MARYSVILLE — A 100-room Holiday Inn Express just east of I-5 opens its doors today, the first in a new wave of inns either being built or planned for Snohomish County.
Located at 8606 36th Ave. NE in Marysville, the new Holiday Inn Express Hotel &Suites was developed by Dan Mitzel, the Mount Vernon developer who also built the Holiday Inn Express in south Everett three years ago.
Tanya Christenson, director of sales and marketing for the Everett and Marysville Holiday Inn Express locations, said the new one is well placed near the Tulalip Casino and Seattle Premium Outlets.
“We’re maintaining a wonderful relationship with the casino and the outlet mall. It’s a wonderful location,” she said.
The new Holiday Inn Express boasts the chain’s latest amenities, including 32-inch flat-panel TVs, upgraded bedding and linens, and a larger breakfast offering. The hotel also has an indoor pool and exercise center.
The opening is occurring as cranes finish the exterior framing on the 13-story resort hotel at the Tulalip Casino. Christenson said she thinks that the new hotel and her inn will be able to exist cooperatively, as they’re likely to attract different types of visitors.
Certainly, there seems to be enough business to fill some extra rooms. More than 81 percent of the county’s hotel and motel rooms were full during June, according to statistics from Smith Travel Research Inc. The average rate for stays at local inns was up 10 percent from the same month last year.
Amy Spain, executive director of the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau, said the addition of those new rooms shouldn’t hurt business much at other motels in the long run.
There is a slew of other hotels in the planning process, however — the biggest crop at once since 1999’s boom in Lynnwood. At least three new hotels have been proposed for Lynnwood, with two others planned for Everett’s waterfront and riverfront developments.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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