Monday, January 09, 2006

Checking into Hotel Furniture Sales

Hotel furniture and fixture sales are an affordable way to decorate a home or an office with sofas, tables and other items. From chunky '50s-style couches to funky lamps, hotel redecorating sales offer a range of unusual merchandise at a great price.

Due to frequent remodeling programs, new ownership or teardowns, many hotels offer special clearance sales. In my household we purchased dressers, lights and television sets for less than $25 each at a hotel on South Beach several years ago.

MIAMI BEACH SALES


In December the Seville Beach Hotel at 2901 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, sold the contents from its rooms. Items included double beds for $40 each, dressers for $15 and black-out drapes for $10. Lamps, pictures and armchairs were $5 each. Handled by International Content Liquidations Inc., the sale also included Art Deco ''lipstick chairs,'' color TVs, a piano, office furniture and assorted fixtures.

Shoppers at the recent sale included Karen Fryd, founder of the South Florida Youth Foundation. Fryd purchased furniture and fixtures for several nonprofit organizations.

''I thought the prices were phenomenal,'' Fryd wrote in a recent e-mail. ''We did great for a couple hundred bucks!''

With assistance from teachers and volunteers, she bought a stainless steel service table and a banquet table.

Hotel content sales are usually advertised in newspapers. I have also seen fliers and posters touting sales. Hotel liquidation companies often post schedules of upcoming sales on their websites.

TRENDY PIECES AND REALITY TV

With a mixture of functional and fashionable furniture, hotel sales have become trendy. The concept is even featured in magazines. In a recent article about affordable home design, the editors of Woman's World featured hotelsurplus.com, a California-based company that purchases and re-sells hotel furnishings.

''The tremendous competition in the hotel market generates a constant pressure on hotels to upgrade the furnishings in their properties to reflect the most current decorating trends,'' according to a company statement. ``Therefore, a large number of hotels often liquidate relatively recent furniture on a cyclical basis.''

The company's website and California warehouse is stocked with all kinds of ''no-longer-needed, gently used'' pieces from top-rated hotels, according to the magazine. Recent deals include Barnabey's Olde Style Armoires for $150 each, glass and pewter tables for $20 and large overstuffed chairs for $50.

The company's merchandise has been featured on several television shows including HGTV's Design On A Dime. You can find what's for sale at http://www.hotelsurplus.com.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

When we moved into our Little House on Prairie 20 years ago, we furnished the house from a hotel liquidation sale. That hotel is now the site of a luxury condo at the corner of Prairie and Dade Blvd. We also got some things from the hotel at Pine Tree and 41st St. that is now a Walgreens.