A new Embassy Suites hotel opened in Amarillo, Texas, directly across the street from the Amarillo Civic Center and adjacent to the Globe News Center of Performing Arts.
The new hotel consists of 226 one-bedroom and studio suites, 18,000 square feet of meeting space, a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, an indoor swimming pool and a high-end restaurant and lounge. A 750-space parking garage is located immediately adjacent to the hotel’s south side.
Next to the garage, a 220,000-square-foot multipurpose event center is planned pending Amarillo’s acquisition of a minor league baseball team, which is expected in 2019.
“We have created an exciting new travel experience for our guests and a dramatic new signature building for downtown Amarillo,” Mehul Patel, chairman and CEO of NewcrestImage, said in a statement. “This property both fits in and stands out.”
The Embassy Suites, which began construction in October of 2015, is a public/private partnership between NewcrestImage and the city of Amarillo, notably three public entities: the Amarillo City Council, the Amarillo Local Government Corporation and the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.
The new hotel carries on the relationship between NewcrestImage with Amarillo, which began with the opening in 2010 of the Courtyard by Marriott in the city's historic Fisk Building. That hotel won an award from the Texas Downtown Association for “Best Adaptive Reuse” project.
Hospitality veteran Donna Paraliticci will serve as GM of the Embassy Suites Downtown Amarillo. Her experience includes directing the Courtyard Amarillo Downtown, as well as holding senior management positions at luxury hotels in Phoenix, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale and the Philippines.
Currently, Dallas-based NewcrestImage owns and operates a portfolio of 23 hotels, with another 10 properties under construction or in development, including historic sites in Dallas, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Houston. The company has three divisions: real estate development, construction and hotel management.