A new hotel in the works in Carolina Beach will be a welcome addition to Pleasure Island’s inventory of accommodations, officials say.
Construction on the 100-room Hampton Inn & Suites Carolina Beach Oceanfront at 1 Harper Ave. is expected to be complete by the end of August, according to a news release Thursday from LBA Hospitality.
The need for such hotel rooms was underscored this week by a small fire and subsequent water damage that temporarily shut down the Courtyard by Marriott Carolina Beach for a period, said Greg Reynolds, executive director of the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce.
“All the limited inventory of rooms we had available are gone now [as of early Thursday afternoon],” said Reynolds, who estimated that the town of Carolina Beach has about 1,400 rooms total. “Adding another 100 rooms to the roster is definitely going to help. We’re all looking forward to it.”
LBA Hospitality, a hotel management, development and consulting firm, has appointed two local residents for top positions at the new Hampton Inn & Suites: Lance Fischer, of Wilmington, as the general manager and Amy Snider, of Carolina Beach, as director of sales, according to the release.
"Both of them bring a lot of local experience," said Farrah Adams, senior vice president of hospitality for LBA Hospitality. "Through the interview process, Lance and Amy were at the top of our list for hiring and recruiting a great team and taking care of the associates. That’s core to our culture and we feel like if you take care of your associates, they’ll take care of your guests and your guests will keep coming back."
Fischer most recently served as assistant general manager of Courtyard by Marriott in Wilmington, and Snider was director of sales for TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Wilmington, the release said.
Fischer said hotel rooms on Pleasure Island can stay booked up even after the summer holidays are over.
“It just keeps going until Thanksgiving,” Fischer said.
That’s one of the reasons why the new hotel “is welcome down here for Carolina Beach. Everyone that I’ve talked to is extremely excited and loves the fact that it is coming in,” he said.
The Hampton Inn, under construction by Dargan Construction Co., is located on the north end of the Carolina Beach Boardwalk, which is connected to the hotel. Crews are expected to continue working on an extension of the boardwalk this fall.
"It’s going to have great presence in the market, right there on the boardwalk. I think our future guests will really enjoy staying there," Adams said.
Construction of the hotel began in February last year. Amenities are expected to include 400 square feet of meeting space, a 24-hour business center with free printing, free Wi-Fi and an oceanfront pool.
