NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce CEO Debra Teufel is pleased with the progress being made on the new Hilton Garden Inn and that it will be open for the 2025 NJCAA Tournament. However, she realizes that more rooms are still needed to get overall capacity in Hutchinson back to the levels that it was when the Atrium Hotel was still open.
"I think that could be a strong component to what we work on now that we have the Downtown Hutch Master Plan," Teufel said. "We're really hopeful that this hotel's going to be successful, and then we can defend the need for a hotel somewhere on the Main Street corridor at some point in the near future."
There was a study done in the past on where hotels should go that they are still paying attention to.
"When we looked at the hotel opportunities for development going back seven years ago, there was a study that was done about where is the right place for a hotel?" Teufel said. "Should it be downtown? Should it be near the fair or on the fairgrounds, or should it stay on the K-61 corridor? The reality is at that point, the study still proved out that the most successful place, at that point in time, would probably still be K-61. That's really led to where we are today. It doesn't mean that, for the future, as we continue to bolster the development of downtown, that there wouldn't be a place in the future for a hotel."
There is also the smaller concept that is already underway.
"We want to also see the opening of the Hoke and their new beautiful, boutique hotel," Teufel said. "That's really going to kind of help test the waters on can a downtown hotel be successful?"
The work on that building has been ongoing since the summer of 2021. They have not announced a date for completion yet.
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