Hilton resort to open in 2010 in South Padre Island, South TX | Rio Grande Valley

SPI Hilton resort to open in 2010

Antonio Vindell/Special to the Island Breeze
Link to Article 

Sometimes in the spring of 2010, visitors will be greeted by the newest hotel in this island resort on the Mexican Gulf that still has not fully recovered from the 2008 hurricane season.

The Hilton Garden Inn Beach Resort is set to add 156 rooms to the local lodging industry, giving vacationers another hotel choice.

The new facility is the first major full-service hotel and conference center to be built here within he last 30 years, Island officials said.

Dan Quandt, the executive director with the South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau,described the hotel as a nice addition for the Island .

"For many years, we have had four major hotels here," he said, "So this is going to be the first conference hotel to be built here in quite a while."

The four hotels he was referring to the Isla Grande Beach Resort, the Sheraton, the Bahia Mar and the South Padre Beach Resort, formerly known as the Holiday Inn.

Quandt said only the Isla Grand and the Sheraton are up and running, while the two other have been closed since late July 2008 when Hurricane Dolly slammed into the Island.

"The reality is that we really need to think about the ones we lost," he said. "Those two hotels might never get back on the market."

While the Bahia Mar is getting a major face lift and it could open as early as March 2010, nothing has been done to the old Holiday Inn.

The new hotel, under construction across from the South Padre Island Convention Centre, is another project of Barry Patel, an entrepreneur who already operates the Best Western La Copa Beach Resort and La Quinta Beach Resort here.

The Hilton Garden Inn is going to be a fourstory,156-unit hotel equipped with a large meeting room that could be divided into three rooms. Patel could not be reached for comment, but a company spokesman said the hotel is scheduled to open in late February or in early March. "It's going to have 156 rooms," he said, "and more than 8,000 square feet of meeting rooms." The hotel is being constructed just outside the Town of South Padre Island limits, James Mitchim, the town's building department official said.

A building permit was issued by the Cameron County transportation department office in San Benito.

Although the 156 rooms will not quite make up for the nearly 400 rooms the Islands lost to Hurricane Dolly, but they will come in handy for visitors coming here in 2010.

Quandt said the Island has about 4,000 lodging rooms and added the Hilton Garden Inn is going to be a big plus for the Island.

"We are really excited that we are getting a new hotel," he said. "The Hilton Garden Inn is going to be our next full-service hotel."