Carl’s Jr., Holiday Inn Express put Prosser on travel map
Love’s Hospitality is making it official: Its 75-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites is open for business in Prosser, next to the Carl’s Jr.-anchored travel stop it opened earlier this year.
Prosser is home to many independent hotels, but the Holiday Inn Express is only the second branded hotel in Prosser after the 49-room Best Western Inn at Horse heaven on Merlot Drive.
Love’s Hospitality is the hotel arm of Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores.
The Oklahoma City-based company is one of the largest private companies in the nation.
It announced it was developing a combination hotel and travel stop at Prosser more than a year ago, citing rising demand for both commercial and leisure accommodations in the area.
Located at 680 Wine Country Road, the Holiday Inn Express began taking guests in late August. A company spokeswoman said it held off formally announcing the opening to give staff a chance to work out opening kinks.
The Express & Suites is part of InterContinental Hotels Group and is operated by Love’s. The 10,000-square-foot Love’s-branded travel stop opened earlier this year serving commercial drivers and casual customers alike.
The hotel and travel stop had a combined construction budget of about $18 million and employ 65. The project was paired with a new traffic signal update at Wine Country Road and Merlot Drive, near the freeway on- and off-ramps.
David Robbins, 40-year hospitality executive, is leading the new hotel. Robbins is a Washington native who was living in Olympia and looking for an opportunity in Eastern Washington when he spied the Holiday Inn posting.
“I got lucky,” he said.
Robbins said the opening weeks went smoothly despite the hotel opening in the waning days of the peak summer travel season. He said room demand from its core market — commercial travelers — has been strong.
The hotel caters to business travelers associated with the agriculture and wine industries, as well as government employees. The hotel bills itself as being in the heart of wine country, but tourism represents about 30 percent of its business.
The company began accepting applications in January and brought staffers on over the summer to ready it for its first guests.
The Holiday Inn Express is a limited service restaurant that serves breakfast but does not have an on-site restaurant. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, guest laundry, outdoor patio and business center.
Its advertised room rates starting at $76 per night on Booking.com, Orbitz.com and priceline.com.
This story was originally published November 8, 2017 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Carl’s Jr., Holiday Inn Express put Prosser on travel map."