NEW SMYRNA BEACH — A young couple strolled down Flagler Avenue in the shadow of a soon-to-be-unveiled four-story hotel.
As 18-year-old Kalei Burgess and her 19-year-old boyfriend Kyler Croci glanced up at the 114-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott one evening this month, the Deltona couple offered contrasting opinions of the new brand-name presence in the historic shopping district.
"I think it's beautiful and I would love to stay in a room there," Croci said. " It looks amazing."
Burgess, however, smiled, cocked her head a tad, gestured across the street to the one-story, 1956-built Seahorse Inn. "I don't mind it," she said, "but the whole reason we like it so much here is because of all the local stuff."
Their two views exemplify community reaction to the beachfront hotel borne of controversy. After more than a year of criticism and compromise in the approval process, and several more years to rise up from the dunes, the oceanside suites will soon welcome their first guests.
The hotel, built by Amelia Island-based Poseidon Hotel Ventures, was originally expected to open earlier this year, but Sales Director Christina Crowley said there were a few delays, including Hurricane Irma and a shortage of labor. While the hotel is only taking reservations later than Jan. 14, Crowley hopes to be open Jan. 9.
The cost has also grown from a projected $19 million in 2015, to roughly $24 million today, said Sheri McHenry, who co-owns the hotel with husband Randy McHenry and developer Ron Flick.
McHenry, who said she guided the hotel's interior design with Jacki Arena Interiors, arranged ocean-inspired sculptures in the lobby Wednesday, proud of the look and feel of what she calls "her hometown baby."
"From a design standpoint, this is all totally custom," said McHenry, adding she's incredibly excited about a local artist's piece being delivered soon — an ocean-inspired chandelier by Kyle Carni of Galleria di Vetro, a Flagler Avenue merchant.
Bringing the seaside inside
Inside the hotel, light ocean hues and striking whites are paired with the cadence of waves outside.
"To hear that sound — it's so beautifully restful," McHenry said. "I wanted it to be very tranquil and modern, but a warm modern."
Built in the Florida Vernacular style, the hotel's exterior has a Key West feel, with sunny and muted yellows. McHenry said many of the hotel's rooms have balcony views, some overlooking Flagler Avenue's bustling shops and others with views of the Atlantic Ocean. Guests can access fitness and boardrooms and a roughly 1,500-square-foot conference room and a beachside pool, McHenry said, but the public can access the lanai and the hotel's full-liquor snack bar — "Barefoot Bar" — which will also serve Starbucks coffee.
Prices for standard rooms start at $199 per night and extend to $359 for rooms with an ocean view, but Crowley added that there are military and senior discounts and prices fluctuate with seasonal events, such as race weeks.
When asked about the earlier conflicts surrounding the hotelier's plans, McHenry said she hopes time might alleviate concerns from residents about the hotel "fitting in" with the cityscape.
"People have a fear of the unknown," McHenry said.
Controversial past
The hotel sits just north of Flagler Avenue on North Atlantic Avenue, between the Win-San Condominiums and the Breakers Restaurant and Lounge, the heart of the Flagler Avenue historic district with a charming old beach-town feel of which residents are highly protective.
So when the hotel was initially proposed to harbor 146 rooms in 2014, public meetings lured overflow crowds.
Proponents argued the hotel addresses a dearth of hotel rooms in the city and would provide an economic boon to Flagler Avenue merchants. But opponents said the building was too large for the site and that traffic problems would be exacerbated. Some were frustrated by a proposal to extend the coastal construction setback line 75.5 feet to accommodate an underground parking garage.
Opinions divided
Now with the Marriott about to open, neighbor Jim Smith said he hasn't changed his mind.
He was one of many who decried the plans for the hotel when it was in the planning stages and on Wednesday, he said he hadn't changed his mind.
"It's pretty much out of scale with the rest of the neighborhood," said Smith, who has lived across the street from the site since the 1950s.
His concerns include one measure yet to be fully experienced: traffic. He said he is withholding judgment on the issue until the hotel has been open a few months.
"They use this as a race track," Smith said of cars during the busy weekend summer months, gesturing west up Florida Avenue.
McHenry said she believes the parking garage and the number of shops and activities within walking distance of the hotel should contain the traffic, and Crowley said staff is being trained to encourage guests to park and walk and enjoy the local flavors of the town.
Mayor Jim Hathaway initially voted against the project but compromised on a 55-foot extension of the coastal setback line. He said he still hears concerns from neighbors, but like McHenry, Hathaway said he hopes the community comes to see the hotel as a benefit and not a detriment.
"I still hear people say they think it's out of scale with that particular piece of property," Hathaway said. "But I think it turned out to be a pretty nice project. I think that the end result will be that it will probably be very well utilized. ... I think it will be a good thing for the community in that the business community on Flagler Avenue will benefit greatly."