As visitors to Franklin enter the gateway to the city, they’ll find a sleek, modern new place to stay.
The Hampton Inn and Suites Franklin Indianapolis hotel opened at the end of June just off of King Street on Paris Drive in Franklin. The new hotel, which is a franchise of the worldwide hotel corporation, Hilton, is one of several new developments added to Franklin’s east side, near Interstate 65.
Sprague Hotel Developers, a Columbus-based hotel development and management company, developed the hotel, and now owns and operates it. Nick Sprague, director of business development and general counsel for the company, said Franklin was a great fit for a new hotel because of the development of the area within the last few years.
The owner of the company and Nick Sprague’s mother, Janeen Sprague also grew up in Johnson County, and she is a Franklin College alumna. So, they were always looking to develop a hotel in the city but needed to find the right time, Nick Sprague said.
“That was one of the reasons we kept looking at the Franklin market, and asking, ‘Is it ready? Is it ready?’” Nick Sprague said. “In the past, we looked at it, we never saw an opportunity there, but all the changes that started happening were exciting.”
The gateway into Franklin near the I-65 exit went through several development changes quickly, as part of the city’s initiative to make the portals into the city more appealing to travelers. Within the last year, major franchises such as Taco Bell, Starbucks and now Culver’s have been built along King Street west of the interstate.
“It’s so people can get off the interstate and see how we developed the east side of the city,” Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett said. “If I was traveling, I’d get off the interstate and look at that and think, ‘You know what, that looks pretty cool, I’m going to drive on into the city.’”
Sprague Developers had been in discussions with Barnett for years to put a hotel by the Franklin interstate exit, Nick Sprague said. The company obtained 14 acres of land a couple years ago to build the hotel and develop the property. A first step was demolishing a liquor store that was located next to the nearby Marathon Gas Station.
That opened up space for the hotel, and made the area more enticing for new developers that eventually brought in the new fast food restaurants that are there now, Nick Sprague said.
“It’s amazing to see the change there in the past few years,” he said.
The Fairfield Inn and Suites also opened recently next to the Hampton Inn. New hotels were something Franklin “desperately needed,” Barnett said.
“With Franklin College, for example, when the college parents come into town, we have two good quality hotels right there that’s all brand new,” Barnett said.
A roughly $14 million project, the new Hampton Inn and Suites has 92 modern hotel rooms and suites and 30 studio rooms. Classic amenities such as the Hampton’s free hot breakfast, pool and fitness center with quality workout equipment are all part of the hotel experience as well.
“Our fitness center isn’t just a little closet in the hotel with a treadmill,” Nick Sprague said. “It has cardio machines, ellipticals, treadmills, rowing machines, weights.”
Since the hotel is brand new, it is one of the first Hampton Inns in the area to use Hilton’s Connected Room, which is a new state-of-the-art system that allows guests to control most of their room with their phones, Nick Sprague said. Guests who stay at the Hampton Inn and Suites Franklin Indianapolis can unlock their rooms, and also control the TV, lights and thermostat all from an app on their phones. The system also allows guests to connect streaming services, such as Netflix or Hulu, to the TV in their room.
“It’s revolutionary in a lot of ways,” Nick Sprague said.
The hotel’s top priority is continuing the keep guests safe during their stay, especially during the pandemic, Nick Sprague said. Public areas and high-touch surfaces in rooms are extensively cleaned, and all hotel employees wear masks, he said.
Hilton partnered the maker of Lysol and Mayo Clinic to develop the “Hilton CleanStay Room Seal.” This plan includes the extra disinfection of the most frequently touched guestroom areas, including light switches, door handles, TV remotes and thermostats. Guests are encouraged to use contactless check-in too, provided by Hilton’s Digital Key accessed through the Hilton Honors mobile app.
The free breakfast is still provided at the hotel, but it is not self-serve like usual, Nick Sprague said.
The City of Franklin plans to continue developing the east side of the city, Barnett said. He’s hoping to bring a Texas Roadhouse-style restaurant or a Chick-fil-A to the area next, he said.
“Folks have told me, ‘You know what, we really want to invest in Franklin because Franklin invests in itself,’” Barnett said. “I’m passionate about trying to better the quality of life for the city of Franklin.”
