LOVELAND - It was a long time coming and once in doubt. But the Embassy Suites-Loveland Hotel and Spa is doing fine after about eight months of operation and opening in the middle of the worst recession in decades.

More than six years in the making, the eight-story, 263-room hotel at the Crossroad Boulevard interchange with Interstate 25, near The Ranch fairgrounds complex in east Loveland, opened in April. It has already hosted a number of major events in its 40,000 square feet of convention space.

"Certainly, we've had some nice events so far, Bixpo (the business exposition hosted annually by the Business Report) being one of them," said Tom Dwyer, Embassy Suites' general manager. "We've also had Thunder in the Rockies and the Good Guys Car Show, among others. Given the economic difficulties, the hotel has performed at a respectable level."

Dwyer said Embassy Suites sold "about 21,000" room nights through September, with much of that business convention-related. "Out of the occupancy so far, roughly 40 percent has been group-connected in one form or another."

The $60 million hotel - the 198th constructed by hospitality icon John Q. Hammons - has by far the largest amount of convention space of any other hotel facility in Northern Colorado. The Embassy Suites also touts its luxury accommodations for upscale travelers and convention attendees.



Nice addition

The hotel sits on a 20-acre site leased for 55 years from Larimer County. The hotel and the county share in its income, according to Bob Herfeldt, Larimer County fairgrounds manager.

"We're business partners with the hotel," he said. "Our proceeds come through room rental rates. Every time they rent a room, they deduct their expenses and we split the difference."

Herfeldt said the county expects to earn between $16 million and $20 million over the course of the 55-year lease.

Having a hotel and convention center near the fairgrounds is an invaluable addition to The Ranch, Herfeldt said. "It's very, very nice for us to have an on-site hotel you can go to," he said. "People want to stay on the property and be in walking distance of their event or their animals."

Herfeldt admits that the convention center has hosted some functions that were once held at The Ranch. "I'd love to say it hasn't, but they've taken some events away. But we're still very busy. We're still doing about 2,200 events a year."

He added that having the Embassy Suites nearby is an event manager's dream. "When something like that comes online, all the boats rise up. I could not ask for a better partner over there."

Jim Clark, Fort Collins Visitor and Convention Center president and CEO, acknowledges Embassy Suites has become a formidable competitor. "We've lost some business to them," he said. "It's another box in the market and that makes our job a little more difficult."

Clark said he did not believe the opening of Embassy Suites had anything to do with the owner of three Fort Collins Marriott hotels defaulting on their loans in August. "From what I've heard the investor bought at the top of the market and got hit by the economy," he said. "It's been a very tough go for them."



Hammons took risk

Clark said Hammons rolled the dice when he decided to go ahead and build the Embassy Suites before The Ranch complex was more fully developed. "I don't think many people would have taken that risk with so little built around it," he explained.

Clark also noted that business travel has been down dramatically since the recession kicked in last year. "We're fortunate in Northern Colorado that we haven't felt that as much, but it's been big," he said.

Alan Krcmarik, finance director for the city of Loveland, said Embassy Suites' impact on the city's economy has already been noticeable. "I've been impressed with what they've been able to do right in the middle of a recession," he said.

Krcmarik said retail sales at Loveland hotels amounted to $11.5 million for all of 2008. Through September 2009, a total of $11.1 million has been reported and he credits Embassy Suites with the faster pace in 2009.

"A lot of that growth is with Embassy Suites coming online," he said. "Two hundred and sixty-three rooms is a substantial addition - almost one quarter of the rooms in Loveland. Once they get up and running, they're going to be well over 25 percent of our total lodging revenue."

Hotel manager Dwyer said the recession was clearly not envisioned when work began on the hotel in 2007. But he said he's confident that hotel business in general will pick up again in the not-too-distant future and Embassy Suites will do very well when that happens.

"We're certainly visible and we've seen customers from all over the marketplace come and try us," he said. "This first year is all about exposure and getting people to come back again and again."