Hotel opens doors in Moses Lake

Comfort Suites hopes to create 'raving' fans

MOSES LAKE - Dolly Blankenship recommends driving by Moses Lake's newest hotel at night.

In the dark, the Comfort Suites is backlit by floodlights at night, so it really pops, says the regional operations coordinator of Portland, Ore.- based Lincoln Assets Management, which manages the new hotel located at 1700 E. Kittelson Rd.

The management company also has locations in Othello, Ellensburg and Yakima, amongst others.

The hotel held its soft opening Aug. 14. Diane Gonzalez is general manager.

Blankenship said it took two years before construction began to bring the hotel to Moses Lake.

"All of the economic indicators said this is an up-and-coming place to be," she said. "There's tremendous growth here and tremendous opportunity here. We saw an opportunity, and we wanted to capitalize on it."

The hotel was constructed by Moses Lake-based Desert Development, Inc., beginning Dec. 20, said the development company's president and CEO, Rod Goodwin.

"We did fine," he said. "We finished a little behind schedule, but I think it was because of all the fine finishes inside."

Goodwin believes the building's design - three stories and 60 suites - is upscale from typical hospitality structures.

"Comfort Suites has specifications, but the owner has gone above and beyond the suites' expectations," he said. "All in all, it went fairly well. Being at home makes a big difference."

The hotel includes a 24-hour indoor pool, spa and fitness center, a fish and animal cleaning area and freshly baked evening cookies.

The number of employees the hotel has will vary depending upon occupancy, Blankenship said, but there will be anywhere from 10 to 15 full-time equivalents.

"That's not the number of employees we have, that's the number of full-time equivalents," she stressed. "We could have upwards of 25 employees working different schedules, different hours."

Blankenship said the company is thrilled now that the hotel is open.

"This is what you work for," she said. "We're finally here."

Blankenship said she has heard from community members who say they have watched the hotel grow.

The company hopes to have satisfied guests who will come back and happy employees who are excited to be at work, both of which Blankenship said will provide the hotel's owners a good return on their investment.

"We want to be a good community player, a good corporate citizen," she said. "We want to exceed their expectations, we want to create good, happy, fond memories. We want them to be raving fans of our hotel."

For more information, call 509-765-3731.