July 22, 2024

The Hilton Garden Inn Downtown is about to get a new name and a completely new look.

The decade-old property at 201 E. Eighth St. will become part of Hilton’s Tapestry collection, a group of more than 125 independent hotels nationwide.

“It’s an opportunity to create a lot of different experiences you wouldn’t get in a normal Hilton property,” said Dione Deuel, chief operating officer of hospitality for operator Hegg Cos., adding that CEO Paul Hegg’s relationship with Hilton “is what afforded us the opportunity to dive into the Tapestry world.”

The nearest Tapestry hotels to Sioux Falls are The Lofton Hotel Minneapolis and three hotels in the Des Moines area: Revel Hotel, Hotel Renovo and The Rewind.

In Sioux Falls, Hegg preferred becoming part of Tapestry downtown because “it’s a more boutique feel,” Deuel said.

“And our company is all about creating experiences both for our team members and our guests. The market is calling for something different, and I think it really was about going to that next scale. The Hilton Garden Inn has been so incredibly successful for Paul and the company, and really having an opportunity to take it to the next level and have a little design freedom with it was a driving factor.”

Almost every area of the downtown property will be touched by the transition, starting with the name. The property will be called The Catlin Hotel, a name chosen in recognition of catlinite, the sister stone to quartzite, which runs beneath Sioux Falls.

The concept is about exuding energy and focusing on connection, according to information from Hegg.

“Our Catlin Hotel has much in common with its Native American namesake: it’s a place for connecting, coming together and marking occasions,” according to the brand narrative. “A place of energy and vitality and welcome. A destination that’s fundamentally and unmistakably Sioux Falls.”

Renovations will be done in stages, beginning with the kitchen for Crave American Kitchen & Sushi Bar, which will continue to be the restaurant serving the property. That phase also will create a new private dining area and enhance the patios beginning in August.

The concept “really is about experiential zones,” Deuel said.

“It’s definitely a step up from a Hilton Garden Inn with an upscale feel and design and a few additional amenities.”

The lobby will be redesigned to add a whiskey bar, and “we’re opening it way up where Starbucks is, so that’s another experiential zone,” she continued.

The coffee shop will shrink somewhat, and the fitness center will be enlarged.

The current pantry off the lobby will move to a hallway and become more of a small shop with necessities and snacks, as well as apparel and branded merchandise.

Outside, the fireplace is being removed from the patio, and new furniture is being added, along with fire bowls, updated greenery and plants.

“And as you move further down where the boardroom is, there’s going to be a patio with some beautiful rock and landscaping available for outside events,” Deuel said.

In early 2025, the plan is to start remodeling work on the lobby, bar, Starbucks and fitness center, with that phase being done by April.

The hotel’s 136 guest rooms will be renovated along a parallel timeline with the common spaces. Design work for those is finished, and construction will be starting soon on a couple of model rooms.

“The guest rooms, we really focused on making a place of respite,” Deuel said. “We’ve taken the rooms and made them very serene and calming. There’s a lot of stone used, more tiles, an upgraded mattress, just a really wonderful place to rest.”

By late spring or early summer of next year, Crave’s dining space is scheduled to start renovations along with the hotel’s banquet and meeting rooms.

“You’ll still get the same layout, but just an updated feel, and in the banquet space, we’re really putting some great touches there and … making them a beautiful place to have a wonderful event,” Deuel said.

The hope is to have all the renovations done by the end of 2025.

The Catlin will join another Hilton property in downtown Sioux Falls with a brand that’s geared toward a unique local look. The Canopy by Hilton is scheduled to open later this year at The Steel District and is developed and managed by Lloyd Cos.

The renovation also follows another major top-to-bottom project updating the longtime Holiday Inn City Centre.

Hegg’s other hospitality properties include the Hilton Garden Inn hotels in Sioux City and Rapid City.

“We are open to other opportunities,” Deuel said. “We’re looking at some still in South Dakota … and just throughout the U.S. that might present themselves.”