August 27, 2007
Mayor Kevin Burke slated to be new Hilton Garden Inn’s first guest
New hotel could be open by mid-September
By Austin Arceo
austin.arceo@tribstar.com
TERRE HAUTE — Some unfamiliar people will be working in Terre Haute next Tuesday.
A squad of “star employees” from various hotels operated by Dora Brothers Hospitality Corp. will supervise the preparations of various departments of the Hilton Garden Inn-Terre Haute House at the intersection of Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue. The hotel is expected to open formally Oct. 1, but officials hope to have a “soft opening” the week of Sept. 17, said Tim Dora, a partner of Dora Brothers Hospitality Corp.
He also owns Dora Hotel Co., LLC [Limited Liability Corp.], which will manage the hotel.
“I think the first of October, we’d be able to operate at 100 percent capacity,” he said, “and we want to make sure that people’s first experiences are good experiences.”
Workers moved furniture into the hotel Monday. The Hilton Web site has begun accepting reservations for people staying Nov. 1 and later.
The opening will mark the first time in more than 35 years that a visitor has stayed at a Terre Haute House hotel at the site. The first guest will be Mayor Kevin Burke, Dora said.
“And I’m going to charge him full price,” he added.
Burke confirmed that he will pay to stay at the hotel.
The administration is excited about the new downtown site, which will be the first active visitors’ lodgings at its location since before Burke first came to Terre Haute in 1974.
“… And we presently sell out all of our hotel rooms about 35 weekends a year,” he said, “so we’re quite confident that they’ll do well.”
Almost: The downtown Hilton Garden Inn-Terre Haute House continues to come together with crews installing furniture in some of the rooms Monday afternoon.
