Sunsations reaches for sky at the Oceanfront

By Stacy Parker

Correspondent

OCEANRONT

Sunsations Realty, a Virginia Beach-based development group, has ventured into hotels at the resort and will soon unveil a new Hampton Inn.

Ronnie Sibony, a Great Neck area resident and president of the company, said the Hampton Inn and its parking garage, under construction at 11th Street and the Oceanfront, is the company's biggest hotel project to date.

Paradise Plaza Inn, with 90 rooms in Ocean City, Md., was one of the group's leading hotel projects but will be second to the Hampton Inn at 1101 Atlantic Ave. The 10-story building will have 141 rooms, 20 suites and a restaurant. It was designed by CMSS Architects.

Sunsations Realty is a cousin company of Sunsations Inc., which operates several souvenir/clothing shops as well as Haagen-Dazs and Blimpie franchises along the resort strip. Top Gun Mini-Golf & Arcade, which recently opened on 25th Street, is a Sunsations endeavor, too.

Sibony and his brothers, who migrated to the United States from Israel more than two decades ago, opened their first Sunsations store in Ocean City, Md. They have 40 chains in resorts along the East Coast, from New Jersey to Florida.

Sunsations Realty, which proposed the condominium towers River's Edge at Berkley across the Elizabeth River from downtown Norfolk in 2007, also stepped into the hotel business in Virginia Beach with the renovation of an aging building on 19th Street last year.

They redesigned a former nightclub and shaped a new hotel at 203 19th St. The 19 Atlantic Hotel has 68 guest rooms and a rooftop deck that overlooks Atlantic Avenue with views of the ocean.

"It has a lot of character," Sibony said.

He described it as a "boutique hotel."

"It has that New York City atmosphere; it's young; it's hip," he said.

19 Atlantic Hotel is closed for the winter. It will reopen in the spring.

"We're looking forward to the brand name Hampton Inn, and, that it is a new property, will entice business," said Santiago Monzon, who is handling pre-opening functions including reservations. He added that while 19 Atlantic is a seasonal hotel, the Hampton Inn will be open year-round.

Stacy Parker, stacyparker@cox.net