Warsaw’s Newest Hotel Open For Business Beginning Friday
April 21, 2020 at 2:40 a.m.
Warsaw’s Newest Hotel Open For Business Beginning Friday
By David [email protected]
Fairfield Inn & Suites is at 54 Petro Drive, Warsaw, between Walmart and Kohl’s. The Fairfield by Marriott is owned by Warsaw Hospitality LLC and operated by Ascent Hospitality.
Wanda Hough, regional director of operations for Ascent Hospitality Management Co. LLC, said they’re opening even with the coronavirus pandemic and the governor’s stay-at-home order going on “because we’re ready, and everything was already in place prior to this situation that has occurred. Our staff has been on board, so ownership, we decided we’ll move forward. And, actually, we’re ahead of schedule, which is phenomenal.”
Originally, Fairfield Inn & Suites was not supposed to open until May 30, according to General Manager Chiquita Lane.
Lane said the need for more hotel rooms in the Warsaw area was what brought Fairfield Inn here.
“There’s definitely a need for more hotels in the area with all the orthopedic (companies),” she said. “And then (the City County Athletic Complex) as well. Companies need hotels to come in, as well as Grace College. So there’s just a great need in the area. And Warsaw is just up and growing, so why not put a Marriott (here).”
Hough said, “This brand is a great fit for this market, too, because your corporate traveler – Marriott is very recognized – and there’s our new Marriott Bonvoy point system. So your business traveler recognizes it. Their average traveler went 2.5 nights a week in a Marriott location such as this.”
Lane said the hotel has 92 rooms, plus a board room and meeting room. “It’s a mix of single kings, two queens and then we have some suites in there as well,” she said.
Hough said Fairfield is more referred to as “select service.” “So select service usually means it’s limited as far as, we do offer a fabulous hot breakfast, but we wouldn’t have dining options available in the evening or room service or things like that. They have a great start breakfast with omelets, eggs, two different kinds of proteins, fruits, cereals, waffles,” she said.
Once fully opened, the hotel will provide up to about 20 new jobs to the area.
“If we were opening under normal circumstances, I’d probably would have done about 20. But right now, due to the circumstances we’re under, probably around 10 at this point. But we’re hoping, as soon as things get back to normal, we’ll increase our team. We do have folks waiting that want to come on board with us,” Hough said.
Friday’s opening begins the “soft opening” for the hotel. “Especially when your staff is so new, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed. So we tend to like to do our ribbon-cuttings with chambers and stuff about 60 to 90 days after we open. That gives us a chance to kind of work out the kinks and have the opportunity to have a bit of a better presence in the community,” Hough said.
Hough and Lane provided a tour of the Fairfield Inn on Monday.
When one comes in the door, the front desk is to the right with the lobby to the left. Straight ahead is the breakfast dining area, with the “farm table” upfront. The hotel is designed after founder J. Willard Marriott’s farm, “he wanted it to have that home farm feeling that he grew up with, that he had,” Lane said.
“We have other Fairfields in different locations, in which you come down in the morning and you do see a lot of people gathering, under normal circumstances,” Hough said.
Down the hall is the exercise facility. All the equipment has personal viewers on them so users can plug in their headset and watch whatever station they want to while exercising, Hough said. It’s open 24 hours under normal circumstances, just like the indoor pool is. The pool is saline, not chlorine, “so it’s not as harmful,” she said.
The meeting room can hold a classroom of about 25-30 people. It has an LCD projector and an USB can be plugged into the television.
All the TVs in the hotel are 55 inches. “Our televisions, we have the new TV platform. It has Hulu, Netflix. So if you have a Netflix account, you can log into your account through the TV, and then once you check out, it automatically deletes your information,” Hough said. There’s also Crackle, Amazon Prime available, with HBO To Go and Showtime To Go that’s free, while the latest movies at theaters also can be purchased.
All the guest rooms do have microwaves, refrigerators and keurigs standard.
“One of the latest editions to Marriott is the going green initiative,” Hough said.
Lane said guests are given the option if they want renewed towels every day or just reuse the ones they have. The amenities – like shampoo and liquid soap – are now provided in bulk.
“It used to be the little plastic containers, and Marriott, this is their new initiative for going green because they last longer because those other bottles, people use them and throw them away. Well, now, we can get better use out of these products. Plus, it’s an upgraded product, too, it’s a Teatree, which is upgraded,” Hough said.
The room choices they showed included a standard king room; a king suite with separate seating area and two TVs; and a standard two-queen room. The beds are Comfort Suites from Serta. “They incredible beds, very comfortable beds,” Hough said.
The blinds in the rooms “give you a feeling of being outside,” Hough said.
There is guest laundry, too, at the hotel for visitors to wash their clothes.
As for room prices, Hough said, “We’ll be priced comparable to the market, such as priced in with a Hampton and Best Western and Wyndham.”
Lane and Hough said everyone is ready for the new business to open.
