In late 2008, when Marriott International unveiled a new prototype with a redesigned lobby for the Courtyard by Marriott brand, they had a pretty good idea that guests would react positively. Now with about 100 hotels, with our Bloomington/Normal, Illinois Courtyard included in the roll out, the company can now be sure.

The redesigned lobby, which features a more open floor plan, the latest technology and healthy food and beverage options, is a key aspect to the new design. The new lobby is based on extensive consumer research and is designed to get people out of their rooms.

The new layout of the lobby design has also changed the way associates service guests, as the traditional front desk has been replaced with separate welcome podiums, which are designed to create more personal interactions between staff and guests during check-in. High tech, high style and high touch, there are a number of elements geared for technology including a business library with computer terminal, private media booths with high-definition televisions and the new Courtyard GoBoard. The GoBoard is a 52-inch touch screen with local information, maps, weather and news, business and sports headlines. Guests can navigate the GoBoard by using the touch screen to find restaurants, local attractions and directions.

Limited service brands are not known for expansive food and beverage offerings but the new Courtyard is changing that concept. In addition to the 24-hour Market for on-the-go guests, the new “Bistro” features a number of healthy food items made fresh to order. Guests can now enjoy hot, customized breakfast selections and then return in the evening for a glass of wine and social appetizers or an evening meal.

The new concept also extends into the guestrooms as well with a new focus on design and a fresh new color palette. A fresh, new look including luxurious bedding, beautiful furniture, designer decorating combined with a style to help guests relax and re-energize. From floor to ceiling, you are going to love what you see.

Lush new linens, multiple choices of pillow softness, flat screen televisions, in-room coffee makers, iron and board and hair dryer are only a few of the many amenities that make the new Courtyard by Marriott in Bloomington Normal a must stay when in the area. For more information and to book accommodations at the Bloomington/Normal Courtyard by Marriott, follow the link below:

Bloomington/Normal Courtyard by Marriott
310A Greenbriar Drive
Normal, Illinois 61761
Phone: 309.862.1166 Fax: 309.862.1166

Website: www.courtyard.com

A target date of Fall 2010 has been set for the opening of the all new Residence Inn by Marriott, now under construction at 3110 Wall Street, Lexington, Kentucky.  Just minutes from Beaumont Center and the Lexington Blue Grass Field Airport.

As an ESOP company, we are proud to say that even in an economy that has seen such a sharp downturn in the past 18 months, we are continuing to grow and move forward into the future with new investments and projects similar to the Lexington Residence Inn. A new Holiday Inn Express in El Paso, Texas is also in the beginning stages of construction and expected to open in early 2011.

The Lexington Residence Inn is a 104-suite inn that will feature Marriott’s new upscale image with a new decorating scheme and open lobby concept that follows in the footsteps of the extremely successful re-imaging of their Courtyard by Marriott brand but still maintain that “at home” feeling that has been a hallmark of the Residence Inn brand.

The property features studios,  one and two-bedroom suites that are designed for extended stays. Each suite has a kitchen with coffee maker, microwave oven, full-size appliances and free high-speed Internet access. The new lobby concept will feature a library with open spaces for relaxing and also a private Business Center which includes work spaces with flat panel televisions.

Since 1988, Tharaldson Hospitality has offered free rooms at all of our locations nationwide through our industry groundbreaking Room In The Inn Program. This program is available to people who have friends or family hospitalized over the holidays.

During this special time of year, we at Tharaldson Hospitality focus on how we can help families who have a friend or loved one who is dealing with a difficult time. Every one of our more than 220 hotels offers free rooms to people visiting friends, family and loved ones who are in hospitals, nursing homes and treatment centers on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve.

We invite you to be our guest! This program is offered at all of the hotels listed on our website. Simply call the hotel to make your reservation for Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Eve and ask for the Room In The Inn program. Our associates will take care of the rest!

If you know of anyone who would benefit from this program, please share this information with them. We can only get this message out with your help.

Tharaldson Hospitality is extremely proud to lend a hand to Brady Homes and Extreme Makeover Home Edition while they are building a new home for the Montgomery Family in Champaign, IL. As employee owners we take great pride in our hotels and this opportunity to help others and in our community!

