Downtown Muskegon Blog

Behind the Scenes – Ringing in the New Year with a ReLaunch

The Downtown Muskegon Holiday Inn is a huge driver of downtown event and tourist traffic. Built in the 1980’s, through a private-public partnership, the facility became a Holiday Inn in the 90’s and the brand stuck when the current ownership group Muskegon Nights Inc, including general manager Gamal Elkhouly, purchased the hotel in 1998. In 2008 the ownership group faced an important decision when corporate Holiday Inn announced an aggressive make-over/rebranding campaign that would require more than 2 million in renovations to the Muskegon facility. Fortunately for downtown, the owners committed to the plan, and in late 2009 the renovations were completed. Now the hotel is holding a re-launch party to allow the downtown community, and the wider public, to get a first hand look at the changes, so we took the opportunity to get a sneak peek and talk to Mr. Elkhouly about the renovations and future plans.


MS: Wow, the place looks great. As an important Muskegon impression maker, what feeling were you hoping to create for hotel guests, and the local community, with the upgrade?

GE: The entire premise of the system-wide Holiday Inn brand make-over was to move our image from mid-scale to upscale. As we are, for many visitors, Muskegon’s front door, we believe we have accomplished that leap, and that our customers first impression of Muskegon is “Wow, upscale!”.

MS: Could you give us a quick rundown of the areas of the hotel that were improved?

GE: To achieve that upscale feeling we had to modernize pretty much every guest accessible space. Every guest room has been overhauled with upgraded bedding and showers. Our bar/restaurant area got a makeover. Clean, new treatment of the lobby area, a refurbished pool and exercise area, a refresh of the business center, audio visual upgrades in the conference rooms, new signage throughout the facility and customized music and scent selections make our facility upscale to all your senses.

MS: What has the guest/community reaction been so far?

GE: Awesome! The community has been overwhelming in their appreciation for our investment in our emerging tourism economy facility. Guests have given us feedback that validates our attempt to go upscale, which pleases us tremendously.

MS: Tell us the details of the ReLaunch party so all of the downtown supporters can see for themselves the impressive job you’ve done.

GE: We felt a ReLaunch party would be a great way to make sure the Muskegon community has a first hand opportunity to experience our make over. We know many Muskegon residents and businesses host travelers and we want them to feel confident in recommending the Holiday Inn. To that end, we are holding a ReLaunch Party on January 19 between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. During this time we’ll be serving light hors d'oeurvres and beverages, playing live music, giving out door prizes, and leading tours of our refreshed facilities. At 5:30 there will be a ribbon cutting to celebrate the new Holiday Inn. All are invited!

MS: Exciting. I know a number of folks are looking forward to seeing all the new additions. Thanks for your investment and your work in keep the Holiday Inn a vibrant part of downtown Muskegon.

GE: You’re most welcome. Look forward to seeing you the 19th.

Check it out on the web

Chronicle article on renovations
Holiday Inn Muskegon Harbor Website
Holiday Inn Muskegon Harbor on Facebook

Labels: Downtown Muskegon E-News

posted by Dan & Sarah @ 2:00 PM