“We’re ready. We are ready. The staff is very excited. I know she’s (Lane) is ready to be opening,” Hough said.
Fairfield Inn & Suites is at 54 Petro Drive, Warsaw, between Walmart and Kohl’s. The Fairfield by Marriott is owned by Warsaw Hospitality LLC and operated by Ascent Hospitality.
Wanda Hough, regional director of operations for Ascent Hospitality Management Co. LLC, said they’re opening even with the coronavirus pandemic and the governor’s stay-at-home order going on “because we’re ready, and everything was already in place prior to this situation that has occurred. Our staff has been on board, so ownership, we decided we’ll move forward. And, actually, we’re ahead of schedule, which is phenomenal.”
Originally, Fairfield Inn & Suites was not supposed to open until May 30, according to General Manager Chiquita Lane.
Lane said the need for more hotel rooms in the Warsaw area was what brought Fairfield Inn here.
“There’s definitely a need for more hotels in the area with all the orthopedic (companies),” she said. “And then (the City County Athletic Complex) as well. Companies need hotels to come in, as well as Grace College. So there’s just a great need in the area. And Warsaw is just up and growing, so why not put a Marriott (here).”
Hough said, “This brand is a great fit for this market, too, because your corporate traveler – Marriott is very recognized – and there’s our new Marriott Bonvoy point system. So your business traveler recognizes it. Their average traveler went 2.5 nights a week in a Marriott location such as this.”
Lane said the hotel has 92 rooms, plus a board room and meeting room. “It’s a mix of single kings, two queens and then we have some suites in there as well,” she said.
Hough said Fairfield is more referred to as “select service.” “So select service usually means it’s limited as far as, we do offer a fabulous hot breakfast, but we wouldn’t have dining options available in the evening or room service or things like that. They have a great start breakfast with omelets, eggs, two different kinds of proteins, fruits, cereals, waffles,” she said.
Once fully opened, the hotel will provide up to about 20 new jobs to the area.
“If we were opening under normal circumstances, I’d probably would have done about 20. But right now, due to the circumstances we’re under, probably around 10 at this point. But we’re hoping, as soon as things get back to normal, we’ll increase our team. We do have folks waiting that want to come on board with us,” Hough said.
Friday’s opening begins the “soft opening” for the hotel. “Especially when your staff is so new, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed. So we tend to like to do our ribbon-cuttings with chambers and stuff about 60 to 90 days after we open. That gives us a chance to kind of work out the kinks and have the opportunity to have a bit of a better presence in the community,” Hough said.
Hough and Lane provided a tour of the Fairfield Inn on Monday.
When one comes in the door, the front desk is to the right with the lobby to the left. Straight ahead is the breakfast dining area, with the “farm table” upfront. The hotel is designed after founder J. Willard Marriott’s farm, “he wanted it to have that home farm feeling that he grew up with, that he had,” Lane said.
“We have other Fairfields in different locations, in which you come down in the morning and you do see a lot of people gathering, under normal circumstances,” Hough said.
Down the hall is the exercise facility. All the equipment has personal viewers on them so users can plug in their headset and watch whatever station they want to while exercising, Hough said. It’s open 24 hours under normal circumstances, just like the indoor pool is. The pool is saline, not chlorine, “so it’s not as harmful,” she said.
The meeting room can hold a classroom of about 25-30 people. It has an LCD projector and an USB can be plugged into the television.
All the TVs in the hotel are 55 inches. “Our televisions, we have the new TV platform. It has Hulu, Netflix. So if you have a Netflix account, you can log into your account through the TV, and then once you check out, it automatically deletes your information,” Hough said. There’s also Crackle, Amazon Prime available, with HBO To Go and Showtime To Go that’s free, while the latest movies at theaters also can be purchased.
All the guest rooms do have microwaves, refrigerators and keurigs standard.
“One of the latest editions to Marriott is the going green initiative,” Hough said.
Lane said guests are given the option if they want renewed towels every day or just reuse the ones they have. The amenities – like shampoo and liquid soap – are now provided in bulk.
“It used to be the little plastic containers, and Marriott, this is their new initiative for going green because they last longer because those other bottles, people use them and throw them away. Well, now, we can get better use out of these products. Plus, it’s an upgraded product, too, it’s a Teatree, which is upgraded,” Hough said.
The room choices they showed included a standard king room; a king suite with separate seating area and two TVs; and a standard two-queen room. The beds are Comfort Suites from Serta. “They incredible beds, very comfortable beds,” Hough said.
The blinds in the rooms “give you a feeling of being outside,” Hough said.
There is guest laundry, too, at the hotel for visitors to wash their clothes.
As for room prices, Hough said, “We’ll be priced comparable to the market, such as priced in with a Hampton and Best Western and Wyndham.”
Lane and Hough said everyone is ready for the new business to open.
“We’re ready. We are ready. The staff is very excited. I know she’s (Lane) is ready to be opening,” Hough said.
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