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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
One of Salt Lake’s largest hotels will soon celebrate its 40th birthday. It is the Holiday Inn Downtown, located at 999 South Main. And during its four decades of hosting travelers from around the globe, the resort hotel has experienced an interesting history.
It began back in 1963. The property originally opened as a Ramada Inn. At that time, there were only a few hotels in Salt Lake to accommodate travelers.
By the mid- to late-‘70s, new hotel properties began sprouting up throughout the city accompanied by new attractions such as the Salt Palace Convention Center. But the Ramada Inn, as it was then known, struggled to compete. The hotel hadn’t been renovated or upgraded since it first opened about 15 years earlier. So in 1980, the property was boarded up and fenced off with little hope of ever reopening as a hotel.
Well, that wasn’t the end. Mr. Jose Torres,a former regional vice president of operations for Holiday Inn nationwide and president of Ramada Inn, acquired the property as part of his retirement portfolio. After visiting the property and realizing its potential as well as Salt Lake’s need for more hotels, Mr. Torres decided to put it back in business. He ordered an extensive renovation, and following that, the property reopened in 1990 as a Holiday Inn and Suites featuring 263 rooms. Two years later, with some additional renovations, the hotel converted to a Holiday Inn and presently has 278 rooms and 14 suites.
Now, the Holiday Inn Downtown is a full-service hotel situated in a resort setting, complete with tennis courts, a swimming pool, whirlpool, fitness center and more than 8,000 square feet of meeting space for professional and social gatherings of any size. The rooms feature data-port communications and well-lit work areas. There are also a choice of cafes for full meals or quick bites, and downtown is just a free shuttle ride away.
For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.
