Gilbert's new hotels eye economic rebound

Gilbert's fourth hotel, which marked its official opening Thursday, is ushering 96 rooms into the market. That brings Gilbert's total lodgings to 466 rooms in a town that barely had 140 only six months ago.

The Hampton Inn & Suites Phoenix/Gilbert at 3265 S. Market St., near the Santan Freeway stretch of Loop 202 and Val Vista Drive, is averaging 35 to 40 percent occupancy per night since it began taking customers in late October, said Karla Boyles, director of sales.

"Of course weekends are busier," she added.

Boyles said business will pick up at the start of 2010.

"January - we hit peak season, so that will completely change," she said. "Things can be kind of tricky over the holidays just because you don't know if families are coming to Mesa this year (or) Gilbert."

The Valley's hotel industry has been hit hard by the recession, and Gilbert has been no different, said Kristen Jarnagin, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association.

Year to date, the Valley's hotels are down about 14 percent in occupancy, Jarnagin said. They're also down about 24 percent in revenue per occupied room, she said.

"It's just the economy, but we actually do see some light at the end of the tunnel," she said. "The studies that we're getting ... really do point to 2010 picking up for travel," she said.

The nearby Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, on Val Vista Drive south of Loop 202, is providing a lot of business in the form of visiting medical professionals and families who are visiting relatives at the hospital, Boyles said.

"They're great supporters of the hotels that are coming into the area, especially our hotel," she said. "We've done a lot of work with their foundation, and they're definitely supporting us by sending over guests and residents."

Hampton Inn and the Hyatt Place Phoenix/Gilbert next door were part of a wave of hotel construction across the Valley that started before the economy began to sputter.

"It happened to be unfortunate timing for them (the area's hotels) to open, but actually, I think they're poised very well for the economic recovery that we hope to start seeing in 2010," Jarnagin said.

She said the new hotels in Gilbert are in a great location that positions them for a fast recovery when the economy picks up.

"There's so much commercial development happening in those areas," she said. "I feel like they're going to be well-positioned."

Completion of the Hampton Inn in October came on the heels of an announcement by another hotelier that it was pulling the plug on two projects.

Sunridge Hotel Group said in September that it backed out of a deal to purchase land near the northwest corner of Williams Field Road and SanTan Village Parkway. The site would have hosted a twin facility consisting of a Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott.