May 19--LOGAN, Utah--Hampton Inn is premiering a new line of small hotels in Utah, targeted at rural markets where population centers are separated by greater driving distances. 

"Hometown" hotels are planned in Logan and Cedar City this year. Company officials are negotiating to build another in Farr West and looking at other Utah sites. 

The hotels feature 52 to 58 rooms and have all the amenities of typical 80- to 120-room Hampton Inns. Rooms are priced at $65 to $75 per night. A room at a typical Hampton cost $80 to $100 a night. 

The Logan hometown Hampton will be located at 1755 N. Main, north of Village Inn. Construction on the $3.2 million project will begin in July. It will be owned by Champlin Development and will open in March. 

Construction on the hometown Hampton in Cedar City began this month. It's expected to open in late summer. 

"It's a new concept for Hampton," said Champlin Development President Craig Champlin. "It's for the smaller markets, to have a nice upscale, business-type hotel." 

Hampton estimates one of 10 room nights last year were spent in non-metropolitan areas. The company identified as many as 500 "smaller" areas around the nation that are ripe for hometown Hampton Inns. 

A subsidiary of Hilton Hotels Corp. of Beverly Hills, Calif., Hampton has full-size inns in Layton, Woods Cross, Salt Lake City, Provo, Orem and Park City. There are more than 1,100 Hampton hotels in 49 states. 

You can reach Business Editor David Troester at (801) 625-4244 or [email protected]. 

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(c) 2002, Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.