EXTENDED STAY HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER'S NEW IMAGE AND REMODELING, BRING NEW ENERGY TO APPLE VALLEY'S 'CENTRAL VILLAGE'

Apple Valley’s largest hotel has taken on an entirely new image, anchoring the city’s Central Village area near Cedar Avenue, just south of County Road 42, where development activity is picking up.

CNH Architects gave the exterior of the GrandStay Hotel and Conference Center a whole new look and streamlined the flow between the lobby of the 78-room hotel, its breakfast area and the adjoining LaGrand Conference facility.

The stucco exterior of the GrandStay, which opened in 2007, was completely replaced and a new paint scheme was revealed when the scaffolding came down. Cream colors were replaced with a multi-colored, “more urban” look, said GrandStay General Manager Tony Lawler. “It has a more chic, sophisticated look,” said Architect Michelle Watanabe, with CNH Architects. Hotel and conference guests range from vacationing family members to those traveling for business, for special events and competitive sports, she explained.

A significant new feature is the interior connection between the hotel and the conference center. This new corridor runs through what was previously the breakfast serving area, so the breakfast area was revised and updated. Before the owner opened the conference center adjacent to the hotel, the space was originally intended for retail use, Lawler explains, which left the two buildings unconnected.

The landmark GrandStay building is adding new logo signage in gold and silver on each side, and also installed new power automated doors at its entrance, new carpeting and historic photographs of Apple Valley in common areas. Watanabe is also helping coordinate local artist displays in large acrylic frames along the new interior connection.

GrandStay is the largest conference center and hotel in the three city area that includes Farmington and Rosemount, and is the only hotel in the 30-facility GrandStay chain to offer the conference center amenity. Lawler said its larger rooms, with kitchen and living areas, are about twice the size of a typical hotel room, and that 30 percent of his guests stay for a week or more.

“The original idea for this area was similar to the Heart of the City in Burnsville,” said Lawler. “That’s what this area was created for.” Apple Valley’s more established shopping areas and a major transit station, are located nearby, to the north and west.

CNH Architects is an Apple Valley-based firm that is creative and service-oriented, and provides innovative designs for commercial building and retail areas, public sector clients, such as cities, counties and states, vehicle projects, and churches and other places of worship. CNH Architects has served clients in the Twin Cities and Upper Midwest for more than 50 years.