Hospitality. Assembly line. Traditionally these two terms seem at odds, since no one in the hospitality industry wants guests to feel as if they’re on an assembly line.

But Ernest Del Monte discovered there is a place for the assembly line in the hospitality industry. In the late 1950s, Del Monte began to combine his experience in aerospace manufacturing with his experience in real estate development, construction and property management. The revolutionary Delcrete precast concrete building system was born.

Patented Delcrete machinery and methods produce precision precast modules which assemble quickly to create hospitals, office buildings, correctional facilities, dormitories and other housing. And in the construction of hotels, the advantages of Delcrete technology really shine.

"What we’re doing is bringing manufacturing technology into the building business. We’re using trained people in a controlled environment, so we get higher yields and higher quality than you can achieve on site. We took the most stringent building codes and made them our standards," Del Monte explains. Quality is particularly important to the Del Monte Corporation, since it develops, constructs, owns and operates the hotels it manufactures.

"We wear a lot of hats. We’re involved from the time we put portland cement in our silos to the time a guest rests his or her head on our pillow," Del Monte says. With that unique perspective, Del Monte now manufactures every hotel room module with CORIAN^® surfaces.

"We like what CORIAN^® offers aesthetically, coupled with its longevity and what it does for us performance-wise over the years. In manufacturing, it’s easier to handle, easier to fabricate than a lot of other materials. No contest.

"We are developing a plant in the South with eight to ten times the capacity we have now. There’s no question in my mind that this is the way it’s going to happen in the future."

Magic Boxes
The Delcrete five-sided, precast concrete room module includes all amenities required to serve two hotel rooms, including a four-pipe HVAC system and CORIAN^® surfaces. Modules are erected by crane in a matter of minutes.
Delcrete precision wall and floor panels are then raised into position and secured with high-strength Delcrete couplers. This system provides structural integrity that meets seismic zone four requirements.