July 11, 2022

The Holiday Inn City Centre in downtown Sioux Falls is marking a major anniversary with a nearly top-to-bottom renovation.

The 290-room hotel at 100 W. Eighth St. has been working through construction, with some signature areas yet to go.

It coincides with the property’s 50-year anniversary, which is being celebrated in July with a Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce mixer Tuesday.

“Everyone has a Holiday Inn memory. Everybody does,” said director of sales Melany Pravecek.

The hotel was built as part of the city’s urban renewal district as an effort by business community leaders and citizens. There were 15 original backers of a fund drive that grew to around 1,700 stockholders, and the original 10-story building was constructed with 208 rooms for $3.4 million in 1972. It expanded to 313 rooms with a two-level parking ramp in 1976.

Its revolving rooftop restaurant closed in 1978 after a failed attempt at a dinner theater, and Burgundy’s Rooftop Restaurant opened four years later and was in business for a decade.

Over its history, the hotel has hosted famous guests such as five U.S. presidents, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack Benny and multiple pro sports teams.

Now, the renovation is designed to move the Holiday Inn into the future. One of the seven guest floors remains to be renovated, and then work will progress to the public spaces.

“Really, it was mostly cosmetic – a whole new color scheme,” Pravecek said. “We lightened it up to a lighter whitish gray wallpaper with blue accent walls, new furniture, all new mattresses, carpet, just a big refresh.”

Here’s a look at the transformations:

Guest reaction has been positive, she said.

“People really love it. … The rooms just feel lighter and airier. And occupancy is great. We have the one floor left, and we’ll start that up when it’s slower in the fall and winter because weekends are just busy, all around Sioux Falls, and we’re in prime wedding season right now. So occupancy has just been growing and growing.”

The front desk will change from the more traditional long counter to a pod-like area, which “is a new trend in hospitality,” Pravecek said. “And we’re trying to find extended periods of time available in the meeting spaces so we can go in there and update the vinyl, the carpet, the ceilings, so that should be starting in the next few months. The big Falls ballroom will take the longest — I think it’s estimated at a week — but our meeting space is busy, so it’s harder to find the time to do that.”

Many events that postponed in the pandemic now are rescheduling, she said.

“We’ve been working on them since 2020 to reschedule, and being able to host those events now is nice to see come to fruition.”

The hotel’s signature Starlight Room also will be entirely updated.

“The design has been planned, but I don’t have an exact timeline,” Pravecek said. “It’s going to be completely redone, updated ceiling, all new drapery, wall vinyl, so that’s what I’m most excited about. It’s really needed. We need that breath of fresh air.”

On the main floor, the bar and restaurant will be redone and reconfigured too.

The new design includes removing a back wall and turning the area that flows into the atrium into a circular bar space with additional soft seating.

“We’re going to blow out that wall and make it more open,” Pravecek said. “That area just needs an update and different philosophy.”

The idea will be to make the restaurant and lounge a place where those downtown think to go for breakfast, lunch or after-work meetings or socializing, she said.

“Downtown is just so wonderful, and we have a great staff, and the people here really enjoy having people over, so I think once we get that lounge area updated, it will be a little more of a destination,” she said. “It’s going to be a big undertaking.”

The timeline for the public area renovations is fluid because of scheduling and supply chain issues, but work is expected to be ongoing, she said.

“There are still some design aspects being considered and approved, and I think we’re ready to pull the trigger, but the process can take a little bit.”