Renaissance amid a recession

A recession is a precarious time to open a luxury hotel with prices ranging from $189 to $1,000 a night. Massachusetts hotels are forecast to have a 57 percent occupancy rate this year, down from 61.6 percent last year, according to hotel consulting firm Pinnacle Advisory Group.

But the owners of the 150-room hotel, located across the parking lot from Gillette Stadium with views of the Patriots and Revolution soccer team practice fields, are confident that the five-story hotel will do just fine. In fact, co-owner Mark Stebbins said the deal with the Kraft Group, which owns the Patriots and Patriot Place, includes a provision to add 100 more rooms.

"We're still going to do a great business there," in spite of the down economy, he said.

Paul Sacco, president of the Massachusetts Lodging Association, also is optimistic about the Renaissance's chances for success, mainly because of where the hotel is situated - near Interstate 95, 250,000 square feet of function space, shopping at Patriot Place and the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets, and businesses such as Covidien Ltd., Raytheon Co., EMC Corp., and Samsonite Corp.

"In our industry, it has never changed," Sacco said. "Location, location, location."

There are nine hotels in Foxborough and Mansfield affiliated with the local Chamber of Commerce, and many other smaller motels. But the Renaissance, a Marriott International Inc. hotel, is trying to position itself as the only upscale hotel between Boston and Providence.

"From the split in Braintree down to Providence, there is no high-quality, full-service hotel," said Jonathan Kraft, president of the Kraft Group. "It doesn't exist."

The design of the Renaissance was inspired by the reflective facade of the stadium, said director of interior design Courtney Schroeder, with lots of shimmering glass, crystal chandeliers, and chrome lamps. The dominant color, red, was taken from the Patriots colors. The rooms are plush, decorated in pale gold and brick red, with Aveda shampoo samples in the bathrooms, full-size stainless steel Frigidaire refrigerators in the suites, and 37-inch flat screen TVs.

The lobby opens into a swanky sitting area with couches and zebra-pattern chairs, which flows into the 98-seat restaurant and lounge, Twenty8 Food & Spirits (named for the hotel's address: 28 Patriot Place), which offers everything from $22 seared ahi tuna to chocolate chip cookies baked to order in a stone-hearth oven. A 10,000-square-foot Spa Epoche, opening June 9, features a hair salon, sauna, steam room, and 14 treatment rooms for facials, massage, and aromatherapy.

This summer is slated to be the busiest ever at Gillette, Kraft said, which could bode well for the new hotel. The hotel's first test will be Memorial Day weekend, when lacrosse fans come for the NCAA men's lacrosse championships.

There are already some high-profile guests with reservations, according to hotel officials: Elton John's setup team has booked the Renaissance for his July concert with Billy Joel. But there is at least one group that won't be staying in the hotel: NFL teams, which require more meeting space than the hotel has, according to hotel officials.

When there are no games and concerts, Stebbins said, business people will be the hotel's bread and butter.

"There are a lot of people who come to do business in the area," he said, "who at night run back to Boston or Providence."

Katie Johnston Chase can be reach at johnstonchase@globe.com.