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Dec 9, 2009
And it has been a community anchor during some of the bleakest times in the downtown, as the former Muskegon Mall gave way to new development. Now it is the Holiday Inn’s time to shine. Muskegon’s leading accommodation is being taken from a “midscale” to an “upscale” facility, a co-owner said. The local Holiday Inn has been refurbished with more than $2 million in improvements as America’s iconic hotel chain embarks on a $1 billion worldwide rebranding campaign. The most visible changes are new signs, showing off the new Holiday Inn logo, but there has been plenty of work done inside the eight-story, 201-room hotel. The upgrades dovetail with Muskegon County’s only full-service hotel’s scheduled 10-year renovation. The owners from Southeast Michigan, including General Manager Gamal Elkhouly, purchased the downtown hotel in 1999. They kept the Holiday Inn flag with $2.5 million in improvements at that time. The owners’ current reinvestment in Muskegon is a vote of confidence in the downtown’s future. The ownership group — which owns and operates 87 chain hotels all over Michigan, including 14 other Holiday Inns — easily could have walked away from the Holiday Inn upgrades in Muskegon. Holiday Inns not making the chainwide improvements will have their franchises removed, Elkhouly said. Muskegon’s downtown hotel could have been turned into a Best Western or other down-market chain, a local hotel manager said.
The downtown Holiday Inn is a market leader. It generated 17.2 percent of all accommodation business in Muskegon County in 2009 among the 88 businesses paying county room taxes. The Comfort Inn was second with an 11.6 percent market share. The Holiday Inn’s room tax payment represents $2.5 million in hotel revenues. Elkhouly said the hotel generates 35 percent of its income through other sources such as the Harbor Steakhouse and the Holiday Inn’s extensive event and banquet business. “The owners had to ante up to Holiday Inn standards or get out,” said Jill Emery, Muskegon County tourism manager. “It would have been just as easy to go down in brand as invest. We are fortunate that they were willing to make the changes, and the community is better for it.”
Those entering the hotel at 939 Third will smell the “Holiday Inn scent” automatically put into the air at all the more than 3,300 hotels worldwide. Elkhouly described the scent as “relaxing, inviting and refreshing.” A new lobby interior has new tile, furniture and front desk. The hotel’s bar and full-service restaurant also have been renovated. The hallways and rooms have new carpeting, and the pool and hot tub have been completely refurbished. But the investment is not only in bricks and mortar. Holiday Inn has instituted a customer service program called “Stay Real,” in which all the local hotel’s 100-plus employees have been trained. “It doesn’t make sense for us to spend all of this money and have a housekeeper or bartender destroy your business for you,” Elkhouly said of poor customer service. Holiday Inn will follow up the “Stay Real” program with unannounced spot inspections of staff services and the hotel’s general condition. More feedback will come from regular customer surveys, Elkhouly said. For those hotels not receiving an overall satisfaction level of more than 80 percent, the franchise brand is at risk of being removed, the co-owner and general manager said. © 2009 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission |
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MUSKEGON — The Holiday Inn Muskegon Harbor has been the local tourism industry’s foundation since it was built through a public-private partnership in the mid-1980s.
The Holiday Inn Muskegon Harbor has been working on its upgrades for nearly a year, including new bedding and bathrooms throughout. The entire facility now has free wireless Internet and a new “scent and sound” system from Holiday Inn.