By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

Last week, the Garden City Hotel made headlines in newspapers and on television: not for hosting a grand gala or wedding, but for emerging victorious from a lawsuit they filed against the developer who was attempting to purchase the landmark.

Patrick Smalley, the hotel's executive vice president, told the Garden City News that there are no plans to search for another buyer, and added that the Garden City Hotel will remain in the hands of the Nelkin family at least into the next generation.

Also, Smalley said that "after a great deal of thought," the family has decided to keep the hotel exclusively for guests and will not be converting any portion of the hotel into condominiums. In May, 2007, the Nelkins had hired architects to improve plans for architectural enhancements to the façade. At the time, Myron Nelkin, who built the present-day hotel, was seeking to convert the top four floors of the building to condominiums. He died in July of that year.

"It's a grand hotel, and it should stay that way," Smalley said.

Smalley said that they now plan to "overhaul the overnight experience for guests" with high-definition flat screen televisions and sleep-sensitive bedding. The enhancements may help woo more business travelers; this is a group in which the hotel has seen reservations decrease considerably due to the recession.

However, the hotel's overall bottom line was better in 2008 than in the year before, according to Smalley. He explained that people do not postpone having a wedding or gala because the economy has entered into a recession.

It was just over one year ago, on January 4, 2008, when Cento Properties Company and the Garden City Hotel agreed to sell the hotel to Allen Rosenberg of the Alrose Group for $91 million.

On Dec. 22, Nassau State Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Bucaria decided that Rosenberg defaulted on the purchase due to his failure to close on April 18, the date agreed upon by both parties. The court dismissed Rosenberg's claims that the hotel owners had breached the contract by neglecting daily operations. In addition, the judge ruled that Rosenberg is not entitled to reimbursement of his $6 million down payment. Rosenberg is appealing that portion of the decision.