Based on the results of a recent study, the construction of a new hotel in Somerville may be on the horizon.
The Pinnacle Advisory Group, a hospitality consulting firm, issued a report in February concluding that a hotel could be built either in Davis Square or along the McGrath Highway.
Of the two options, a hotel in Davis Square would be the best choice, according to Alan Suzuki, a consultant for the Pinnacle Advisory Group who worked on the study.
If a new hotel is built, visitors to Tufts may provide a large number of clients for it. Tufts' Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel said that this will be especially true during the move-in and move-out periods, parents' weekend, homecoming and commencement.
There are also several other occasions in which visitors to campus would require a room, such as "sporting events, concerts, reunions [and] other alumni events," she said.
The "trickle of high school kids looking at colleges" could also help generate revenue for hotels in the area, Rubel said. As a result, a survey about on-campus visitors was sent to the Fletcher School, the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering, as well as departments within them.
According to Suzuki, the survey asked about how many people who seek hotel accommodations visit annually, how long they stay in the area, and what rates they prefer to pay, among other things.
When evaluating these surveys and projecting how many visitors will require hotel rooms, Suzuki said that prospective students and their parents were left out of the tabulations because they often look at several schools in short periods of time and might base their lodging decisions on proximity to schools other than Tufts.
Although Tufts played a role in the final recommendations, there were "a lot of factors," Suzuki said. One of these factors that gave Davis Square the edge over McGrath Highway is the Davis T stop, he said.
Rubel also said that having a T stop in Davis makes it an attractive location for a hotel. "Proximity to Tufts but access to transportation" is an important combination, she said.
Even if visitors to Tufts' campus are not the only group that will provide clients for the hotel, it would likely provide added convenience for them.
Richard Gelmetti, father of sophomore Lauren Gelmetti, said a hotel in Davis Square would be a "homerun."
"If you were in Davis, you could walk to the campus, you could drive to the campus or you could take the Joey," he said. "You can't do that anywhere else."
Gelmetti, who estimates he stays overnight in Somerville between seven and 10 nights a year, usually gets a room at the AmeriSuites Hotel on Riverside Avenue in Medford because it is close to the campus.
But even from there, the commute to the campus is often difficult. "It's a big hassle ... because of the traffic," Gelmetti said.
As a result, having a hotel in Davis could positively impact both its owners, who would profit from visitors to Tufts, and the visitors themselves.
"I think that there is an opportunity for something that's very mutually beneficial," Rubel said.
