Carson draws business-class hotels

Development of a Courtyard by Marriott hotel adjacent to Casino Fandango in Carson City marks another big step in repositioning the capital city's hotel industry.

Business travelers looking for lodging in the Carson Valley soon will have yet another option with the addition of a Courtyard by Marriott hotel adjacent to the Casino Fandango on South Carson Street.

With the new 100-room hotel, the newer 85-room Hampton Inn Suites on Hospitality Way, and the 85-room Holiday Inn Express on North Carson Street, the hotel industry in the state's capital is being recast for more upscale travelers.

"Anytime we get a new property like that in Carson, it's always good for us," says Candace Duncan, executive director of the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau. "For a very long time we haven't had a good menu of nice properties. Now we are getting more first-class rooms, which is what people have been wishing we had.

"Even though the Legislature is only in session every other year, there is still a need for people to travel here for government business, and having better business-class rooms and not losing those customers to Reno is a great thing for us," Duncan says.

Las Vegas-based Carson Gaming is developing the site. Louisiana-based InterMountain Management LLC of Monroe, La., a specialist in management of Marriott-branded properties, will manage the hotel.

The $11 million hotel, expected to be completed late this year or at the start of 2008, is expected to employ more than 30 people.

For executives at the Casino Fandango, developed in a remodeled SupplyOne warehouse store, the rooms are a welcome addition to a lodging-less property, says General Manager Steve Forester.

"Since the day we opened I have been begging the owners for rooms," he says.

Forester says initial discussion with the owners about a smaller hotel unit fell through in favor of a larger, 100-room building.

"It is a perfect marriage," he says. "Casinos traditionally need rooms on weekends and not as much during the week, while Marriotts are a little softer on the weekends. We'll have more access to the rooms, and I think we can keep that hotel occupied all the time."

DC Graham, chief marketing officer for Las Vegas-based Olympia Gaming, owners of Carson Gaming, says his company is bullish on the Carson City market.

"There haven't been any new investments in the way of hotel rooms in a long time, and we think the market will continue to grow," he says.

Graham says the casino will provide good synergy for the new hotel, but even without a resort 75 feet away, new hotel rooms in the area are a sound investment.

"The Fandango is a new development, and we have been impressed with its results, but those other two hotels don't benefit from a casino in any way, and I still think they are a good product to have," he says.

The Hampton Inn opened in October 2005, and Holiday Inn Express in opened in early 2004.

Metcalf Builders broke ground on the hotel Dec. 19, and the 65,000-square-foot project is slated for a 330-day build.

"The construction schedule will be tight, but it would be nice to be open before Christmas," Forester says.