Holiday Inn Express coming to Versailles as city’s first hotel

Versailles is on track to get a Holiday Inn Express, the first hotel for the Woodford County seat.

H&W Management of Lexington has signed a contract to buy a three-acre parcel near McDonald’s and United Bank off the U.S. 60 bypass. The parcel is part of the former Versailles Flea and Antique Mall property that Versailles Land Group bought last year.

When Versailles Land Group gets a development plan approved through the local planning commission, “they’ll be able to give us a deed and we’ll be able to close on the land and go forward,” said Don Howard Jr., president of H&W Management.

H&W Management plans to build and operate the hotel, which Howard said will have 81 rooms on four floors. He said he hopes to break ground later this year and open the motel next year.

Versailles has several bed and breakfasts, but most business travelers and tourists must go to Lexington or Frankfort for lodging.

“We’ve looked at Versailles three or four times over the years,” Howard said. “It’s a small market, but there is some local industry there,” and it’s the headquarters for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

“It should fit well in that market, and we think it can draw people to stay there,” Howard said.

The Versailles motel will have “Formula Blue” design, which incorporates guest rooms with flexible work space, movable seating, storage units with a horizontal luggage component, and a neutral color palette.

H&W Management builds and operates hotels across the region, from Pikeville to Hopkinsville. It operates a Holiday Inn Express in Madison, Ind., and it recently opened a WoodSpring Suites hotel in Nashville. It has also built hotels in Ohio, West Virginia and the Carolinas, Howard said.

This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 12:54 PM with the headline "Holiday Inn Express coming to Versailles as city’s first hotel."