Send Meridian Hotels Ready for Guests

Posted: 11:40 AM Jun 15, 2012
Reporter: Brian Hutton Jr.

Meridian Hotels Ready for Guests

Finding a hotel room in Meridian this weekend will be next to impossible with thousands of people from across the state descending on the Queen City.

"As of right now, we're completely sold out, which is good," Latoya Smith, general manager of the Country Inn and Suites tells us.

While this weekend is one of the largest revenue weekends for the hotel and restaurant industry, it can be tough for someone who is simply driving down Interstate 20 looking for a room just for a night.

"We also try and accommodate the travelers coming through Meridian and come in and can't find a hotel room anywhere," says Dede Mogollon, general manager of the Holiday Inn. "So, we're always talking back and forth through the night accommodating those travelers as well. You know it's such a shame when someones driving all the way from Dallas, and they decide to stop off in Meridian and there's nothing, and the closest is 190 miles away, so, we try."

Area hotels try to make visitors as comfortable as possible. The Holiday Inn on Frontage Road has Kem's Restaurant which provides room service, and they also have games for the kids.

Mogollon tells us that, "the parents of the team members just want to sit back and relax after being at the field all day, so we have the restaurant and the lounge. They can get room service out at the pool so that the kids can eat. We open up the ballroom with some Wii games, and they can get pizzas in there, so we do a lot of food and beverage revenue this weekend."

The Country Inn and Suites across from the mall has a porch in front where the parents take a breather away from the kids.

"We have our nice, comfortable, cozy porch outside. Every year a lot of our guests, when they come in from the games and all, the kids get in the pool and the parents get out on our porch and they relax, and they mingle, and they talk, and of course they look forward to our hot breakfast every morning," Smith said.

Last year, the State Games had a $6 million dollar impact on Lauderdale County.

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