On August 18, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” traveled to Champaign County, IL to meet Nathan Montgomery who gave up a lucrative engineering career to start a charity that feeds hundreds of hungry families in his community. On Tuesday, August 25th, team leader Ty Pennington, his designers and hundreds of volunteers will rebuild the crumbling home of Nathan, his wife Jenny and their four children – providing them with comfort and security they now cannot afford for themselves.

Nathan was a promising young engineer on his way to a six-figure management position when he first began volunteering to help the needy. Realizing he wanted to pursue charity work full time, Nathan stepped off the fast track to launch Salt and Light, the philanthropic organization he leads as executive director. Nathan has seen the number of local families in need rise dramatically during the current economic crisis, and Salt and Light now feeds an average of 250 families each week.

Tharaldson Hospitality is glad to be a part of this great cause. Our Champaign, IL hotels; Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn by Marriott and Comfort Inn by Choice Hotels, will work together to donate rooms for the Brady Homes builders who have come together to aid in the amazing task of building a home in just seven days.

Click on the links below to learn more about the contractor who is building the home and visit our hotels located in Champaign…

Brady Homes – The Contractor

Champaign Courtyard by Marriott

Champaign Fairfield Inn by Marriott

Champaign Comfort Inn by Choice Hotels

Bloomington, Illinois Comfort Suites earns Choice Platinum Award

Congratulations to our Bloomington Comfort Suites as they received the Platinum Award from Choice. They are also a finalist for “Hotel of the Year” for the Comfort Suites Brand. Good Luck!

Pictured are (left) Pat Waggoner, GM of the Bloomington/Normal Comfort Suites and Dion Smith, AGM.

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Congratulations to the following winners at the
annual Marriott International Conferences

Fairfield Inn – Diamond Hotels
San Bernardino, California

Fairfield Inn – Gold Circle
Chicago Naperville, Illinois
Findlay, Ohio
Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Fairfield Inn – Silver Circle
Chicago Naperville/Aurora, Illinois
Lansing, Michigan
Quail Springs North, Oklahoma

TownePlace Suites – Silver Hotels
Chicago Naperville, Illinois

Residence Inn – Gold Hotels
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Residence Inn – Silver Hotels
Appleton, Wisconsin
Manassas Battlefield Park, Virginia
Phoenix Glendale/Peoria, Arizona

Courtyard – Silver Circle Award
Kingston, New York

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Congratulations to these winners named at the
Annual Hilton Conference!

Highest Extended Stay Percentage
Houston Westchase, Texas
Houston Willowbrook Mall, Texas

Director of Sales of the Year
Elana Atieh from Houston Willowbrook Mall, Texas

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Congratulations to the Fairfield Inn of Findlay, Ohio for receiving an award for Problem Incidence.  They ranked 2 out of 563 hotels.  The hotel is very proud of this award and we extend our CONGRATULATIONS to the management and staff!

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On September, 12th, 2008, Hurricane Ike slammed into the Gulf Coast, shredding buildings, flooding streets, and knocking out power for millions of people.  With winds reaching 110 miles (177 kilometers) an hour, Ike came ashore over Galveston, Texas, as a strong Category 2 storm just after 3 a.m. EST.

The massive storm, nearly as big as Texas itself, moved over Houston before dawn, blowing out windows and scattering documents from skyscrapers such as the 75-story Chase Tower, the state’s tallest building.  According to the Associated Press, Ike was the first hurricane since Alicia in 1983 to land a direct hit on Houston and it resulted in the closings of three of our Texas hotels. The Houston I-45 Fairfield Inn, Houston I-10 Fairfield Inn and the Texas City Hampton Inn have been closed since the hurricane.

After many months of hard work and dedication by employees and management, we are pleased to announce that the first of these properties just re-opened for business on Tuesday, May 18 with a complete renovation inside and out and now proudly displays the all new Fairfield Inn & Suites flag!

CLICK HERE FOR RESERVATIONS….

The latter part of March tested the communities of the Fargo/ Moorhead area as they sat on the brink of an impending record flood from the Red River. As the danger loomed at the foot of their doorsteps, the community took a stand and did what they do best…they fought.

Around March 15th, news came that the worst flooding was expected to arrive April 8-22. The city was geared up to be ahead of the flood with many preparations starting for the city and individual property owners. By March 19th, the tone of preparations changed from “ahead of the game” to “all hands on deck”. Levees in downtown Fargo immediately started rising and it was estimated 1.3-1.5 million sandbags were needed. The local FargoDome parking lot became the staging area for volunteers along with other locations in Moorhead, MN. The crest prediction of the Red River was 37-40 feet; flood stage is 18 feet with major flooding at 30 feet.

