AJ Denne’s grandmother called her Tuesday afternoon, prefacing the call with the question: “Are you sitting down?”
She automatically assumed her grandma, who lives in Wilkins, had won the lottery. No such luck.
Instead, Denne, 28, of Jacksonville, Fla., was about to receive news that would upend her upcoming wedding plans.
The DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Monroeville — the site of Denne’s wedding reception scheduled for Nov. 2 — was closing.
The hotel didn’t warn Denne, who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, of the impending closing.
Her first thought was that she and her fiance, Ryan Kwan, 34, of Jacksonville, had already put down a deposit of $1,300 for the reception. Her second thought was that she had purchased a plane ticket for a menu tasting that had been set for April at the hotel.
“Is this happening?” Denne thought to herself. “Is this real life?”
There was no inkling of the hotel’s status when she scheduled the tasting two weeks ago.
The DoubleTree by Hilton officially closed Wednesday. Signs posted at the entrance reinforced the abrupt development: “We Are Closed!”
The announcement came on the heels of the nearby Monroeville Convention Center’s closure. The DoubleTree regularly hosted guests attending events at the convention center.
Yaacov Amar, who identified himself as an agent handling asset management for the owner of the hotel, told TribLive on Tuesday that the DoubleTree has been on the market since October.
Amar declined to share the name of the current owner; Allegheny County real estate records indicate the property at 101 Mall Blvd. is owned by a limited liability corporation, 101 Monroeville Boulevard Owner LLC.
A call to a phone number posted on the hotel’s front door was not returned Wednesday.
Denne said she finally received a call from the DoubleTree’s general manager Wednesday. She was told that she can attempt to transfer her reception date and booking to the DoubleTree in Green Tree or contact the owner for a refund.
The general manager told her only the owner currently has access to the money. Denne said she sent the owner an email saying she would involve her lawyer and credit card company if she doesn’t receive the refund within 24 hours.
More than anything, Denne said is annoyed.
“You don’t treat your customers like that,” Denne said. “You don’t … not let them know that their venue is closing, and there’s nothing they can do about it.”
Denne, who is a neurologic music therapist in a rehabilitation hospital in Jacksonville, grew up in Monroeville and attended Gateway School District. She and her fiancee decided to have their reception in the Pittsburgh area to accommodate older family members.
She and Kwan got engaged last April. They plan to marry in Aruba and decided on the DoubleTree for a reception because they wanted a one-stop-shop for vendors like catering, bar and linens, as well as hotel rooms.
Their reception was set for around 75 people. They had also picked the DoubleTree because they wanted to “avoid the hustle and bustle” of Pittsburgh’s city atmosphere.
After reaching out in various Facebook groups like Pittsburgh Brides, Denne said she received generous offers from other Pittsburgh area vendors and wedding spaces to help with the last-minute change.
“It’s really just going to come down to who has our date, who can do it within our budget, who can provide us a hotel block for a reasonable price,” she said. “It’s just a logistics thing.”
Local impact
With the two recent closures of prominent destinations in the municipality that drew in business, some wonder if Monroeville is facing a downturn.
Denne’s mother, Leslie McBride, a longtime resident of Monroeville and Gateway School Board director, said she initially panicked when she heard about the closure. She said the lack of communication was “unprofessional” and reflects badly on the Hilton name.
While she’s upset on her daughter’s behalf, she’s also concerned about DoubleTree’s employees losing jobs.
John Keating, president of the Rotary Club of Monroeville and resident of the municipality for 35 years, agreed. The group has been meeting in the DoubleTree for around six years, he said.
“We actually feel most concerned and bad for the employees,” said Keating, 60, of Monroeville. “The staff of the DoubleTree was wonderful, and they will be missed.”
It’s not the first time the Rotary Club, which has been around since 1955, has been relocated, he said. Now, they’re on the hunt for a new location somewhere in the municipality.
Keating said he received a call from the manager at the hotel on Tuesday morning letting the club know of the news.
The club will have to cancel a few of its prescheduled speakers, Keating said.
“I don’t think any of it would be deemed shocking,” he said of the closures. “Monroeville used to be a mecca of shopping and people getting off the turnpike.”
Now, there are many online options for shopping, Keating said.
“It used to be a destination,” Keating said. “It’s no longer a destination.”
And it’s a problem that’s not just affecting Monroeville, he said.
“What we’re seeing is being seen and felt everywhere,” Keating said. “I’m not trying to downplay it.”
As a school board member, McBride expressed concern over keeping businesses and families in the district.
“Monroeville as a community, I believe, is resilient,” she said. “Hopefully, we will be able to overcome this and continue to bring people to our community.”
Megan Swift is a TribLive reporter covering trending news in Western Pennsylvania. A Murrysville native, she joined the Trib full time in 2023 after serving as editor-in-chief of The Daily Collegian at Penn State. She previously worked as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the Trib for three summers. She can be reached at [email protected].