While many businesses are choosing to shut down or reduce operations until the end of the pandemic, A-1 Hospitality Group chose to go through with the opening of a new Holiday Inn Express in The Dalles, which is now open and ready to accept guests.
“While travel is still restricted, our team will be here waiting, ready to welcome each and every future guest,” said a press release sent out by A-1 Hospitality Group, the management group for the project. “We will travel, we will create new memories, and we will cherish our times together. We are hospitality and we won’t stop.”
The new hotel, located at 2020 W. Sixth St. in The Dalles, includes 93 guest rooms, along with amenities such as a pool, fitness center, outdoor patio space and meeting rooms. Once fully operational, the hotel will employ more than 30 staff members.
Work on the project began more than two years ago, and Integrity Structures completed construction in just over 14 months, with sights set on an April 2020 opening.
When project managers saw that the world was still in the midst of a pandemic two weeks before the April 16 opening, they sat down to make a decision: Continue with the scheduled opening, or postpone. “We elected to cross the finish line,” said the press release. “We could not be prouder of our opening day team.”
When asked about what factors went into the decision to open, Taran Patel, managing principal for A-1 Hospitality, answered, “As a company, we believe hospitality is larger than renting hotel rooms, hospitality is about anticipating the needs of others. As we evaluated the needs of our community, we realized there may be a shortage of hospital beds and a need for safe housing of healthcare workers and first responders. Fortunately, that has not been the case in our county.”
Though Wasco County has yet to need those extra beds, Patel said that the Holiday Inn Express will stay ready — if not for healthcare workers and first responders, for the travelers that will return to the Gorge once safety precautions are lifted.
“While travel is still restricted, our team will be here waiting, ready to welcome each and every future guest when deemed safe,” said Patel. “At the end of this madness, there will be some serious cabin fever built up. We anticipate the Columbia Gorge as a popular destination for residents across the state. We’re ready.”
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