By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
It’s been an exciting, and busy start to the new year for Melissa Dixon, executive director of the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Last Thursday, the announcement of a Chicago flight at the Hays Regional Airport starting in April was unveiled by City Manager Toby Dougherty. Dixon will be working with SkyWest Airlines to help promote the new flight which can be booked starting April 9.
Two new hotel projects, plus a convention center, are also underway. “It’s all great news,” Dixon said with a smile.
On Jan. 5, HKHR Hospitality Corp. of Hays announced its intention to build a new urban design La Quinta Inns & Suites four-story, 81-room hotel west of the former Golden Corral.
The La Quinta announcement comes on the heels of approval Dec. 29 by the city commission for the first steps towards development by Hays Hotel/Mitra Developers, Wichita, of a new Hilton Garden Inn hotel and convention center on west 43rd Street directly west of Walmart. The hotel will have 100 beds and contain a small restaurant and bar. The 8,400-square-foot conference center will seat 500 people.
City commissioners approved a 20-year rebate of the Transient Guest Tax (TGT) for the Hilton project, the first time the city has done so. The TGT is normally retained by the CVB for promotion and marketing of Hays. Dixon doesn’t mind. “If it’s going to get more people in Hays, let it go,” she said enthusiastically.
An 80-room extended-stay Marriott Town Place Suites west of the JT Travel Plaza, developed by Hays Extended Stay Hotel Partners, Liberty, Missouri, is expected to open soon and has begun hiring employees, according to Aaron White, Ellis Co. Coalition for Economic Development executive director.
When the 211-room the Hays Ambassador Hotel & Conference Center, 3603 Vine, closed Dec. 1, 2015, it left a major shortage of places for travelers wanting to stay overnight in Hays as well as large meeting places for events. “I know when we’ve had the state Special Olympics basketball tournament here, some folks wound up staying in motels in Russell and WaKeeney,” Dixon said.
“We did lose some big events in Hays when we lost the big Ambassador with all its rooms.”
“We will fill all these new hotel rooms,” she emphasized. “I have never met hotel owners who were happier in the summer because we are almost always filled during the summer months. This will work towards getting us back to where we were before we lost the Ambassador.”
She said the addition of the La Quinta will be especially attractive to a certain type of traveler.
“We can tell from our website searches on visithays.com that we always have people looking for pet-friendly hotels, so the La Quinta will fill that need. That’s great news, too.”
Dixon said she is not aware of any progress towards filling the space where the Ambassador was located and eventually razed. The land is for sale by the owner of the former hotel.
“There have been discussions but nothing yet has lined up just right for everybody,” though she’s keeping her “fingers crossed.”