Historic east Amarillo hotel to be turned into two name-brand hotel properties

AMARILLO, TX (KFDA) - An historic Amarillo hotel will soon ditch its independent identity and transform into two name-brand hotels.

With contractors already taking over the property, it will no longer be known as the Amarillo Inn & Suites, but instead, will become a Four Points by Sheraton and a Fairfield Inn by Marriott.

Located on I-40 just east of downtown, the Amarillo Inn and Suites has quite the history and is also creating a brand new future for the site.

"Years back, it was a Holiday Inn and some other things and it’s been an independent now for a while, but they’re basically going to be, part of it’s going to be a rebuild, they’ll actually gut it out a bit and kind of start over, and a lot of it’s a remodel, but it’s kind of, in an essence, splitting it into two properties,” said Dan Quandt, Vice President of the Amarillo Convention and Visitor Council.

According to the hotel’s Regional Sales Manager Lindsay Young, while dual brands like the future of this hotel are popular across the country, this will be the first dual-brand property in Amarillo.

Quandt says many hotel properties across the city are updating their image.

"One of the exciting things that’s going on in Amarillo right now, and Amarillo Inn and Suites is a good example, we’re seeing more owners now who are looking at their properties and saying, ‘We want to modernize it, we want to remodel and stay competitive in the market,’ since we’ve had so much of an increase in new inventory,” said Quandt.

One half of the hotel will become a Four Points by Sheraton, an upscale hotel chain geared toward business travelers and small conventions, while the other half will become a Fairfield Inn by Marriott, which is a low-cost, economy chain of hotels.

The owner is also working on renovations at other properties in town including the Fifth Season Inn and the La Kiva Hotel.

With multiple projects in the works east of downtown, Quandt says the development is good for the area.

"They're very close with all the activities happening downtown, especially with the Civic Center so it can be a very good hotel to tie into that. The activities coming from people at the airport coming here on business, that all works well for them,” said Quandt. "It's great for the east side and we love seeing that happen."

While an exact timeline isn’t set yet for the transformation, the owners hope to have it completed by the beginning of 2020.

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