![]() ![]() “I’ve enjoyed working in the restaurant industry where tourism is strong,” said Fairbanks, and being able to give people the “inside scoop on what to do and what to see.” His background includes Sunda, an Asian restaurant in Chicago’s River North neighborhood and North End Grill, renowned chef Danny Meyer’s contemporary American hot spot in New York’s Battery Park City. “This is my fifth time around opening a restaurant,” Fairbanks said, though his first in a hotel. Fairbanks comes from Front Street’s Red Ginger, where he was one of the front of the house managers on and off for the past four years. Steve Fairbanks joined Hotel Indigo last month as food and beverage director. “We as hoteliers can only have a big impact together,” she said. She is also excited about working in collaboration with others in the lodging industry, rather than competing with them. “That’s a big change … how many people know about this area and our world-class offerings.” “I remember when the CVB (now TC Tourism) started,” she said, and watched with awe as awareness of the area has grown. Morse has some scheduled from the end of April and into 2017 and is now filling some spots on the 2018 calendar.īeing a part of the local tourism industry when Traverse City was a bit lesser known, Morse has watched the region become a world-class destination and the hospitality industry rise along with it. Maybe it’s just the nature of hospitality, but the two get along as if they’ve known each other for years and seem to be just the right mix to get the hotel off and running.Įvent bookings are certainly off and running. The first time she met Hawks was when she called Morse and asked if she’d be interested in learning a bit more about the hotel. ![]() Starting from the ground up is exciting.” “I never imagined being anywhere but the Park Place,” said Morse. In 2014, Morse was inducted into the 2014 Michigan Meetings + Events Hall of Fame, capping more than three decades in the hospitality industry. Then she moved to the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa for the next eleven years. She first moved to Traverse City in 1980 and spent the first decade in sales for Sugar Loaf Resort in Leelanau County. Morse, director of sales and marketing, joined Hotel Indigo in October, following nearly nine years heading up sales and marketing for the historic Park Place Hotel. Joining Hawks on the Hotel Indigo management team is a very familiar face in the local hospitality industry, Margaret Morse director of sales and marketing and Steve Fairbanks, food and beverage director. Part of any Hotel Indigo development – the hotel is a chain of boutique hotels owned by InterContinental Hotels Group – is a promise to incorporate the local city’s tastes, styles and history. In addition to the nod to the Hannah, Lay and Company, wood themes are reflected in the hotel’s aesthetic. One hundred standard guestrooms and seven suites fill the top three floors. The upscale, four-story hotel will also feature a full-service bar and restaurant called Warehouse KiTChen + Cork on the ground floor along with a 5,500 square-foot ballroom space, and a heated, underground parking garage for registered guests. The H&L Social – the name an homage to the lumber company Hannah and Lay – is the rooftop bar many have longed for, with unparalleled downtown and water views (even in the heart of winter). Large windows showcase the waterfront just across Grandview Parkway. More cleanup than planned meant further delays.īut all the setbacks and obstacles are quickly fading as the latest addition to the downtown lodging scene creeps ever closer to its April opening. Developer Jeff Schmitz knew about the cyanide in the soil and groundwater, but concentrations turned out to be much higher than originally thought. First there was the economic downturn and financing woes, then there was the cyanide – not on the hotel site, but migrating from next door. The hotel development across from Traverse City’s Open Space was originally slated for completion in spring 2014. The hotel construction project itself marked four years in January – a fact construction workers acknowledge with a wry smile. Hawks was born and raised here, graduating from Elk Rapids Public Schools in 2000. ![]() ![]() Hawks has managed hotels on Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay, the Milwaukee waterfront and now West Grand Traverse Bay. Hospitality and water seem to go hand in hand for Bridget Hawks, the general manager of the brand spanking new (and coming soon) Hotel Indigo in downtown Traverse City. Hotel Indigo Reveals New Staff, Amenities as Opening Nears ![]()
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