• Other hotels planned for Farmington and mid-Davis may be on the way

LAYTON — The recession isn’t stopping Layton from getting a new hotel.

Kevin Garn of KSG Properties, and Western States Lodging, told the Clipper during the weekend that a 108-room Home2Suites will be built on several acres across Heritage Boulevard and south of the Hilton Garden Inn.

“It’s a new Hilton product. They’re just rolling them out across the nation. This will be the first one in Utah,” Garn said.

“It’s an extended stay brand (such as for multiple-day stays), geared around those who want to stay five days or more,” he said. “It will help service the Davis Conference Center, allowing them to probably capture larger conferences.”

It will be built across from the Hilton Garden Inn, also a Garn and partners-owned property. Western States Lodging will manage both hotels.

The Hilton Garden Inn connects to the Conference Center, a component that was planned by county commissioners when both facilities opened nearly six years ago. The Conference Center is owned by the county, the hotel by Western States, but both are managed by lodging company staff.

“The Conference Center is doing well,” Garn said. “There were more than 600 events hosted last year (down from about 700 per year previously). Even in these economic times it is doing well.

“We really needed a larger headquarters hotel. It really made sense to build a new one,” he said. Previously, well before the economic downturn, Garn had told the Clipper a 40-room addition was planned to the Hilton Garden. Those additional rooms will now be folded into the new facility.

It’s anticipated that construction will start by next February on the four-story hotel, with completion in about nine months, Garn said.

“It’s a very unique hotel, with very unique design,” he said. “Marketing material describes it as hip and humble, with an unexpected style that delivers more functionality and personality.”

Rooms/suites will feature kitchenettes in larger spaces, One of the features Garn mentioned is a running track that will surround the hotel.

“There is going to (also) be exercise equipment around the perimeter, like an outdoor par course,” said Hilton Garden Catering Director Dave Hillard. For example, there will be pull up bars, etc., that hotel guests and others can use.

It will also tie into Layton’s new Buffalo Walk, which is planned to encompass that area of hotels and restaurants.

“We are thrilled to have a new hotel in our community,” said Davis Areas Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Barbara Riddle. “It provides us with additional rooms, accommodations for larger convention groups.”

“Layton and Davis County are very blessed. We are in a little bit of a bubble, with the base, and we’re so appreciative of all the business from the base and the aerospace industry,” Hilliard said. “It’s meant for those who are staying longer, and that’s a lot of the business we get in the county, especially with aerospace companies.

“It’s keeping us strong. We’re one of the cities that is leading the market in all of the state in terms of (hotel) occupancy.”

Other hotels are also looking at the county or have announced intentions to build.

The Hampton Inn has indicated plans to build a hotel on the east side of U.S. Highway 89 in Farmington. Another hotel group is studying the possibility of siting a facility in the central part of the county, sources told the Clipper.

tbusselberg@davisclipper.com