By Tracy Ouellette
Staff Writer
The hotel under construction along Highway 12 in Lake Geneva will be a Marriott Fairfield Inn. The four-story hotel will have 92 rooms and is expected to open in late summer or early fall.
“They’re very close to their projected timeline, the (winter) weather did delay them a bit, I don’t know how much, but it’s hard to work when it’s 51 below zero outside,” City of Lake Geneva Building and Zoning Administrator Fred Walling said.
When the hotel project was originally proposed last year by Johnsburg, Ill., investors, the plan was for a Hampton Inn. By the fall of 2018, the franchise was changed to Marriott Fairfield Inn and Suites.
“Unofficial sources tell us that there was another franchise in the area and they were not happy with another Hampton Inn going in, so they fought it off. So, the investors went to another group for purposes of labeling the hotel,” Lake Geneva City Administrator Dave Nord said.
The hotel will have 92 single rooms and suites of varying sizes, breakfast area facilities, fitness center, indoor pool, meeting room and other related hotel facilities, according to the plan submitted by the investors. The Fairfield Inn and Suites franchise is “premium ranked” in the industry.
The hotel will cost about $11.4 million to build and is expected to generate about $230,000 in annual real estate taxes and about $307,000 a year in room sale taxes.
Fairfield projects the hotel will hire about 20 full-time and 15 part-time employees from the area.
Nord said the city was happy with the location chosen for the hotel as downtown Lake Geneva is a bit congested.
“Downtown is pretty filled up, but this hotel will be used,” Nord said. “We have a lot of resorts in that direction and it’s close enough to downtown to be convenient with out being in downtown.”
With most area municipalities seeking business and manufacturing development, Lake Geneva officials say they are pleased a project of this size is underway in the city.
“I’m happy about the quality of the hotel,” Nord said. “I travel and I have used them (Marriott) before and have never been disappointed. I think it will be a nice addition to the community.”
“We’re always happy to see development like this,” Walling said.
He added the City of Lake Geneva worked with the investors to locate the hotel, selling them the property on Highway 12 for the development.
As for the construction, Walling said it’s been going well, without any major issues that he is aware of.
“Every inspection has passed so far,” he said. “Construction will continue through the summer and we’ll have a new hotel by the end of the season.”
“We’re excited to have them come,” Nord said.
