Allegria GM: 'Boardwalk Has Major Effect on Business'

Nasser Samman, the general manager of the Allegria Hotel in Long Beach, attended Sen. Charles Schumer’s press conference on Monday, when the senator vowed to push for more funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to expeditiously rebuild a better, stronger boardwalk that its predecessor that was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. He asked him when the actual rebuilding would begin. 

“This is the only business facing the ocean,” Samman said about the hotel. “And that boardwalk has a major effect on the business.”

While Schumer said he understood Samman’s plea and hoped the Allegria fills up quickly, construction would depend on the work of City of Long Beach officials.
In answer to a priror questioner, though, City Manager Jack Schnirman said that until the city finalizes the materials to use to rebuild the new boardwalk and puts out a bid for construction, the city won’t have a firm timeline.

“Of course, that timeline will be as fast as possible, but it’s premature right now to say it will be ready by any specific date,” Schnirman added.

Earlier in the boardwalk rebuilding process, some city officials and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, D-Long Beach, said that the goal was to rebuild the boardwalk by early summer.

“My concern, of course, is not getting the boardwalk back in time for the summer season,” Nasser said after the press conference, held in the shadows of the Allegria on National beach. “With the boardwalk here there is a lot of businesses that come through those doors over there. We’re hoping for the boardwalk to be back in time for the summer season, but at the same time we always have a contingency plan.”

Nasser said that plan includes marketing initiatives and advertising. The hotel is currently at 70 percent occupancy, he said, and compared to this time last year, the establishment is doing “fantastic from a food and beverage end. We’re right in line with that. We’re doing good.”

The general manager at the Garden City Hotel for 15 years, Samman was hired last September as the general manager at the Allegria, a 150-room hotel that offers ocean views, a restaurant featuring a American cuisine, a grand ballroom and lounge, and fitness and business centers. Samman told Patch his goals were to exceed expectations in customer service and make the Allegria “the number one hotel on Long Island, where the Hamptons meets New York City.”

In June, before his arrival, a bankruptcy judge approved a plan to reorganize the finances of the seaside establishment, after owner Allen Rosenberg filed for Chapter 11 protection. His development company, Alrose King David, listed between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities to more than 50 creditors after dozens of contractors sued the company for unpaid work on the hotel.

After Hurricane Sandy slammed Long Beach in October, Samman told Patch that flooding caused millions of dollars in damages at the hotel. On Monday, he declined to put a dollar amount on the damage but confirmed that it was “substantial.”

While some people have suggested that another storm like Sandy could seriously compromise the hotel building, Samman said it remains stronger than ever. “I don’t have 100 percent feedback on that, but the construction and insurance people came in and everyone who basically knows about that stuff checked it and inspected it and we fixed it.”

Follow Long Beach Patch on Facebook


MORE NEWS
Long Beach Residents Demand Beach Protection — Now!
Residents Eye Other Beach Communities’ Replenishment EffortsSchumer Pushes FEMA for More Boardwalk Funds
Appellate Court Denies Nassau Repeal of County Tax Guarantee
Supermarket Reopens Under New Name