By John P. McDermott, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 10--Visitors seeking local beachfront accommodations have another option, as a $5.5 million Holiday Inn Express
Hotel & Suites opened Wednesday on the Isle of Palms.
The peach 69-room hotel, which includes 18 oceanfront suites, is on Ocean Boulevard's small commercial strip, between
Pavilion Drive and J.C. Long Boulevard.
"I think we're going to do fine," said co-owner Rick Linville. "The phone has been ringing off the
hook."
Rates range from $69 to $199 a night, depending on the room and time of year, according to Charlestown Management
Hotels, which is running the property.
Amenities include a pool, sun deck, computer access ports, laun dry rooms and free offsite parking. The general
manager is Dana Barton.
The hotel is a sure draw for visiting sun-and-sand lovers during the spring and summer, said David Kalik, president
of Charlestown Management.
In the off season, the company expects the Holiday Inn to lure guests who prefer to stay near the ocean regardless
of the weather. It bases that assumption on its expe rience managing the nearby Seaside Inn, which also is on the
beach.
The three-story Holiday Inn was built between two restaurants, Coconut Joe's and the One-Eyed Parrot, on what was
one of the last undeveloped commercial beachfront lots on the island.
"We wouldn't have done this if it wasn't on the ocean," said Linville, a retired textile executive who
owns the hotel with business partner Jim Gaino. Both are Isle of Palms residents who worked together in the textile
industry and bought the property about six years ago. Work began in early 1999 after a lengthy permitting process.
Just three years ago there were no hotels on the Isle of Palms. Now three properties compete for guests the Holiday
Inn, the Seaside Inn and the Boardwalk Inn at Wild Dunes Resort.
Kalik said the opening of the Isle of Palms Connector, which linked the beach community with U.S. Highway 17, has
fueled the building activity.
"Before the connector hardly anybody went out of their way to go to the Isle of Palms," he said. Since
then, Kalik added, tourism on the island has increased dramatically.
"That's why this has become a hotel destination," he said.
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