New Lodi hotels to feed growing tourism demand

With Lodi expanding and becoming a tourist destination, the need for lodging in the city continues to grow.

The city currently has a total of 880 rooms available, including hotels, motels and vacation properties, according to officials,

“I believe Lodi is growing in terms of our tourism assets. They’re growing significantly year in and year out, and right now the hotels are all enjoying strong occupancy,” Visit Lodi! Director Nancy Beckman said. “I do believe there is capacity for more hotel rooms.”

Lodi’s lodging capacity is soon to increase with plans for three new hotels: Fairfield Inn by Marriot which would bring 72 additional rooms, La Quinta Inn would add 76 more rooms and Candlewood Inn and Suites would bring in 95 rooms.

“We’re excited because it helps Lodi continue to be a destination,” Lodi City Planner Craig Hoffman said. “These are brand hotels with name recognition. I think you’ll have people staying here because they’re brands that they’ll recognize and it’s good for the community.” Beckman agreed. “Having new properties is always attractive to visitors because they like to have more options and I believe that having a variety of property types and spreading out the locations where they are available would be a great benefit to our tourism landscape.”

After Lodi last hosted the Amgen Tour of California cycling race in 2016, Visit Lodi!, the Lodi Chamber of Commerce and hotel owners had the conversation that there was a need for more

name-brand hotels that could accommodate tourists and visitors during special events, Hoffman said. During that event, the majority of the cyclists and their teams stayed outside of Lodi.

“We are losing a lot of tourist business because we don’t have enough rooms in town,” Yogesh Patel, owner of Lodi Vineyards Hospitality and Motel 6, said last year when the La Quinta Inn went before the Lodi Planning Commission. “Lodi is always full.”

That includes Motel 6, which is often at capacity, especially during events, Patel said.

The La Quinta Inn will replace an empty parking lot west of Motel 6 on Cherokee Lane.

According to Beth Kim, who owns the Holiday Inn Express as well as the Candlewood Inn and Suites coming to Lodi with her husband, Kyu, Candlewood Inn will cater to a different market. All the rooms will have kitchenettes and will be for long-term guests staying five or more days.

“I feel that there has been a need for that market for quite some time. We’ve been in the hotel business in Lodi since 1994,” Kim said. “I’m really excited and I can’t wait to get started. It will be good for the overall tax revenue for the city.”

Construction on the Candlewood Inn will begin in January.