Manchester’s newest hotel makes its debut

June 9, 2006 - NH.com

The Hilton Garden Inn Manchester Downtown hotel, located in the historic Millyard district, overlooks the baseball stadium of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

The six-story, 125-room Hilton Garden Inn – the Queen City’s first new hotel in more than 20 years – is certainly making the most of its location, at the south end of Manchester’s Millyard, overlooking MerchantsAuto.com Stadium, home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats minor league baseball team.

An integral part of a $70 million public/private riverfront redevelopment project that features the ballpark, the hotel is situated above the left-center field outfield wall of the stadium, offering guests and diners at the hotel’s open-air patio restaurant and bar unobstructed views of all the action when the Fisher Cats are playing at home.

Opening day for the hotel was May 17, and judging by the response it has hit a homer run with guests. As David Roedel — a partner of Roedel Companies LLC, the owner, construction manager and operator of the hotel – said, “We want it to be the place to be in Manchester.”

The Hilton Garden Inn offers guests a wide range of amenities that “will make their stay exceptionally comfortable and enjoyable,” said Roedel.

Among those amenities is The Pavilion restaurant, which will offer full breakfast and dinner menus, with bistro-style dinner cuisine. Hotel guests and the general public may dine in the restaurant, on the breakfast nook off the lobby or on the Patio overlooking the ballpark. The Patio features a bar and dining area, with seating for 135 and a total capacity of 250 people.

Just off the Patio is the Manchester Room, an executive boardroom with cherry millwork, a fireplace, wet bar, seating areas, state-of-the art presentation technology, 42-inch plasma TV, and a 20-seat table that can be converted into theatre style for presentations. Two hospitality suites, the Park View and Tower Suites, have similar amenities and also open onto the Patio. Both feature a full catering menu, outdoor patio seating and 42-inch high-definition plasma TVs.

Guest room amenities include a cherry and granite-topped hospitality center with a refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker, complimentary wired and wireless Internet access, a cherry desk and Herman Miller Mirra ergonomic desk chair and a flat-panel high definition television.

Also featured are king-size beds that automatically adjust to the contour of a person’s body and weight. Additional amenities in the hotel’s five Clock Tower suites and four two-room suites overlooking the ballpark include a spacious living area, wet bar and bar seating, and 32-inch flat screen television.

Other guest amenities include a business center with a dedicated computer, printer, copier, fax and shipping services, and a pool pavilion building with an elegantly designed pool area, exterior hot tub, exercise room and guest laundry room.

Local landmarks figure prominently in the hotel’s visual displays and local artists have created much of the hotel’s artwork.

“We felt that creating a connection to Manchester was important, both in the design of the hotel and in the selection of its artwork,” said Sue Roedel-Pollio, who handles design for the Roedel Companies. She worked with Manchester’s Art 3 Gallery in choosing the hotel’s artwork.

Outside the Manchester Room near the entrance to the Patio, a 50-square-foot wall mural by Jim Burke will invoke a sense of baseball nostalgia and features the Hilton Garden Inn. The Roedel family commissioned the piece by Burke, who graduated from Manchester Central High School and illustrated the recently published book, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Reproduction photos from the Manchester Historic Association of Manchester’s Textile Baseball Team and Textile Field will chronicle the history of baseball in Manchester.

John Lacz of Bedford sculpted the unique metal “Eternity Calls” piece that will hang over the lobby fireplace. An abstract mixed media painting by local artist Lisa Occhipinti, will be displayed behind the Pavilion bar. A photo collage by Manchester’s Irene Dupont and Alhan Irwin of city landmarks and the Hilton Garden Inn will be featured in the lobby’s breakfast bar.

For the hotel’s reception area, Dustan Knight, who teaches at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, created two watercolor paintings of woodsy outdoor views. Prints of Dianne Levine’s pastel scenes of downtown Manchester and the Millyard from across the river will hang in each guest room. And a print by Tim Craig, who grew up in Manchester, will be featured in each guest bathroom and provides a southerly view of Elm Street, with the Hilton Garden Inn and stadium in the distance.

Room rates for a standard room will range from $169 to $179 a night for downtown views and $10 more for ballpark views. The five king tower suites, which face the ballpark, will run from $269 to $309 while the four two-room suites will go for $359 to $399 a night