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Evergreen Motor Lodges Building a $9 million 103 room Cambria Suites
Near the Indianapolis International Airport


By Bruce C. Smith, The Indianapolis StarMcClatchy-Tribune Regional News 
 

Lifestyle hotel' to open - Facility will have fitness center, store and 'hip' amenities
 
June 20, 2007 - One of the newest hotel concepts for the hip, upscale and tech-oriented traveler is under construction in Plainfield.

Choice Hotels International's Cambria Suites will open a $9 million, four-story, 103-suite Plainfield facility, including a casual dining and gathering area and 24-hour food service for guests. There also will be a a full-service coffee bar 

Cambria Suites, the latest brand from Maryland-based Choice Hotels, is going up in the rapidly growing cluster of hotels and extended stay lodges at Ind. 267 and I-70 on the southern edge of Plainfield.

The interchange already has nearly 900 hotel rooms, with at least three more new hotels proposed for construction plus expansion plans announced for an existing Holiday Inn Express.

The area is booming with hotels because it is minutes from the new $1 billion passenger terminal going up at Indianapolis International Airport. And it is surrounded by the 25 million square feet of office and distribution centers in Plainfield, which draw a steady stream of business travelers.

The Cambria Suites hotel, a $9 million development, will be a four-story, 103-suite facility including a casual dining and gathering area with a full barista coffee bar and 24-hour food service for guests.

It also has a state-of-the-art fitness center and resort-style indoor swimming pool with an outdoor patio. The plans also show a 24-hour-a-day convenience store with freshly prepared salads and sandwiches and similar fare.

The hotel will be owned by Evergreen Motor Lodges, which also owns Super 8 and Wingate hotels nearby on Gateway Drive, also on the northwest corner of the I-70 and Ind. 267 interchange.

"We are very excited to be building a Cambria Suites hotel in Plainfield for both the business and leisure travelers looking for stylish suites, amenities and services," said Evergreen Vice President Venkatta Nattam.

Among the niche markets he hopes to tap will be the airline flight crews on overnight stays.

"Cambria can be a full-service hotel with food services at all hours, like the flight crews require. None of the other hotels in Plainfield have that service at this time so the pilots are going to hotels downtown," Nattam said Monday.

Relocation of the airport's main entrance toward the Plainfield interchange with I-70 means "the airport is coming toward us. And Plainfield is growing very fast," he said.

Cambria is the newest and most expensive brand from Choice Hotels, which has more than 5,300 locations and more than 435,000 rooms in the U.S. and 40 countries and territories. Another 860 hotels are under development including approximately 50 Cambria Suites, said Heather Soule, spokeswoman for Choice.

The first Cambria Suites opened last April in Boise, Idaho, and the second will be in Green Bay, Wis., in August.

Another Cambria Suites is planned in the Indianapolis metro region at Exit 10 off I-69, in the Saxony development of homes, retailing, business and medical facilities booming in Fishers and Noblesville. It is due to open by early 2009.

Typical rates are in the $99- to $150-a-night range.

"Much like the location close to the Indianapolis airport, we have another Cambria Suites going up near Baltimore International," she said. "These are targeted to the Generation X business and leisure travelers looking for high speed wired and wireless (Internet) connections and two flat panel televisions and MP3 player jacks in every room."

"This is a lifestyle hotel. In Plainfield, it is also close to the Metropolis lifestyle mall," she added.

Soule said the Cambria Suites concept is focused on the young, hip lifestyle with an emphasis on technology that is amazing.
That's a little different from the other Choice brands that focus on price, including Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and MainStay Suites.

"Travelers who expect their hotel to reflect their lifestyle from upscale amenities and stylish surroundings to contemporary food and beverage, will feel at home at the Cambria Suites," said William Edmundson, vice president of Choice.

Call Star reporter Bruce C. Smith at (317) 444-2803.
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To see more of The Indianapolis Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.IndyStar.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, The Indianapolis Star

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