Just in time for the holidays, Arlington’s new Fairfield Inn & Suites – the town’s first hotel – is welcoming guests beginning this month.
The hotel is part of Phase I of the 17-acre Arlington Trails planned commercial development at the southwest corner of Interstate 40 and Airline Road.
“It’s good to finish something any time, start some income coming in, and get people used to the fact that we’re there,” property owner and developer Milton Grant said. “That will progress as we get more into the coming year.”
Construction took nearly two years to complete the four-story, 110-room hotel that features a meeting room, fitness center and exterior pool (open from Memorial Day to Labor Day). Roughly 25% of the rooms are suites. The opening of the hotel created 34 full-time and part-time jobs.
“We’re pleased with the fact that much of our staff lives in the Arlington area,” Grant said.
Traffic at the hotel is already gaining momentum.
“We have our corporate business (people) that are traveling during the weekdays, of course, and we have a lot of wedding groups coming in during the month of December due to Orion (Hill Weddings & Events venue), which is right around the corner,” hotel general manager Louise Kitts said.
And things should become even better when key plans are finished in places like Gallaway, just across the Shelby County line and the new megasite development a commutable distance east.“We expect to see business from the new Ford plant (planned for the megasite in Haywood County) as well as the Helen of Troy facility being built in Gallaway,” said Kitts, who has 12 years of experience with Marriott Wolfchase and 12 years with Hilton.
Grant hopes to start construction on Arlington’s second hotel next door to the Fairfield Inn & Suites by the end of the year. The project goes before the town’s Design Review Committee next month for approval.
“We’re 17 miles from what they call Blue Oval City, so that’s encouraging,” Grant said. “We’ve already had people coming by looking for rooms in that regard for some of the other stuff being built in that area.”
A contractor working on the Helen of Troy project in Gallaway contacted the Arlington hotel before it was open about needing rooms.
The Fairfield Inn & Suites is similar to the one Grant owns (under his Southern Hospitality LLC banner) near Carriage Crossing in Collierville. The two hotels used the same prototype but with different exteriors.
Planned next to the Arlington Fairfield Inn, a new SpringHill Suites by Marriott will include 124 rooms, along with a swimming pool, fitness center, two 40-person meeting rooms, and a board room.
“The rooms will be more spacious and more family-friendly since the rooms will hold more people,” Kitts said. “There will be a bar and outside patio seating, and the meeting rooms will be great for events like wedding receptions.”
Once the second hotel is built, Kitts will serve as dual GM over both properties.
Grant has said the opening of Interstate 269 is the primary driver for building both projects now. Pride Construction is the subcontractor and Renaissance Group is the architect for both hotels.
“The timing of the opening of Arlington’s Fairfield Inn is perfect – construction of both the West Tennessee Veterans Home and Blue Oval City are set to start in the next couple of months, so the lodging will be welcome and helpful in our community,” Arlington Chamber of Commerce Director Tonia Howell said. “Our businesses will benefit from out-of-town guests and travelers, and I am very pleased about that.”
The two hotels will also be convenient for business travelers meeting with local companies, visitors for Arlington sports tournaments and events at Arlington High and the Arlington Sports Complex, and for people simply traveling through the I-40 and 269 corridors.
The Arlington Trails development also includes a Sentry Self Storage facility that is already open, and four outparcels available for future commercial projects, possibly restaurants or retail space.
An official ribbon-cutting for the Fairfield Inn & Suites will take place on Dec. 9.