Indigo Plainfield Article 2007

TERRE HAUTE — Workers are putting the final touches on the new Hilton Garden Inn – Terre Haute House in anticipation of opening for business in early October.

“This is the fun part,” said Wendy Ray, a regional manager with Dora Bros. Hospitality Corp., the Fishers-based company that owns the new downtown hotel. “I think we’ve gotten the hard part out of the way.”

The hotel at Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue in the heart of downtown replaces the old Terre Haute House, a building that stood on that corner for nearly 80 years.

Dora Bros. officials supervising the opening of the hotel are pleased with the excitement surrounding their project.

“I’m amazed with the welcome we’ve received,” Ray said, adding she has opened several hotels in her 14 years with Dora Bros. and never seen this level of enthusiasm from the public about a hotel opening.

Many people in Terre Haute have memories of the old Terre Haute House, said Linda Poore, the Dora Bros. regional manager who will be in charge of the hotel during its first three months in operation. People often want to come in and look around, she said.

The six-story structure has 105 regular rooms and four suites, Poore said. All the suites are corner rooms with views overlooking Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue, she said.

Regular room rates will be $149 per night Monday through Friday, Poore said, adding corporate discounts will be available. Suites will cost around $199 per night, she said.

Each guest room includes a flat panel, high definition TV, a refrigerator, microwave oven and a coffee maker.

Suites have a couch, two flat panel TVs and are much larger.

In addition to the spacious lobby, called the pavilion, the hotel has an indoor pool, hot tub and fitness room. It will include a small bar and a restaurant, known as the Great American Grill, that will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“I think the lobby is fantastic,” Poore said. The lobby includes windows stretching up two stories, giving a complete view of the Old National building across the street.

Although a few miles from Interstate 70, Poore believes the hotel’s location will be an asset. Indiana State University is right next door and some visiting sports teams already have inquired about staying there, she said. October is looking to be a very good month, she said.

Out of respect for the former Terre Haute House, the Hilton Garden Inn’s largest meeting room, which can be rented for formal occasions such as rehearsal dinners or business meetings, is called the Mayflower Room, which was the name of a large ballroom in the Terre Haute House. The new Mayflower Room is really two 750-square-foot meeting rooms that can be combined into one. “We think the meeting room business will be good,” Poore said.

All the guest rooms in the Hilton Garden Inn – Terre Haute House include wireless or cable Internet connections, Poore said. Room service is available, she said.

There are around 250 Hilton Garden Inns across the nation, but this one is unique, Poore said. It is two stories taller than most Hilton Garden Inns and, to fit on the ground of the old Terre Haute House, is very different in its overall shape, she said.

The approximately 30 full- and part-time employees of the new hotel are getting to know one another and building teamwork in these last few days before opening, Ray said. Most of the lobby furniture still is covered with plastic and cardboard boxes still dot the floors, but opening time is clearly near.

“Our goal is to make our guests feel at home,” Poore said, adding Hilton Garden Inns try to make each hotel self-contained with everything a traveler would need, including a small shop, a computer room, printers and other amenities people are used to having at home or in their offices. “It’s very exciting,” she said.”