Rumors of a hotel at Lagoon have surfaced from time to time during recent years and its been said that the park has considered the possibility to some extent. Now a Phoenix-based hospitality firm plans to build the first Farmington hotel in decades less than a mile from the park's entrance.
Dharmesh Ahir, Chief Operating Officer of Five Star Management & Development, is planning an 84-room Hampton Inn on the corner of Park Lane and Lagoon Drive (most likely the northeast corner). According to the Davis County Clipper's article last Thursday, the plans have already been reviewed and approved by the Farmington City Council. The council has also allowed Ahir to pay the required impact fees of $200,000 in three installments before it opens, when it opens and after a year of operation. Few were reluctant in this kind of payment plan, reasoning that the boost in economic development was more important.
Five Star Management & Development currently operates nine hotels from different franchises with three other sites waiting to be developed - all in Arizona. The company's website mentions nothing about a hotel in Farmington, so its unclear as to whether or not this will be operated by the company or Ahir himself. If run by Five Star it will be their first in Utah and their first Hampton Inn franchise.
It's unknown how long it will be until construction begins, but it appears that Ahir is still waiting for a business license.
Currently, the nearest hotels to the Lagoon property have been Bountiful to the south and Layton to the north. This may help the already growing number of out-of-state visitors to Lagoon which recently jumped by 17%.
SOURCES
Farmington OKs city's first hotel in modern times. Davis County Clipper, 28 May 2009
Herbert: Tourism big economic plus. Davis County Clipper, 19 May 2009
Five Star Management & Development, company website.
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