The Strathroy-area's first chain-brand hotel is open for business.
A four-storey Holiday Inn Express is located just south of Highway 402 on Centre Road in Adelaide-Metcalfe.
Hotel General Manager Baly Singh said they officially opened their doors at around 5 p.m. May 31.
"We have 90 rooms in the hotel. We are a limited service so we have full breakfast running here, which is complementary to the guests," said Singh. "We have a fitness centre along with a heated pool, and we have two meeting rooms within the hotel."
Singh said it's a pretty exciting development for the local community.
"We've already had a lot of attraction from local people here, they've already come to see me as well. I think it's exciting because you have tourism coming into Strathroy now, and we are attracting a lot of people here for wedding parties and sports," said Singh. "And quite a few corporations are going through to the US border as well, and this becomes a stopover gap here between London and Sarnia."
Singh added that the site will hopefully encourage more people and businesses to move to the area.
"I think that's what the plan is," said Singh. "Get some businesses from London and also from Sarnia and bring them into Strathroy so we can attract some local tourism here."
Plans for the hotel, a new gas bar and a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant were unveiled almost four years ago. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was expected to be complete by the end of 2020.