Along North Broadway near Highway 101 in Santa Maria, you will find a Hampton Inn, a Candlewood Suites, a Holiday Inn, and a Fairfield Inn. Now, another hotel could soon be joining the block.
“You want tourists to come in, and so you are going to have to build places for them to stay,” said Val Allison, who moved to north Santa Maria from Oklahoma just over a year ago.
She says she visited family in the area a few times before relocating herself and that she has noticed a lot more people in the city.
“There is traffic and shops and stores. It is a lot different than where I came from,” Allison added.
Last week, the Santa Maria Planning Commission unanimously supported a proposal to construct a 93-room Holiday Inn Express, which would bolster the supply of hotels on Roemer Court.
Santa Maria City Community Development Director Chuen Wu says the plans indicate growth for both tourism and business travel in Santa Maria.
“I think that the request for a new hotel indicates that there is a demand for more rooms in the area,” Wu told KSBY.
Wu says the project site is currently designated for industrial use, but the developer, Lotus Management Inc., and now the Planning Commission are recommending the city rezone the property to make way for the new hotel.
“This particular location is close to the 101, so there is easy freeway access,” he explained. “We recognize that when someone wants to visit the Central Coast, they have many options. Santa Maria is certainly one of those options.”
In 2019, the 110-room Hampton Inn became the newest hotel on the north end of Santa Maria. Wu says clusters of businesses have also begun to fill up this part of town, which Van Allison feels will benefit her new city.
“More people. They are spending money in restaurants, going to places and this-and-that, so they are spending money here, and that is what they need,” she said.
While other locals we spoke to expressed concerns over how another hotel may impact traffic on North Broadway, Allison believes the growth is good.
“They are not going to put it in if they don’t think they can get the business, and visitors need somewhere to stay,” she said.
Following the Planning Commission’s recommendation, the Santa Maria City Council will now decide whether to grant the project its final approval.
