The planned renovation of The Hotel at Auburn University is back on.

After some members of the Board of Trustees had reservations about spending nearly $10 million to renovate 246 guest rooms at its November meetings, the project was essentially postponed for a year. However, by granting the Property and Facilities Committee permission to make decisions on this matter without full board consent, its members agreed Thursday morning to move forward as planned.

The $10.6 million project will start Dec. 18 and be completed by April or May. It will require half the hotel to be unavailable at a time.

Since the hotel staff has been anticipating the renovation for the past eight months, General Manager Hans Van Der Reijden said they are prepared to have less rooms for the five months. When all is said and done, he said they will have a better product for the variety of clientele that use the hotel, including rooms designed especially for the guests who are visiting AU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Ten "pet-friendly" rooms will have coated hardwood floors, wire protection and amenities just for pets, such as food and water bowls. Van Der Reijden believes this is a first for any hotel in Alabama.

"We are going to have something very unique," he said.

All the changes were the result of 4,000 online surveys completed by guests and focus group interviews by the AU College of Business. Those surveyed consisted of current and potential students, parents, summer camp guests and sporting event attendees.

Van Der Reijden said male guests wanted oversized desks with multiple plug-ins, while female guests said they work on the bed so they want plug-ins there. They all wanted large, walk-in showers, extra drawer space and full length mirrors and even a lounge chair.

This is the first renovation of the rooms, other than carpet, since the hotel opened in 1988. A renovation of the lobby, the restaurant and the conference center took place between 2003 and 2004.

The "gut renovation" includes new carpet, paint and wall coverings, new furniture and lighting and a state-of-the-art door lock system. The rooms will also feature plasma screen televisions, small refrigerators and microwaves and oversized desk space with multiple outlets and plug-ins. Also, new air conditioning units will be placed on the roof rather than in the rooms.

"The most significant part of the change is the bathrooms, which will be converted from a small space with a bathtub into a much larger space with a tiled, walk-in shower," Van Der Reijden said. Bathroom countertops will be granite and the lighting will be softened, he added.

The second phase of the plan calls for 18 rooms on the sixth floor to be converted into nine suites.

Van Der Reijden said they are all in a "prime location" because each room faces Samford Hall and overlooks campus. The renovation of the suites is expected to cost $2.2 million of the $10.6 million total.

Van Der Reijden said all the rooms that are presently compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act will be upgraded as well to provide what he calls a "benchmark" for ADA compliancy in the state.

Guests who choose to smoke will have to go to the outside patio area after the project is complete. Currently, only one half of a floor is smoking, but Van Der Reijden said that will end after the renovation.

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