On Monday the 23rd, Tharaldson Companies corporate office made the decision to put the employees out in the city where they were needed for the entire week. Employees worked on personal homes, served food to the flood fighters, helped friends build up flood protection around their homes, moved furniture out of basements and so much more. The FM Area (Fargo/Moorhead) had neighborhood meetings to plan levee construction. Dirt and clay was brought in from many areas around the town (including digging up soccer fields) to build up the levees. Monday brought street closures to help with flood operation and emergency vehicles traveling around the city with ease.

By Tuesday the fight was in full gear, however city leaders kept the town in a very calm but ready state. The need for sandbags went up by over a half million to almost two million.  Businesses throughout the community closed, schools from elementary up to university levels called off classes to allow people to help the protection efforts. Parts of the FM area and outlying areas were evacuated as precautionary steps to ensure safety.  On Tuesday the river topped 29 feet with a forecast to reach 40 feet by Friday.

Support poured in from all over the United States. National Guard troops (as many as 800 on Tuesday) and Coastguard personnel blanketed the town to make the levees, help with evacuations and patrol dikes. Volunteers from west central Minnesota to Wisconsin to the western part of North Dakota showed up by bus and car. Food was plentiful in the sandbag central locations, thanks to the help of the community. All of this help was needed as the crest forecast rose to 39-41 feet. With the crest rising to possibly 41 feet, all the dikes and levees that were built needed to be topped off with another foot of protection.

The Red River had taken over smaller communities south of Fargo. The Coastguard was assisting in evacuations along with state officials using airboats to patrol the river for possible water rescues. Makeshift shelters were utilized in local schools and community buildings. During the sandbagging and flood fight efforts, volunteers faced many different climate challenges. There was sunshine, rain and even snow.

The National Weather Service said on Wednesday the crest prediction was at a record-setting 41 feet on Saturday with the crest lasting two to three days. This new crest prediction lead to more cancellations from mail delivery, garbage pick up and even more business closures for the week. The city kicked into high gear of sandbag making and building the dikes up higher to protect against the new crest prediction. More evacuations were implemented as cities looked at relocating senior living communities out of harms way. Hardware stores were staying open 24 hours to provide pumps, generators and sewer drain plugs.

A second crest loomed ahead as the Red River was currently at 38.83 feet on Thursday morning. The American Red Cross began setting up locations for flood relief efforts. They were looking at having 1,850 North Dakota National Guard members help out with traffic control and monitoring the emergency sandbag dams.

Saturday morning, the Red River was at 40.79 feet according to the National Weather Service. Throughout the weekend, non essential businesses were told to continue to remain closed. News from the National Weather Service came out that the river could possibly reach 43 feet.

Somehow over the weekend, the water started to reach 40.82 then lowered. City officials were hesitant to call it a crest, but called it more of a “peak” with a snow storm on the way late Monday and into Tuesday. Approximately 10 inches of snow dumped on the FM area over the next couple of days which put even more stress on city workers who moved their efforts from flood fighting back to snow removal. The falling temperatures were good news in our area as it kept the water snow from melting and entering the Red River. By late afternoon Tuesday the Red River was at 37.86 feet. The Weather Service reported that the river could begin dropping about one foot per day over the next three or four days and then move slowly through the middle of next week.

At that time, the Red River was still above flood stage and expected to drop down to around 32 feet. Then along comes the seasonal temperatures that could possible raise the river creating a second crest of 37 feet. With the river dropping, some of the state/government help headed to other areas that were experiencing flooding as well.
An amazing 3.5 million sandbags were filled to hold the Red River back.  The Corps of Engineers also provided 9.5 million sandbags to communities throughout Minnesota/North Dakota.

From day one around the city, when a call was put out for help, people were there within minutes. No matter what time of day, people would show up to sandbag, man pumps, bring food or provide a shoulder for support. People were helping others even when their own home needed attention.  Many were working at homes where they didn’t know the owner and possibly will never meet them again.

Thank you to all those that helped in so many ways to keep our community alive, you should be proud…it’s an amazing thing we have done.