New luxury extended-stay hotel opens in New Haven

The Blake Hotel, a luxury extended-stay facility officially opened its doors Wednesday. The Blake Hotel, a luxury extended-stay facility officially opened its doors Wednesday. Photo: Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close New luxury extended-stay hotel opens in New Haven 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — The Blake Hotel, a luxury extended-stay facility with a Michelin-star chef at its restaurant — a first for New Haven — officially opened its doors Wednesday to accolades from city and business officials.

The 108-room boutique hotel at 9 High St. in the heart of downtown, near Yale University, is the latest in a number of hotels proposed for the city, which often has to send visitors to nearby towns to find lodging as biotech, computer software and medical research businesses continue to grow here.

Every room at the hotel has a kitchenette and a living space designed by HVS Design and Alexander Waterhouse Interiors.

Just over a year ago, the site was an underutilized parking lot and car rental facility before Randy Salvatore of RMS Companies in Stamford got the approval for the hotel, which along with new Metro Star apartments on George Street is transforming this part of the city.

Salvatore told Mayor Toni Harp that she has “truly created a business-friendly culture here in New Haven which makes a real estate developer like myself eager to continue to make large investments in this great city.”

It is the kind of remark that the city has been working toward for a decade.

“I am personally so bullish on New Haven’s future,” Salvatore said.

Salvatore is in the middle of finishing one apartment complex in the Hill neighborhood and is ready to pull building permits on two other related projects. He also built the 136-room Novella apartments in the Dwight neighborhood, which he sold for $40 million.

This is the fifth boutique hotel constructed by RMS Companies in Connecticut. It also owns and operates the Goodwin Hotel in Hartford and is the chosen developer of Downtown North near Dunkin’ Donuts Park, where he has proposed a mixed-use neighborhood.

In a tour of The Blake, which is named for Alice Blake, the first woman to graduate from Yale Law School, Salvatore emphasized that he hoped the large, open lounge, bar and the Hamilton Park restaurant will be a meeting space for city residents, in addition to hotel guests.

“We want this to be a place that people gather at all times of the day. ... We want this to be activated. ... That is what is going to create the excitement and vibrancy for the place. That was really the way the place was designed,” Salvatore said as he led a tour of the ground floor, the basement exercise room and some of the guest rooms and suites.

There are several areas in the hotel where conferences, business meetings and potentially a wedding can be accommodated in the facility at the corner of High and George streets.

The room rate varies, but they start around $275 a night. There are a few parking spots on the site, but valet service will take care of the majority of guests arriving by car.

Matt Lambert of New York City’s acclaimed The Musket Room will run Hamilton Park and the rooftop bar. In addition to Lambert, The Musket Room is run by Barbara Lambert and Jen Vitagliano and features New Zealand cuisine. Overseeing the bar is Eben Freeman, a mixologist from New York City.

Hamilton Park is named for the large athletic center built in the 1850s in the area of Whalley Avenue near Hubinger Street and Edgewood Park. It served as home to multiple Yale athletic events until 1884.

The main restaurant opens to the public on Friday night.

When the weather warms up, the hotel will have a rooftop lounge, restaurant (with a separate menu), bar and private meetings rooms in a space with a retractable glass roof. An outdoor patio adjacent to the ground-floor restaurant also will open in the spring.

Lambert, who spoke to the crowd of officials in front of his open kitchen, said they do everything in-house. The plan is to source all the ingredients from New England. The restaurant will serve 95 diners, which will grow to 140 when the patio is open.

“Anywhere you sit in this dining room, you will get the same level of service. There is basically no detail that isn’t as important as the next,” the chef said.

The guest rooms have a microwave, a cooktop, espresso machine, dishwasher, dishes and cutlery.

“If you are staying for an extended stay you can cook for yourself,” Salvatore said.

There will also be a 24-hour market on the ground floor with local snacks and some food from the restaurant for sale.

Downstairs, the exercise room has interactive programmable equipment to allow guests to call up instructors to lead them through their workout choice, including boxing.

“It is at your schedule. It is at your time. This has become more important for people who travel. The idea of an extended stay is, if you stay for a few months at a time, then you are not giving up anything in terms of your normal exercise routine,” Salvatore said.

Harp said the quality of the hotel “speaks about the progress in New Haven in a larger sense, as well.”

“With growth in the city’s technology sector, this hotel is now available for those interviewing or studying at the Holberton School, applying for jobs at SeeClickFix or QCI, or looking for start-up space at Science Park and the District,” Harp said, ticking off some of the latest growth areas.

The next hotel scheduled to be finished in the near future is “Graduate New Haven,” the upgraded refurbished version of the Duncan Hotel on Chapel Street.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577