A welder finishes work on the entrance of the new Tru by Hilton Hotel on Monday in downtown Grand Junction. With just a few touches left, the hotel, below, is now open for business.
A welder finishes work on the entrance of the new Tru by Hilton Hotel on Monday in downtown Grand Junction. With just a few touches left, the hotel, below, is now open for business.
A welder finishes work on the entrance of the new Tru by Hilton Hotel on Monday in downtown Grand Junction. With just a few touches left, the hotel, below, is now open for business.
A welder finishes work on the entrance of the new Tru by Hilton Hotel on Monday in downtown Grand Junction. With just a few touches left, the hotel, below, is now open for business.
Grand Junction visitors have another option when deciding where to stay now that downtown's newest hotel is open.
Tru by Hilton officially opened Monday at 243 Colorado Ave. and is the latest hotel venture in downtown Grand Junction from owners Kevin and Steve Reimer.
The brothers also own the nearby Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott, Hampton Inn and SpringHill Suites by Marriott.
"Each one has an identity and attracts different guests," Steve Reimer said.
Tru is a new franchise model from Hilton that launched in 2016. Its lobby boasts work and play areas, a small market, quiet areas and a wall mural representing the Grand Junction area. Outside, there are two patios and fire pits.
The five-story Grand Junction hotel has 92 rooms and cost more than $10 million to construct. Work began on the hotel in May 2018. Some of the work was delayed by weather, Kevin Reimer said. Shaw Construction was the contractor for the project.
Tru brought about 25 full-time jobs into downtown, including Kevin Remier's daughter, Karli, who is the hotel's general manager. The Reimers now employ about 100 people at their four downtown hotels.
The new hotel is the first of the four to be located on Colorado Avenue, one block south of Main Street. The other three face Main Street.
Tru's parking lot is accessible from Ute Avenue, and the main entrance to the hotel is also on the south side of the building.
The Reimers hope that the hotel will align well with some of the new businesses locating on Colorado Avenue, such as the Feisty Pint, which opened last year one block east of the hotel.
"People enjoy staying downtown with the walkability," Kevin Reimer said. "They can park once and enjoy the hundreds of shops in the downtown area."
Downtown Director Brandon Stam, who heads up both the Downtown Development Authority and Downtown Grand Junction Business Improvement District, said the hotel has already had an economic impact along Colorado Avenue.
"Businesses are opening because they knew a hotel was coming," Stam said.
Tru by Hilton also fills a need for more hotel space downtown, Stam said.
It should also complement the $7.3 million renovation project underway at the Two Rivers Convention Center.
"Now we have enough rooms to attract larger groups," Kevin Reimer said.
The Reimers are also heading up a $15 million project to build a 90-100 room hotel and 10,000 square-foot ballroom attached to the convention center. That project could break ground in late 2020.
The brothers first entered the hotel business as franchise owners in 2000 when they opened what is now the Fairfield Inn and Suites. So far, they have brought 350 hotel rooms to an area they felt was underserved. The Hampton Inn opened in 2003 and SpringHill Suites followed in 2011.
Steve Reimer said the hotels have a strong bond with downtown businesses and he hopes that relationship will grow as they help expand downtown Grand Junction's footprint along Colorado Avenue.
"It's an important relationship between the hotels and store owners," Steve Reimer said.
