Tour de Garden City

Patrick Smalley, executive vice president of The Garden City Hotel, was staying at the five-star Le Meurice Hotel in Paris last year when he watched as a doorman came outside with a bicycle to give to a hotel guest.

Then it occurred to him. If this historic, two centuries old, luxury hotel in the heart of Paris could offer bicycle rentals to its guests, why not the Garden City Hotel? "I thought 'what a fantastic idea,'" Smalley said. "Garden City is such a historic, beautiful village. You can't imagine a more pleasant village to ride your bike around."

The hotel, located at 45 Seventh Street, launched the program in July 2009 with four stylish Raleigh Retro Glide NX3 bicycles. The bikes come with helmets and locks. The Garden City Hotel now has eight bicycles and will soon expand to 12 because of high demand.  

Bicycling is very popular in Europe, Smalley said, and the hotel receives many guests from European cities, so it works well for them. Weekend visitors, whether here for business or pleasure, find the bicycle rentals a good diversion, Smalley said, adding, "The bicycles have added a new dimension to their stay at the Garden City Hotel."

The bicycles are complimentary for hotel guests who can take them out all day if they choose. To make excursions more enjoyable, guests are offered bike routes – to favorite shops and stores along Franklin Avenue and Seventh Street as well as to the Cathedral of the Incarnation, the 19th century Gothic structure.

While the vast majority of hotel guests use the bikes for excursions around town, Smalley said the hotel's bikes have been spotted as far away as Jones Beach and Sea Cliff. Smalley said he was recently driving along Merrick Road when he saw a guest riding one of the distinct bikes, which are emblazoned with the Garden City Hotel logo on the front of the basket. The rider was on a bike path heading in the direction of Jones Beach.

Smalley said the introduction of the free bicycle rentals was more than just a nice hotel perk. It was done with the intention of advancing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle, he said. He believes many towns and villages would want to launch similar programs.

"Garden City can lead the way for other communities – as Garden City often does – in promoting a healthy lifestyle, and riding your bike is healthy. This is a village that has stood the test of time for 150 years. Now we have a chance to take this into the future," he said.

Smalley said guests of the hotel, and even visitors attending one of the many functions at the hotel, are often taken aback when they see the cool blue-colored retro bikes parked in the bike rack, or watching a hotel guest going for a ride.

"It's a big deal for people to see these bikes. They take great notice of it. It's just fun. It's something we've done as kids, and as adults, and it doesn't go out of style," he said.

At a time when the economy has squeezed so many hotels, even luxury brands like The Garden City Hotel, you might wonder why Smalley isn't charging guests for bike rentals. But that was never the objective in starting up this program.

"This is about promoting a healthier lifestyle," Smalley said. "It is the right thing to do."