BY MATTHEW LYSIAK
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Tuesday, December 11th 2007, 4:00 AM
Adams IV for News
The eight-story upscale LeBleu Hotel is located on Fourth Ave.'s industrial - but up-and-coming - strip.
Rooms renting for up to $369 a night feature plasma television, a Bose stereo system and complimentary flaxseed body lotion.
This hotel has all the accommodations: 42-inch plasma televisions, Bose stereo systems, complimentary flaxseed body lotions - and a Jiffy Lube right next door.
Its Hotel Le Bleu, Park Slope's lap of luxury right in the heart of Fourth Ave.'s industrial strip, jammed between a taxi company and a car repair service.
The elegant eight-story Brooklyn hotel features 48 rooms ranging in price from $329-$369, with the higher price offering a view of the lower Manhattan skyline - and a nearby Hertz Rent a Truck depot.
But the upscale hotel in an area sooner associated with prostitution than fine living has raised more than a few eyebrows since it opened its doors last month.
"It's crazy to see this kind of hotel popping up in the middle of this area," said Joseph Panaro, a dog walker who regularly traverses the strip. "It took me by complete surprise. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense."
Most residents were surprised, but they're quick to agree that this isn't your father's Fourth Ave. - especially since the trendiness of Seventh Ave. has crept down to Fifth Ave. in recent years and seems to be unstoppable.
"We thought it was weird at first, but this area is changing," said Susan Cee, 46, who works at Staples on the next block.
"Look around. This is not an industrial area anymore," said Steve Winson, who works at Taxis Needed, next to the new hotel. "We are up and coming."
Hotel owner Joe Tonacchio said people laughed at his idea to build a hotel surrounded by noisy construction and a Jiffy Lube - but he could end up with the last laugh.
"Mark my words, within five years Fourth Ave. will be the next Park Ave.," Tonacchio said.
That's because the industrial buildings and smokestacks that formerly marked the strip are giving way to condos as the historically gritty stretch is in the midst of a face-lift to accommodate the growing demand for housing overflowing from Manhattan.
Tonacchio, who also owns a condominium directly across from the hotel, says get used to it.
"Parts of Fourth Ave. are still industrial, but in the next year or two, 3,000 apartments will be nearby," Tonacchio said.
"Most of these people don't have enough room to house guests from out of town."
Of course, there also will be the Manhattan business class looking for a slice of Brooklyn.
"It's different, but I like it," said first-time Le Bleu guest Joel Billings, who was on a business trip from South Carolina. "It is kind of eclectic and it is cheaper than Manhattan. I have to say we are satisfied."
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