there's no guarantees when it comes to developments. We might wind up with a Motel 6 there. And what's this about the Council ot approving commercial proposals? Since when did we elect Staff? They're supposed to lay the groundwork, sure, but I didn't think they made final decisions on things of this nature. Go figure . . .

Cool! wrote on Sep 12, 2007 5:28 PM:You may be surprised that those of us who have businesses in San Marcos and Vista that have out of town business travellers long for a decent hotel where we can put up business guests for the night. The proximity to the restaurants in the Grand Plaza and restaurant row, not to mention the closeness to the Sprinter line....yes, we do have business people who come from L.A. on the train and now have to be picked up in Oceanside....would make things so much more convenient and cost effective. Way to go SM.

ohbrother wrote on Sep 12, 2007 9:11 PM:yes - I can hardly wait to see the business travelers pulling their luggage along Las Posas from the Sprinter Station. Apparently, the monkeys aren't only runniung the traffic division

we'll see ... wrote on Sep 12, 2007 9:27 PM:most hotels don't own and manage the properties, guarantee this one will be owned by a group of developers for a long time and managed by Marriott. Hotels change management companies like they change underwear. If the occupancy level doesn't stay high - they'll pull out and fast. Could end up with a big empty shell if there isn't something to STAY in San Marcos for - Good Luck. We'll see.

Land use changed wrote on Sep 13, 2007 9:10 AM:Isn't this the land that the city took for the freeway on/off ramps at LasPosas and did NOT use ? Then they decided to change the zoning from industrial to commercial. The Planning Commission and Council asked if there were any prospects for constructon on this land and they said there was not. Now, a couple of months later, lo and behold, the Marriot is buying some of it for a business hotel. Are we near an airport ? The closest is Palomar. How will this project get its approvals ? Oh, there won;t have to be any ? That is nice. Way to go, San Marcos.

To "Cool" wrote on Sep 13, 2007 2:47 PM:Oh yes, I would be surprised, are you kidding? We're supposed to believe that you're a business owner who has overnight business guests who come from LA on the train and then you have to drive to pick them up in O'side and deposit them someplace for the night and your choice is a "Hotel" that backs up to the 78 Freeway on Las Posas? What kind of business are you in? My grandmother could make better arrangements than that! I haven't laughed this hard in a week.

To "San Marcos Res" wrote on Sep 13, 2007 2:58 PM:Haven't you heard? "With all the Industry in San Marcos..." You mean the Industry that Hal Martin, Jim Desmond and Chris Orlando are conspiring to get rid of? Business travelers? Oh yeah, this is a real business destination. They're coming in by the droves to do business at our many fine Starbucks, and our crowning business achievement, "Nordstrom on the Rack". Perhaps Marriot's been sold a bill of goods about the "Creek Project" that still has no actual plan or federal permits and they want to get in on the ground floor figuring that with all the "24 hour draw" bars and nightclubs our Council will be permitting, the drunks that didn't go down to the gaslamp or Tiajuana will need a local hotel to flop at when they're done saucing it up in San Marcos.

To "we'll see" wrote on Sep 13, 2007 3:08 PM:You nailed it perfectly. Don't worry, the empty shell can always be converted to single room occupancy low income housing units, for for "very, very, low income" category individuals. Those units are what Martin-Desmond-Orlando are going to need to fill those SANDAG low income housing quotas.

Good night's sleep or ? wrote on Sep 13, 2007 6:15 PM:Wow. Cool. A REAL business-class hotel. Perfect placement too. Right in the midst of the industrial zone that the city is only too glad to be rid of. Maybe they will get rid of everybody in the area while they are at it. What a fitting location for a hotel too. The council really does have some grandiose ideas. They have big plans for this city, but that is after they get rid of anyone that gets in their way. With the bus station nearby as well as the Sprinter station and the colleges, what better place for a good nights sleep or ?

No tax from the Quail's Inn wrote on Sep 13, 2007 6:18 PM:As far as nice hotels or ins, let's not forget about our Quail's Inn and golf courses. Too bad the city can't get their hands on all of that tax. What a shame. Well, there is a cure for it, they can just build a couple of transient hotels or motels. When people do come to San Marcos, most business people really do enjoy the Quail's Inn. At least those that come into town for the businesses I know.

Hotel is Just the Tip of the Iceberg wrote on Sep 18, 2007 12:18 PM:This City Council is making a huge mish-mash out of the City. A "business hotel" and condos in the Industrial zone, Industrial parks next to residential neighborhoods, major roads running through the center of quiet residential neighborhoods, massive multifamily development without infrastructure, secret plans for giant commercial development that the City isn't telling the citizens about while they scheme with private developers and lend them taxpayer money to do private business deals. Developers/realtors on every official committee in town, saying what they're being told to say to make the City Council look good. The whole thing's nauseating. This Council is turning San Marcos into a giant shopping center and that's not good planning and neither is throwing away the city's financial solvency it took 25 years to build by betting on the come. To make matters worse, the planners, commissioners and councilmen have bad taste in architecture, landscaping, and cheesy ideas. Look at any really "desirable" City with high end real estate-it isn't a paved over shopping center with franchise retail businesses everywhere, traffic clogging every street including the residential ones, and overcrowded schools.

Inexperienced and Headstrong Isn't a Good Mix wrote on Sep 23, 2007 6:39 PM:In a city with about 1% of it's land devoted to class A office space, we just don't have that many "business class" overnight guests. Even if we did, why would they want to stay in a hotel that backs up to the 78 off ramp on Las Posas Road? This mayor and council are like the Attention Deficit Disorder government of the County; no real plan, can't read the rulebook, jumping excitedly and nervously from idea to idea, unable to evaluate priorities, impulsively spending taxpayer funds and wasting assets, unable to predict the consequences of their actions, unable (or unwilling) to follow the time tested rules of government, getting themselves (and us) into trouble, saying whatever pops into their heads and lying when they get caught. In record time in office Jim Desmond and his council crew have earned a grass roots Growth Control initiative in reaction to their flagrant flaunting of the city's General Plan and a number of lawsuits. Let's get some focused leadership in here before the single family home foreclosure rates get worse. Homeowners seeing the handwriting on the wall are bailing from SEH, Discovery, SFH Stonebridge, LSM, everywhere that's impacted by the "new San Marcos" wild uncontrolled growth projects. No one wants to spend the next 5-15 years living with the mess this Council is making, uncertain of the outcome. Check the real estate listings, since these people have started their developer led campaign to redo San Marcos, homeowners close to these projects want out.-

Reporters missed wrote on Sep 28, 2007 4:40 PM:From all of us in San Marcos, we miss you, David Garrick, who has been moved to Escondido, a "step up" from San Marcos. We miss you Ned Randolph, who was let go by the NCT. We miss you David Sterrett - you moved with your wife, who was transferred. We miss all of you because you wrote insightful stories about our city and its events. We need excellent reporting during these times.=