Studies conducted in 2008 highlighted the need for newer and higher-quality hotels in the Golden Triangle.
Today”s official grand opening of the Fairfield Inn and Suites off 18th Avenue North in Columbus is part of the answer to that call.
And for the 20 new hires at the plush, new hotel, the business means much more than an opportunity to bolster Columbus” tourism or business travel stays.
“I was so excited, I cried,” Natasha Brownlee said, while wiping another welling tear. “I”m still crying.”
Brownlee, 32, and a mother of four, lives in Columbus and had been out of work for more than a year before being hired to work in customer service at the hotel.
“It”s a big opportunity for me,” said Isaac Fenster, 20, the houseman, also of Columbus. “They said they had over a thousand applications. I was lucky enough (to be hired). I feel blessed to be picked out of that.”
Hotel General Manager Christina Bastow said about 1,300 to 1,400 people applied for positions at the hotel, and more continue to apply.
Community members were excited about the hotel from before developers broke ground, not just for employment opportunities, but to have a new hotel in the area. The 2008 studies revealed every hotel in Columbus is more than 12 years old.
“We had people in the community watching us as we grew, from the ground up,” Bastow said. “They were excited to see someone offering this product in the area.”
The hotel opened quietly at the end of March, and began with an occupancy of about 20 percent in its 85 rooms and 16 suites. It now is up to about 50-percent occupancy.
“We”ve had a good, strong occupancy,” said Bastow. “We had a great start with a lot of businesses in the area.”
“It was just as good if not better than the rest of ours,” said Mitul Patel, chief operating officer for Peachtree Hotel Group, which developed the property, along with local developer Mark Castleberry of Castle Properties. “It”s a good benchmark for recently opened hotels. Our goal is to get to about 70-percent occupancy and a hundred-dollar rate.”
People also booked the hotel for weddings and reunions this summer, before it opened its doors.
“As soon as we got a phone, people started calling,” Bastow said. “They found ways to find us.”
Peachtree also is working on a Fairfield Inn in Montgomery, Ala., and Gasden, Ala., and a Courtyard by Marriott, which will neighbor the Fairfield in Columbus. A 110-room hotel, it is expected to open in mid-2012. Peachtree also plans to break ground on a Marriott Select in Starkville, just off Highway 12, in 2012.
Driving the need for hotels in the Columbus and greater Golden Triangle area is current and developing industry, Columbus Air Force Base and travel to college games at Mississippi State University and the University of Alabama, said Castleberry, adding there also was a demand for Marriott brands in the area.
“Marriott has the larger reservation system. About half their rooms come in through their reservation system, and there”s not a Marriott in the Golden Triangle area,” Castleberry said. “We”re bringing a product that”s not in the market right now.”
Costs were projected at $9.8 million for the Fairfield Inn and Suites and $13.5 million for the Courtyard by Marriott.
The development is drawing attention from IHOP and the Olive Garden, who have inquired about locating nearby, and a Logan”s Roadhouse is expected to open there in August.
Other hotels also are responding to the ripe market. A new Hampton Inn is being developed by Canton-based Jackie”s International. The development, on Highway 45 North, next to Belk department store, is projected to cost $4 million and feature more than 80 rooms. The Wingate by Wyndham in the Brickerton shopping center on Military Road recently underwent a major renovation.
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