New owners of the Days Inn & Suites in the Salmon Creek neighborhood are upgrading the hotel from top to bottom to better compete in the area’s lodging industry.
Location was one of the main reasons for buying the hotel, according to husband-and-wife owners Alex and Young Kim, who expect to reopen in April. The 58-room hotel stands at the northernmost point in the wedge of land between Interstates 5 and 205. It is just a stone’s throw away from Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital and from the Vancouver campus of Washington State University.
The Kims paid about $2.1 million to buy the hotel, which was closed by its previous owners in November after it was seized by the bank in foreclosure.
“I looked at this location and Vancouver as a growing area with a lot of potential,” said Alex Kim.
The Kims have an extensive background in the hotel industry. They most recently owned The Coachman Inn in Bellingham, which they sold in 2007.
They expect to open the Salmon Creek Days Inn with a staff of six workers.
But first, the couple estimates they will invest between $100,000 and $150,000 to put the older hotel back into the game. Workers have already put on a new roof. The building will also receive new landscaping, paint and a new air conditioning system as well as new mattresses and bedding.
The Kims are still undecided about whether the hotel will continue to operate as a Days Inn, which is owned by Wyndham Worldwide, based in Parsippany, N.J.
Alex Kim said he is negotiating for the best franchise deal with several hotel companies, including Wyndham.
“It could open under a different flag or as an independent,” he said.
The Salmon Creek Days Inn hotel was built in 1990.
