First Tru by Hilton in the state opens in Spokane Valley

After more than a year of construction, Tru by Hilton Spokane Valley has opened. It marks the first Tru by Hilton property in the state.

Spokane-based GL8 Hospitality LLC opened the four-story, 43,000-square-foot hotel Tuesday at 13509 E. Mansfield Ave.

The location is just south of CenterPlace Regional Event Center.

“Overall, it was a good, busy project,” said Grant Guinn, managing partner for GL8 Hospitality. “We are looking forward to introducing this new brand to Spokane and to Washington state.”

It’s the first development built on several acres of vacant land east of CenterPlace.

The property features 92 guest rooms, free Wi-Fi, a fitness center, indoor pool and hot tub, outdoor patio with a fire pit, a 24-hour ‘Eat & Sip’ market and six bicycles that guests can use free of charge to explore the Centennial Trail.

Several meeting rooms are available for guests to rent at CenterPlace. 

The new hotel offers mobile check-in, digital room keys, a lobby table with remote printing and Connected Room.

That feature allows guests to use mobile devices and the Hilton Honors app to control room features, including lighting, temperature and television programming.

The 2,800-square-foot lobby showcases a pool table, social media wall and a 9-foot tall by 22-foot wide mural, which was designed by Idaho-based artist Marie Withers and highlights Spokane Valley history and landmarks.

GL8 Hospitality purchased 1.87 acres from Centennial Properties last year to build the hotel.

Centennial Properties is a subsidiary of Cowles Co., which publishes The Spokesman-Review.

The hospitality group saw a need for a hotel near CenterPlace Regional Event Center to accommodate meeting attendees, business travelers and sports groups using Plante’s Ferry Park, Guinn said.

“CenterPlace has been there all this time, and there hasn’t been a hotel within walking distance to serve groups booking there,” Guinn said.

The new hotel “certainly fulfills that need because we are directly across the street.”

Although Tru by Hilton Spokane Valley is opening amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has created uncertainty in the hospitality industry with fewer travelers and lower occupancy, Guinn is optimistic that operations will ramp up next year.

“I think we are opening during an OK time, because we have a vaccine that’s out and people are still traveling,” he said.

He noted that hotel occupancy levels in Spokane Valley hovered around 70% in the summer.

“We think there’s a lot of pent-up demand … once people are able to travel, they are going to travel like crazy,” he said.

Commonwealth Hotels, LLC, based in Covington, Kentucky, will be managing the property, which employs 15 people.

Commonwealth Hotels manages 39 properties nationwide, with a total of more than 5,000 rooms.

Hospitality industry veteran Stacie Harper was hired in September as general manager of the new hotel.

Harper has more than 30 years of hospitality experience, working for Hilton, Choice Hotels and Stay Alfred Inc.

She most recently served as vice president of sales and marketing at Moscow-based RimRock Consulting, according to a news release.

This article was updated Dec. 29 to reflect that meeting rooms are available for guests to rent at CenterPlace.