With 80 rooms, Holiday Inn Express in Siloam Springs to open by March 1

A 53,453-square-foot Holiday Inn Express is under construction on 2 acres in the 2100 block of U.S. Highway 412 in Siloam Springs.

The 80-room, four-story hotel is being built with a permit valued at $5 million and will be the largest hotel in Siloam Springs based on number of rooms. Sawatzky Homes Inc. of Broken Arrow, Okla., is the contractor.

Yash Patel of Krish Hospitality Inc. in Russellville is the owner and developer. In January 2015, Krish Hospitality paid $314,000 for the land on which the hotel is being built. Douglas Wade Allen of Cale Properties LLP in Fayetteville was the seller.

Construction started in May, and the plan is for the hotel to open by March 1, said Dusti Yarber, general manager of LaQuinta Inn and Suites in Russellville. Patel also owns the LaQuinta.

Yarber explained the hotel is being built there because of a lack of options. The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s annual list of Largest Hotels, ranking hotels in the two-county area with a minimum of 75 rooms, does not include any hotels in Siloam Springs.

The Holiday Inn Express brand was selected because it’s offering modern features and is well known. “There’s a lot that comes into play when it comes to brands,” Yarber said.

At least 15 employees will staff the hotel, and Hannah Justice was recently named its general manager. The hotel will include 18 suites, 1,200 square feet of meeting room space and a 200-square-foot boardroom, Justice said. “We do have an indoor pool and spa and an outdoor patio.” The hotel is in close proximity to Cherokee Casino & Hotel in West Siloam Springs, Okla.