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Residence Inn Renovated, TMI Expands with Shale
BOARDMAN, Ohio – The $1.25 million TMI Hospitality spent to renovate the Marriott Residence Inn on Tiffany Drive South is a sign of an improved economy in Boardman, the Mahoning Valley and northeastern Ohio and a harbinger of even better times as the oil and gas industry continues to develop.
Ranking officials of TMI, based in Fargo, N.D., celebrated the grand reopening of the Residence Inn, built in 1996, Thursday afternoon with an open house and a ribbon cutting choreographed by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. Also on hand were township trustees Tom Costello and Brad Calhoun and Fire Chief George D. Brown.
Work to renovate the three-story inn with 78 suites began last May, no easy task when occupancy averaged 90% last year and often exceeded that figure, general manager Steve Patris said. “We’d work on 14 to 16 suites at a time,” he said.
The 90% occupancy rate, says TMI area director Dave Mangus of Canfield, is phenomenal for Youngstown, which leads all other TMI Hospitality hotels in the Midwest. TMI is a franchisee for Marriott, Hilton and Holiday Inns.
Roughly 30 staff the Residence Inn and 65 the three TMI properties on Tiffany Drive South.
The Fairfield Inn -- the other Marriott property across the Residence Inn on Tiffany South and the bordering Hampton Inn, a Hilton property -- will soon undergo renovation and be converted into suites, Mangus said, so strong is the demand for lodging here. TMI is also building the Residence Inn at the Eastwood Mall, he added, as well as new hotels in the Canton and Akron areas, and is looking to also to move into the St. Clairsville area.
The business model for the Residence Inn is a four- to five-night stay, Mangus said, but that began to change when the landmen from the large oil and gas companies arrived. Employees of the energy giants continue to make up a large percentage of his guests but manufacturers, retailers and people in need of temporary lodging as they relocate here make up an equally large number, he noted.
The guest with the longest stay so far, some 2½ years, works for one of the energy giants, Mangus said. The longer a guest stays at the Residence Inn, the lower the rate he pays, Mangus and Patris noted, but declined to be more specific about their rates.
The inn has 18 king-studio suites, 48 one-bedroom suites (both offer the same area but the one-bedroom offer more privacy) and 12 two-bedroom suites, desk clerk Jamie Estes said. An industry veteran, Estes says he likes working in the Residence Inn “because there’s better interaction with the guests. It’s like family.”
Other amenities Patris, the general manager, pointed to are the indoor swimming pool and exercise room with all-new equipment and the new laundry room. As before, residents can avail themselves of a full breakfast every morning in the dining area.
All rooms are well lit, have king-sized beds with Spring Air mattresses, fully equipped kitchens and flat-screen television sets.
Most residents use the kitchens to cook dinner even though restaurants from white-tablecloth to pizzerias to fast-food abound within a quarter-mile radius, Patris said.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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