Dora Brothers Hospitality Corp.

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The Indianapolis Star June 2, 2004
Star North

County's lodging is leaping
By Bruce C. Smith

At least four new hotels are opening this year in Hamilton County, where the demand for rooms is booming even without a mega-tourist attraction.

Business travelers working or visiting the many corporate headquarters and regional offices based in the county are fueling the hotel and motel expansion, according to those in the industry.

Many of the rooms also are booked by guests of local residents, concert-goers at Verizon Wireless Music Center, tourists at Conner Prairie living history museum, some overflow from Indianapolis hotels, and golfers playing the region's upscale courses, observers say.

New hotels in Noblesville, Fishers and Carmel are adding several hundred rooms to about 2,000 in the 24 hotels, motels and bed and breakfast inns already in the county.

Most of the accommodations are clustered in retail and business corridors along I-69, Ind. 37 and U.S. 31.

The local building boom in lodging is in its second year. Tennessee-based Smith Travel Research estimated the county's occupancy rates were a relatively strong 67 percent last month, compared to 64 percent in April last year.

The demand for rooms was pegged by Smith Travel at 35,400 in April this year, up from 33,700 in April last year.
About 405,000 rooms were rented in the county in 2003, up from 362,000 in 2002. At an average price of slightly more than $68 a night, Hamilton County hotel and motel revenues totaled $27.7 million last year.

In the midst of the boom, the county's new motels include:

Quality Inn and Suites, which opened May 1 along Ind. 37 and Greenfield Avenue in Noblesville. Owned by brothers Chance and Shane Felling, the Quality Inn has 64 rooms including 21 suites, free Internet access, a pool and other amenities.
Fairfield Inn and Suites, scheduled to open in August at Ind. 32 and Ind. 37 in Noblesville, with 59 rooms. It is owned by Indianapolis-based Midwest Hospitality Group and features free Internet access, a business center and other amenities
Hampton Inn and Suites, expected to open late this year in Fishers at 116th Street and I-69 next to a strip shopping center, according to the Hamilton County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Hilton Garden Inn at 13090 Pennsylvania St., on the southeast corner of 131st Street and U.S. 31 in Carmel.
The Hilton Garden's official opening is Thursday, but the inn was open and crowded last weekend with Indianapolis 500-Mile Race fans.

It is owned by brothers Robert and Tim Dora, hospitality industry veterans based in Fishers, and Robert Rynard of Indianapolis.

The Carmel Hilton Garden Inn becomes the 14th hotel operated by the Doras, who are planning construction of another Hilton Garden in Fishers. It is to be at I-69 and 96th Street, where they already own a Holiday Inn, a Holiday Inn Express and a Sleep Inn.

With 110 rooms -- including eight two-room suites -- the Carmel Hilton Garden is at the top of business-style accommodations and in the midst of the office and medical buildings that run for several miles northward from I-465.

Robert Dora said he and his brother were sold on the location because it is:

In Carmel, one of the fastest-growing communities in the state.
Along the U.S. 31 corridor, a main artery in Carmel.
Close to corporations and other business and medical headquarters that line U.S. 31 for several miles.

The hotel is on a 4-acre site next to a larger field where Kite Development plans to begin construction soon on more office buildings. Among other neighbors, the hotel is across U.S. 31 from the new office headquarters of ADESA, a nationwide vehicle auction company.

The Doras said the goal in the full-service Hilton Garden Inn is to make a business traveler comfortable in upscale surroundings that include marble countertops, Italian marble floors and ornate carpeting.

The atrium lobby is flanked on one side by an elegant sitting and television lobby with a large, double-sided fireplace trimmed in dark cherry wood.

On the other side of the entry lobby is a full-service restaurant and bar, which hints that food and room service are available here, unlike the limited service facilities that are common in the rest of the county.

The Hilton has a modest indoor swimming pool, a large whirlpool and an extensive exercise center. Amenities targeted to the business traveler include a 1,200-square-foot meeting room, a business center with copy and fax machines and a laser printer.

Features in the guest rooms include oversized wood desks, two telephone lines and wireless Internet access.

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