Holiday Inn: new manager, makeover

by Laura Elia Balcom
Grand Island Dispatch, April 18, 2008

Dale Van Alstine, pictured at left, director of catering at the Holiday Inn, and Scott Zeplowitz, the new general manager, are leading the effort to update the Grand Island Holiday Inn – both inside and out.

Scott Zeplowitz comes from a family of entrepreneurs. He grew up working in various family-owned businesses, including in sales and real estate. Then, while in college, he started his own company – a window treatment business, which he successfully ran for 10 years. In 2006, he rejoined the family business, the Holiday Inn Grand Island, owned by his father Maury Zeplowitz and business partner Howard Schweitzer, taking over as general manager in 2007.

“When the chance to work for the hotel came along, I took it,” said the junior Zeplowitz. “It was too good an opportunity.” And he hasn’t looked back, leading the effort to update the Holiday Island Grand Island – both inside and out.

Facility Upgrades

In July 2007, new tile was installed in the hotel lobby. In the next few weeks, new carpeting will be installed in the surrounding lobby areas, as well as in the ballroom corridor and on the ground floor, by the fitness center and pool. The hotel will also be renovating 150 guest rooms, in addition to the 150 that were already renovated over the past two years.

In the near future, the Holiday Inn is planning to upgrade the 6th floor Executive Level into a Concierge Level for Platinum Priority Club members. The level will include a new hospitality suite made up of two rooms where a continental breakfast will be offered as well as evening hors d’oeuvres, Monday through Friday.

Zeplowitz said that the hotel is also planning to enhance the outdoor facilities, including adding a permanent bar outside by the swimming pool.

In addition, the image of the Holiday Inn, on a national level, is being modernized. The iconic logo is changing, with a new typeface, more vibrant green color, and a more contemporary design. The actual signage at the Holiday Inn on Grand Island will be updated within the next two years.

“By 2010, we should have quite a makeover,” said Zeplowitz. “It will really be a phenomenal difference.”

Events and Promotions

In addition to the building upgrades, the Holiday Inn is undergoing updates to its events and offerings. In the past, the hotel hosted Blues on the River, a free Friday night concert series. This year, the Holiday Inn is looking to centralize the event into a much larger, monthly concert.

“We’re in the planning process for that,” said Dale Van Alstine, director of catering. “We’ll see how the summer months go, and we may even continue it throughout the year as an indoor event.”

The Holiday Inn is also offering three new packages—a Romance Package, a Golf Package, and a Family Package. While the Romance and Family Packages are offered year-round, the Golf Package is offered during the mild weather months.

Increasing Traffic

According to Van Alstine, through these building upgrades and enhanced promotions, the resort and conference center will hopefully increase traffic onto Grand Island, which means an increase in traffic to other businesses.

“The more people we can get in, that’s more people going to Tops,” he said. “That’s more people going to the drug store; that’s more people going to all the other things offered on the Island.”