Unfinished top floor undergoes remodel, adding 25 more rooms

The Hilton Garden Inn is finishing what it started.

When it opened on the Oregon State University campus in the fall of 2003, the hotel had 128 rooms. But the hotel’s developers also left some room to grow — one whole wing of the top floor was left unfinished.

Now those remaining 25 rooms are being painted, furnished and decorated.

“We’re finishing out those rooms that are up there on the fourth floor,” said Dehn Blunt, the Hilton’s general manager.

“We’re going to have some more inventory on hand.”

The additional rooms, one suite, with the rest either king or double queen rooms, will bring the Hilton Garden Inn up to 153 rooms, solidifying its position as the largest hotel in Corvallis.

The Corvallis Inn, formerly the Ramada, is No. 2, with 120 rooms, followed by the Super 8 Motel with 101, Salbasgeon Suites with 95 and the Holiday Inn Express with 93.

Albany’s two biggest hotels are the Phoenix Inn with 93 rooms and the Comfort Suites with 86.

Work on the remodeling project started Jan. 2 and should be finished in four to six months, Blunt said.

Is the mid-valley lodging market getting too crowded? That depends on what sort of room you’re looking for, said Eric Burton, sales manager for Corvallis Tourism.

“There’s plenty of motel rooms, for those that need an economical rate,” Burton said. “(But) we don’t have enough rooms that are of an upper quality.”

Accommodations are still a bit limited for corporate travelers and upscale leisure travelers. In Corvallis, he said, the choices for that class of business basically boil down to the Hilton, Salbasgeon and Holiday Inn Express.

Blunt said occupancy rates at the Hilton have been high and he anticipates no trouble in filling the added rooms. In addition to traveling business people, the on-campus hotel hosts a large number of academics visiting OSU. The university’s conference complex is just across Western Boulevard from the Hilton.

The new rooms will come equipped with Hilton brand’s newest beds, Blunt said. They’ll also have wide-screen, high-definition TVs and work desks equipped with ergonomically designed Herman Miller chairs.

“It’ll certainly be a comfortable room,” Blunt said.

At the same time, the Hilton is upgrading its Internet access. Free wireless Web connections, now available only in the hotel’s public areas, will be extended to all the guest rooms.

The general contractor on the job is A&A Construction of Spokane, Wash., a part-owner of the hotel. According to records on file with the city, the project is valued at about $400,000.

The Corvallis Hilton is managed by The Hotel Group, an Edmonds, Wash., management company that operates about 25 hotels under various flags around the West.

Bennett Hall is the business editor for the Gazette-Times. He can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.