Hotel Loses Holiday Inn Affiliation ... for Now

The first thing Tewksbury Inn General Manager Don DuPaul wants people to know is that his hotel and function facilities are open for business.

Still, he understands why drivers heading down Andover Street might be taken aback when they see a sign reading "Tewksbury Inn" where "Holiday Inn" used to be.

In fact, the hotel has not been sold. Rather, the franchise, which is owned by Boston West Hospitality and operated by Twin Tier Hospitality of Pennsylvania, has temporarily been stripped of its affiliation with Holiday Inn.

"For the time being, we are not part of Holiday Inn in any way," said DuPaul. "But we are still open for guests and for functions."

The change took place two weeks ago. According to DuPaul, when the hotel was purchased two years ago, the owners entered into a franchise agreement with Holiday Inn. Part of that agreement was a timetable for certain upgrades to the facility.

DuPaul said certain deadlines were not met and, as a result, the affiliation was temporarily stripped, As a result, DuPaul's staff has had to remove all mention of Holiday Inn from the hotel and prospective guests are no longer able to make reservations in Tewksbury by calling Holiday Inn's national 1-800 number.

The name of the hotel was changed to Tewksbury Inn.

However, DuPaul said people can book rooms and function facilities by calling the Tewksbury Inn directly at 978-640-9000 or by logging on to the new Tewksbury Inn Web site at www.tewksburyhotelandevents.com.

DuPaul said all needed renovations and upgrades have not been completed and he expects the hotel to have its Holiday Inn affiliation restored by mid-April.