Dec. 15–A new hotel chain took over the site of Beverly Heritage Hotel at 1820 Barber Lane last week, with the goal of turning the property into one that draws world travelers to Milpitas.

On Dec. 5, Boston-based Sonesta International Hotels Corp. announced the acquisition of its first West Coast hotel called Sonesta Silicon Valley in Milpitas, a rebranding of the familiar site west of Interstate 880.

The Beverly Heritage Hotel property had been put on sale by its owner Fillmore Capital Partners, whose Fillmore Hospitality division managed. The site was purchased by Hospitality Properties Trust, with Sonesta taking on the management of the site as Sonesta Silicon Valley. Hospitality Properties Trust, which also manages Crowne Plaza hotel at 777 Bellew Drive, did not return calls regarding details of the sale or its purchase price by press time.

According to Sonesta, the 236-room hotel will undergo major interior and exterior renovations including technology upgrades. The hotel's longtime restaurant, Brandon's Restaurant & Grill, will continue to operate through the renovations, which city staff says should be completed by late 2018.

Greg Magee, the general manager of Beverly Heritage and now Sonesta Silicon Valley, said this week that the changes in the hotel were primarily in branding and name.

Beverly Heritage — one of the first "boutique independent hotels" in the area — had grown into a Milpitas landmark since its opening in 1984. Magee said that will not change with its rebranding as Sonesta has a collection of hotels which are deemed unique in areas where they do business.

"Unique in that they celebrate the flavor of the local area and they use it in the design, certainly using local area products and locally-sourced produce and food items for their culinary offerings in their restaurant," Magee said.

Saying the rebranding would be an enhancement for the hotel, Magee said nationwide Sonesta hotels tend to be four-star hotels that are in competition with other chains like Marriott Hotels.

He added that all of 83 Beverly Heritage's employees would stay on with the new hotel brand and that the employees were excited about the future renovations.

Edesa Bitbadal, Milpitas' economic development director, said the city was "very excited about this brand joining the city of Milpitas. It's a full service hotel and it's a well known brand internationally. …Brand hotels like this have a following, they become destination hotels versus for people who are just shopping for the best value."