Sioux City Journal

Riverfront hotel to open this summer - Hilton Garden Inn will feature 123 rooms

By Bret Hayworth / Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Hilton Garden Inn is shown here under construction on March 1. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)

SIOUX CITY - The Missouri Riverfront landscape will look much differently by summer, when the sole hotel mere yards away from the river on the Iowa side opens in an area that has been greatly reworked in recent years.

The brothers who developed MlrTym Marina and opened the upscale Bev's on the River restaurant are at it again. Larry Miller and Roger Miller will open Hilton Garden Inn, a 123-room, three-story hotel targeted at the business traveler and families coming for city recreation.

MlrTym Marina, 1100 Larsen Park Road, opened in May 2004 and Bev's, 1110 Larsen Park Road, followed in December 2005. Just to the west, the Hilton Garden Inn will open at 1132 Larsen Park.

City community development director Patty Heagel said the Millers have done well with a development agreement to improve the riverfront. Heagel said they have surpassed expectations.

Larry Miller said the proximity of the Missouri River and Interstate 29 makes for a natural site for a hotel placement.

"The location almost demands a hotel. I can't believe that it could be a better location," he said.

"I think it is a beautiful site - we have the river, Bev's and the marina. It kind of completes the package. We are close to the (Tyson) events center, we are close to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. We are very easy to see and recognize and exit, right off the interstate."

Sioux City native Miller said the Millers looked at many hotel franchises, but Hilton Garden Inn was the best fit. The Garden Inn is part of the 3,000-hotel Hilton chain, with Hilton, Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites and Hilton Garden Inn among them. The nearest Hilton Garden Inns are in Des Moines and Omaha.

"They are expanding rather rapidly," Larry Miller said. "They have a great track record... They want to be the first choice of the travelers in the mid-priced segment, and I think they are."

He said the room prices haven't been set, but would likely begin in the high-$90's. The 123 rooms will include about 30 suites, including two jumbo suites. Miller raved about the amenities patrons will see, including a pavilion on entering the main lobby, which will feature oversized couches and a fireplace.

The hotel will have a small lounge just off the lobby, a large kitchen to serve a full breakfast menu, a business center with copying machines and Wifi access. Additionally, Hilton Garden Inn will have a large swimming pool, kid's pool and fitness center with workout machines. In the rooms, ergonomically-correct chairs will be available and the mattresses will adjust to being softer or firmer depending upon user desires, Miller explained.

A television in the rooms? Of course, a 32-inch LCD flat screen, Miller said.

"There is no hotel in the area that has got anything like that in a room, and that's in every room," he stated.

The closeness of the Hilton to Bev's will be a boon to businesspersons, he said, since the large banquet room there will be available for business meetings.

Hilton Garden Inn will employ 50 to 60 full- and part-time workers. The most likely opening date of the 150,000-square-foot facility is mid-July.

Miller said interest in the riverfront hotel is high.

"We're getting a lot of inquiries," he said. "Of course everyone wants us to be open in April or May or June for their reunion or their get-together of whatever sort. We're going to go after the business traveler here in town, here in Siouxland, and try and show them the best hotel room that the area has to offer."