Hotel Online Special Report
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Jim France, Grove Park Inn Resort VP & GM, 
Details $24 million, 18-month Improvement Plan - 
Including Addition of 40,000 square foot Spa
 
Asheville, N.C. (Nov. 4, 1998) -- The Grove Park Inn Resort will build a $13 million, 40,000 square foot Spa on its property, hotel management announced today.  The Spa, scheduled to open in the spring of 2000, is the centerpiece of a $24 million, 18-month property improvement plan that includes a renovated Sports Center with indoor pool, retiling the roof of the resort's historic Main Inn, new outdoor tennis courts, a new laundry facility and additional parking.

When the Spa opens the resort will become The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa.

Grove Park Inn owner Elaine D. Sammons made the announcement at a press conference at the hotel, saying "Today we move one step closer to fulfilling the legacy of E. W. Grove, who in 1913 declared that the Inn would be 'built not for the present alone, but for the admiration of generations yet unborn'." Sammons, Chairman of the Board of Sammons Corporation, will name the Spa prior to its opening.

The largely underground Spa (64,500 total square feet including the basement), will be located in a rooftop-landscaped setting below the Sunset Terrace in the heart of the hotel complex.  It will be accessible from the Terrace via a cascaded walkway, or by tunnels from the Sammons and Vanderbilt Wings. The design of the Spa leaves the current sight line from the Sunset Terrace unchanged. It will have 20 multipurpose treatment rooms for body and skin care services, including 17 dry treatment rooms, one hydrotherapy treatment room and two designated wet treatment rooms.  It also includes fireplace lounges, saunas, steam rooms, inhalation rooms, dressing rooms and make-up areas, contrast plunge pools, cascading waterfall, therapeutic whirlpools, lap pool, spa relaxation pool, full service salon, personalized skin and beauty analysis and consultation, juice bar and a Spa cuisine restaurant. 

Jim France, Grove Park Inn Resort Vice President and General Manager, said of the project, "We intend to build the finest resort Spa in the United States." He said the Spa is a response to guest demands and a hospitality industry trend. "In the past five years the industry has seen 45 resorts with spas grow to 350; many of the new spas are in excess of 10,000 square feet."

"The Spa will also add an important attraction to Asheville's tourism inventory and redefine who and what we are as we move the resort into the new millennium.  We expect a dramatic improvement in the natural beauty of our grounds, which will enhance the views from 40 percent of our existing rooms," France said. "Of course, we also expect a return on this multi-million dollar investment similar to that which we expect from the resort overall."

The Spa design and construction team includes concept designers The LeBlond Partnership of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; architect of record Tribble Byrum Associates and mechanical consulting engineer McCracken & Lopez of Charlotte; construction management consultants Hanscomb International of Atlanta; and operations consultants MCM International of Ft. Lauderdale.  Grove Park Inn Director of Development Troy Hunnicutt will oversee Spa construction. 

LeBlond Partnership Principal Partner Robert LeBlond said the Spa was designed to "complement the Grove Park Inn's existing experience, fit hand and glove with the hotel's unique architecture and historical significance, and be an added value and center of gravity for the hotel as a whole.  Architecture is based on more than wood and stone, and the Spa must provide a sense of place and atmosphere of belonging, serenity and peace.  With a spirit of welcoming, nurturing and caring, the Spa will be living architecture as opposed to mere materiality."

Ground breaking for the Spa is scheduled for February, 1999, followed by approximately three months of site preparation. France said he expects to encounter minimal disruptions, but no interruption in resort operation during this period. "Our primary concern during this time will be the comfort of our guests and neighbors, who will find what's happening both a distraction and an attraction," France said. 

Sixty to seventy new jobs will be created by the Spa.

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Contact:
Dave Tomsky, 
Director of Media Relations 
(800) 438-0050/(828) 
252-2711, Ext. 5007 
Spa Hotline: (828) 252-5SPA (5772)
http://www.groveparkinn.com
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Also See:
Grove Park Inn Resort Commissions Musical Sendoff to Millennium / Jan 1998 
State of the Art Fitness Center Opens at the ANA Grand Hotel Wien - Vienna / Nov 1998 

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