New hotel near Columbus State University helps with sports recruiting, spurs development

More development should be on the way now that a new Holiday Inn has opened near Manchester Expressway, Columbus business leaders said this week.

RAM Hotels, a company founded by brothers Rinkesh and Mitesh Patel , held a grand opening Thursday for Holiday Inn Express Columbus Northeast at 2761 Warm Springs Road, near the Chick-Fil-A on Manchester Expressway.

The hotel has 106 guest rooms with amenities including high-speed internet, an outdoor pool, a fitness center and complimentary breakfast. This location also has a meeting room and a flex boardroom that could be used to host smaller events, Mitesh said during his remarks at the opening.

“This hotel is perfect,” Mitesh said. “It has everything for everybody that can comfortably come to Columbus and spend a couple of nights.”

More development expected

District 5 Councilor Charmaine Crabb believes more development is on the way.

“We’re kind of in a barren desert in this area,” Crabb said. “We’ve got things going on like Columbus State University and the mall. But we need an influx of nice hotels and new restaurants.”

Rinkesh, CEO of RAM Hotels, doesn’t just hope there will be more development.

“I know for sure,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer.

The land near the hotel is owned by The Cotton Companies, which is the development company behind Midcity Yards and Highside Market , Rinkesh said. Columbus residents should expect to see something developed there in upcoming years, he said, but stated that the developers will take their time to ensure it is done right.

“I’m convinced that we’re going to start seeing stuff,” Rinkesh said. “But again, it’s about timing.”

A resource for CSU

The new Holiday Inn Express is about a three minute drive from CSU and the positive implications of that is why Robert Moore, the head men’s basketball coach at CSU , decided to attend the grand opening.

“It helps us out with recruiting,” Moore told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Recruits and their families will have a nice place to stay near the campus, he said. The hotel will also help the university out when other teams visit Columbus for games.

“A lot of teams want to come in and have practice,” Moore said. “They don’t want to stay far away from the campus. So, it’s really a big plus for us.”

Having a hotel so close to CSU will not only help sports, he said, but it will also help with academics and people visiting for graduations.

“We always wanted nicer hotels closer to the school,” Moore said. “To find a nice hotel, it’s usually 10 to 15 to 20 minutes away.”

A legacy and a challenge

The Manchester Expressway area is not new for Holiday Inn.

The original hotel was built in the 1960s at 2800 Manchester Expressway before being rebranded as Clarion Inn in the 2000s.

While growing up in Opelika, Mitesh remembers driving through Columbus with his parents seeing the big Holiday Inn on Manchester Expressway.

“Back then, we were Days Inn kinds of guys,” he said during the grand opening. “And I used to wonder who stays there and how does it work? The parking lot was always full.”

The hotel was demolished in 2018 , and RAM Hotels began the process of bringing Holiday Inn back just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made completing the project challenging for the brothers.

Extreme inflation, supply shortages, supply chain disruptions and a labor shortage made it difficult to get to the finish line, Rikesh said. Despite the economic challenges after the pandemic, RAM Hotels was determined to complete the Holiday Inn.

“It’s just our culture,” he said. “It’s who we are. I think failure is not an option.”