Sunday, July 15, 2007


LACEY, Jul. 15, 2007 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Two new hotels and a south Thurston County resort are expected to increase the number of hotel rooms in the county by more than 500, up nearly 50 percent since a count taken in 2005, new data shows.

The new hotels and resort are:

--Candlewood Suites, a 60-room extended-stay hotel at 4440 Third Ave S.E., Lacey. It is expected to open in late July, InterContinental Hotels Group (OOTC:ICHGF) (NYSE:IHG) spokeswoman Caroline Sanfilippo said.

--Holiday Inn Express, an 80-room hotel at 4460 Third Ave. S.E., Lacey. It is expected to open in late summer, Sanfilippo said.

--Great Wolf Lodge, a 393-room hotel, resort and indoor water park in south Thurston County that is expected to open early next year, according to Great Wolf Resorts (NASDAQ:WOLF) of Wisconsin.

To date, including the Candlewood Suites and the Holiday Inn Express rooms, the county has 2,121 hotel and motel rooms divided among 24 properties, Olympia Lacey Tumwater Visitor & Convention Bureau data shows.

Combined with Great Wolf Lodge's 393 rooms, it will push the county's total room count to 2,514, or 48 percent higher than the 1,700 rooms reported in 2005, according to VCB data.

Tourism

Thurston County's recent growth and the arrival of stores such as the 185,000-square-foot outdoors store Cabela's will bring tourists to the area, VCB Executive Director Tamara Garcia said.

'All of that positions our region to be very attractive,' she said.

Tourism spending in Thurston County continues to be strong, according to state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development data.

From 1999 to 2005, tourism spending in the county grew at an average annual rate of 5.8 percent, rising from $161.5 million to $240.4 million, according to the data.

Since 1991, tourism spending has increased 120 percent.

Other drivers for hoteliers are the county's proximity to state government and Fort Lewis, said Ed Shaw, regional director of sales for InterContinental.

'The Lacey area has both of these, along with the draw of Puget Sound, making it an ideal market for Holiday Inn Express and Candlewood Suites,' Shaw said.

Based in Atlanta, InterContinental is the franchisor of the Candlewood Suites and Holiday Inn Express brands, Sanfilippo said.

Franchise owners for the two new Lacey hotels could not immediately be reached, she said.

The Candlewood Suites in Lacey also is the first one in the state, but soon it will be followed by Candlewood Suites in Oak Harbor and Sumner, Sanfilippo said.

More hotels could be coming to Thurston County.

They include:

--A 107-room Marriott Fairfield Inn in Hawks Prairie.

--A 100-room Hampton Inn & Suites in Olympia.

--Hotels both near downtown Olympia and the city's west side.

Lacey associate city planner Ryan Andrews said California developers met with city officials about bringing a Marriott hotel to Hawks Prairie in March. Since then the city has yet to receive a site plan review application for the hotel, Andrews said.

Olympia city officials also have heard ideas for a Hampton Inn on Martin Way, a hotel near Interstate 5 at the Henderson roundabout, and a hotel on the city's west side between Highway 101 and Cooper Point Road, community planning manager Todd Stamm said.

However, the city has yet to be notified about new plans for any of those projects, he said.

Rolf Boone covers business for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5403 or at  rboone@theolympian.com.

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