Upscale Hotel for Business Travelers sets Sights on Exit 10
Upscale Hotel for Business Travelers sets Sights on Exit 10
June 5, 2007—Paraphrased Article from The Noblesville Ledger
By: Chris Sikich
A new concept, upscale hotel is coming to Saxony Corporate Campus. Choice Hotels International and Ceres Enterprises plan a Cambria Suites, a new brand, at 13500 Tegler Drive, just off I-69 Exit 10 in Noblesville. The four-story hotel would have 130 suites.
Heather Soule, manager of corporate communications for Choice Hotels, which franchises the brand, said construction should start in September and the hotel should be open in late 2008 or early 2009. She said the Indianapolis market is growing, especially for business travelers. “They (the Cambria Suites hotels) are really cool and really focused on young, hip, lifestyle, Gen X, travelers,” Soule said. “The technology in this place is amazing, and all of the amenities are business focused but at a reasonable price.”
According to Choice Hotels, rooms at Cambria Suites will be 25 percent larger than the industry standard with separate living/sleeping areas. There will be a large-screen television in the open two-story lobby; two flat-screen LCD televisions, CD/DVD player, and MP3 jacks in the suites; and complimentary wired and wireless high-seed Internet access throughout the property.
The hotel also will include a dining area with full barista bar, a fitness center, indoor pool and spa, convenience store and 4,500 square feet of meeting space. It would be Noblesville’s only hotel in the corporate campus, and fourth overall, joining Super 8 Motel, Fairfield Inn, and Suites by Marriott and Quality Inn. Ben Bontrager, interim economic development director, said having an upscale hotel in the corporate campus is vital to the area’s success. “The only way you can have a corporate campus is if you have a nicer hotel for clients who are flying in to stay,” he said. “Business meeting space is a necessity for the corporate campus.”
The first Cambria Suites opened in April in Boise, Idaho. By the time the Noblesville hotel is built, it will be the 30th. Plans call for 50 in 22 states within a couple of years, and 40 percent would be in mixed-use areas like the corporate campus. Choice Hotels has a Cambria Suites similar amenities planned for the I-70 interchange with Ind. 267 in Plainfield.
Ceres Enterprises will develop, own and operate the Noblesville hotel. The company owns nine hotels in Ohio with plans for six more in other areas of the country, said Vice President Kimberly S. Rowell. She said Exit 10 is a good spot for the hotel based on supply and demand, the 146th Street expansion and the multiuse Saxony development. Two more of those six proposed hotels could be earmarked for the Indianapolis area, not counting the one in Plainfield.
While Ceres has traditionally built upscale Marriott and Hilton hotels, she said this will be its first partnership with Choice Hotels. “It’s just been wonderful putting up a new brand,” she said, noting the Indianapolis market is competing with Atlanta, GA.; Tampa, FL.; Chicago, IL.; Charleston and Texas markets for the Cambria Suites sites.
The hotel here is scheduled for a hearing at the Technical Advisory Committee June 21. Assistant Planning Director Andy Wert said the hotel isn’t seeking changes from city standards and the land’s zoning already permits a hotel, so he doesn’t foresee any difficulties.
Choice Hotels franchises 5,300 hotels worldwide. Its brands include Cambria Suites, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Clarion, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge, Roadway Inn, Mainstay Suites and Suburban Extended Stay Hotel.
