Ribbon-cutting time

New Holiday Inn Express & Suites features 81 rooms, staff of 26

Many of the people who worked hard to make the new Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Madison Village a reality finally got a chance to relax and celebrate at the site on May 23.

The 81-room hotel, which opened May 17, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by representatives from local government, chambers of commerce and businesses, which included contractors that worked on the project.

Madison Village Administrator Dwayne Bailey noted that the event was taking place on a day that the hotel’s guest rooms were sold out.

“That is just phenomenal,” Bailey said.

Located slightly north of the Interstate 90/Route 528 interchange at 181 Water Tower Drive, the hotel employs a staff of 26 and began checking in guests on its opening day.

Some of those guests said they stopped in after seeing a “Now Open” on the side of the building that was visible to I-90 motorists, said Frank Mancine, regional operations manager of the Riley Hotel Group of Medina. Riley is managing the site for hotel owners Madison Real Estate Partners.

“We’re very excited,” Mancine said. “Things are going well.”

Samir Gandhi, who is part of Cincinnati-based Madison Real Estate Partners, said the idea to develop the hotel arose about five years ago after he received an email from a friend who grew up in Madison.

“She said there was a desperate need for hotel space in Madison,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi then visited Madison and the Grand River Valley area, and saw places such as wineries and the SPIRE Institute, a stateof-the-art athletic complex in Geneva. SPIRE is located just 6 miles east of the hotel and attracts teams and fans from around the country for NCAA swimming and diving and track field championships.

“I really saw a vision and thought we needed something immediately,” Gandhi said.

In hopes of launching the hotel project, Gandhi called Bailey, who was about two weeks into his new job as village administrator.

Bailey said the hotel “was not an easy project to bring home,” but he was glad to be a part of the five-year effort. He also spoke highly of the Madison Real Estate Partners group.

“I think that the ownership of this hotel is not just here as an investment, they’re part of this community,” Bailey said. “That was important to me, in introducing the investment group to the wineries and the folks at SPIRE, to make sure that this thing fit and was filling a need, and that they’re participating in the communities and not just writing a check. And they’ve fulfilled that expectation on my behalf.”

The hotel also features a 1,200-square-foot meeting room; a business center offering Internet access, a printer and computer; a fitness center and indoor pool; and free hot breakfasts for all guests.

Pride One Construction of Medina began building the $10 million hotel in the summer of 2017.

A second hotel soon will open at 171 Water Tower Drive next door the new Holiday Inn Express & Suites. An 82-room Hampton Inn, owned by Vineyard Hotel Group, is projected to open sometime in July.

JCI Contractors, based in Ashtabula, started constructing the hotel in the summer of 2018. The Madison Hampton Inn will be managed by Emerald Hospitality Associates of Westlake.

BILL DEBUS — THE NEWS-HERALD The parking lot at the new Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Madison Village was filled on the afternoon of May 23, as guest rooms were sold out and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was taking place.

BILL DEBUS — THE NEWS-HERALD Front row, from left: Madison Township Trustee Max Anderson Jr., Trustee Board Chairman Kenneth Gauntner Jr. and Fiscal Officer Terry Gerred-Ditchcreek; along with Madison Village Councilman Mark Vest, are part of the group posing for a picture prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 23 at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Madison Village.