The Garden City Hotel's owners, the Nelkin Family, said they are exploring options for the future of their family business - including potential new ownership scenarios - to take the leading luxury property to its next level of success.

"We are looking to a new and exciting beginning for The Garden City Hotel that builds on an enviable history and impressive strengths. We are poised for continued success and taking steps to optimize it," Patrick Smalley, executive vice president of The Garden City Hotel, who serves as chief business manager and advisor on property strategies, hotel operations, sales and marketing and finance, said.

The third-generation Nelkin-led business aims to ensure the landmark property's profitable and successful future, building on the achievements of patriarch Myron Nelkin who passed away in July 2007.

Smalley continued, adding, "While we plan our future, we are focused on delivering the best in hospitality to our guests and clients today. We have a long-standing reputation as Long Island's leading hotel property, a trusted employer and an excellent service provider to all of our guests."

The luxury hotel has been a centerpiece of Garden City, attracting the great and good, since 1874. The hotel was originally designated as the focal point of Garden City - 7,000 acres of land 20 miles from New York City - by Alexander Turney Stewart to attract a famous and wealthy clientele from around the world. One of the most notable visitors, Charles Lindbergh, slept at the hotel in 1927 on the night before his trans-Atlantic flight. The hotel remains popular with today's high-flyers from the worlds of business, sports and entertainment.

Garden City Mayor Peter Bee said the Nelkin family - the latest stewards of this landmark - have done an exemplary job in keeping the hotel an integral part of the life and culture of the village and will be sorely missed. "We are confident that the brand that the Nelkins built will attract the type of four-star hotelier that will continue the tradition and successfully manage the change. The village is ready to assist any prospective buyer that intends to continue this grand tradition," he added.

The hotel marks a collection of first-class luxury services in 2007, including top-Zagat rated restaurants, an internationally renowned and award-winning chef and a tradition of acclaimed hotel services that have earned it the Preferred Hotels and Resorts group's Preferred Standard of Excellence status.

Garden City Village Historian John Ellis Kordes said, "The Nelkins continued the legacy of Garden City Hotels with the fourth Garden City Hotel, which opened in 1983. We are very fortunate to have a family operating the hotel. The care they took in the everyday operations of the hotel, the relationship they had with the village and the support they gave to many local organizations they supported through the years was always appreciated. If it does get sold we can only hope the new owners operate the hotel as well as the Nelkins did."

The village recently granted the hotel's owners a zoning variance to move ahead with a partial condominium conversion, with a stipulation that the establishment's nightclub, Posh, be closed prior to the issuance of certificates of occupancy. Hotel officials have already gone ahead and closed the popular club.

"The Garden City Hotel continues to evolve with the highest standards of excellence in hospitality that will continue to position us not just as a world-class destination for leisure travelers from around the world but also for our valued Long Island clientele," Smalley added.

For public information about The Garden City Hotel call 747-3000.

Carisa Giardino contributed to this article.