Holiday Inn Express opens doors to guests

The Holiday Inn Express on Highway 160 finally opened its doors late Thursday, a few years after the original plans for the hotel were announced.

Originally slated to open on Sept. 15, a few minor details had to be addressed before finally taking in the first travelers.

Mandy Gendreau, general manager of the Holiday Inn, said it was a relief to end the setup phase and finally get customers rolling through the 104-room structure.

"It was very exciting," Gendreau said. "Everyone was very, very excited and happy to finally be done with the construction and actually have an open hotel with guests."

The first few days of operation have gone off without a hitch for the crew, and on their second night open they saw a large group come and stay.

"So far everything seems to be going very smoothly and we are happy about that," Gendreau said. "We actually opened at almost 5 p.m., Thursday night and on Friday we had a tour bus check in for the first weekend. So it was very, very busy."

Gendreau said the group reserved the rooms a couple of days ahead of their arrival, so the hotel opened just in time for its first large group.

So far, going off local reaction on social media, Pahrump residents seem to think that the rooms at the Holiday Inn are a bit overpriced for the area, something that Gendreau has dealt with as well.

"We do see our rates being a little bit higher than the other hotels in town, but we are also a brand new facility with a lot of amenities and upgrades that a lot of the other properties in town don't have," she said.

Gendreau had one of the locals not pleased with the pricing come in and air his displeasure with her and she solved that by showing him why the price is what it is.

"We had one gentleman who goes to Front Sight and takes classes out there and he came in to complain about the price being double of what he pays at another local hotel," she said. "I took him on a tour of the property, and he said he will now be staying here because he doesn't mind paying double the price.

"He really liked the newer facility and having the microwave and refrigerator in the room."

Fall Festival is this weekend and with that, rooms around town tend to bulk up their occupancy and Holiday Inn is no different despite being the new kid on the block.

"The phones keep getting busier and busier," Gendreau said. "So I expect for us to be very busy this weekend… I know other area hotels are already at capacity, so I think we will get a lot of the overflow."

Since the opening Gendreau said they already have bulked up their staff and plan to hire a few additional employees as well.

"We actually already added four housekeepers," she said. "So we're probably going to add another one or two housekeepers and we're going to have to also add one or two more front desk staff and within the next month have to probably add another maintenance person as well."

The Holiday Inn Express is located at 861 S. Highway 160 and can be reached at 775-727-9100.