Shamin Hotels to buy Holiday Inn Koger Center in Chesterfield County

Shamin Hotels, the Richmond region’s largest hotel operator, is expanding its empire with the purchase of the 237-room Holiday Inn Koger Conference Center in Chesterfield County. The property’s 26,000-square-feet of meeting space attracted Shamin, which plans to renovate and rebrand the property. It will be renamed Doubletree by Hilton Richmond Midlothian.

Terms of the deal, set to close by month’s end, were not disclosed. Shamin is buying the property from local real estate developer Vernon Laprade, who opened it in 1987.

“There’s no other property out there that has that kind of meeting space. That was the selling point,” said Sarah Garcia, Shamin’s vice president of sales and marketing. “The flexibility of it — that it can be used for small and large meetings — there’s just no comparison with it in the area, and we are really excited about that,” she said in an interview.

The conference hotel is Chesterfield’s largest hotel property. In terms of meeting space, it ranks as the 20th largest in the state, drawing corporate customers, including many medical conferences.

The property is located in the shadow of Johnston-Willis Hospital, off Midlothian Turnpike, and down the street from Chesterfield Town Center. Garcia said Shamin plans to complete a multimillion renovation by the end of the year to bring the property up to the standards of a Doubletree. “We will be changing over amenity packages, things like soap, soft goods, some changes to the guest rooms, but nothing that should disrupt business,” she said.

The hotel underwent major renovations in 2011 and 2012, updating its lobby, rooms, restaurants and meeting space.

According to Garcia, Doubletree by Hilton has a strong plan of reward points for meeting planners and individual travelers, “and the cookies are a big favorite. They give them out at check-in, and people love them.”

Asked about one of the hotel’s fixtures, Visions Night Club — a longtime popular venue for baby boomers who like Beach music and where smoking is still allowed — Garcia said, “Nothing has been discussed about that. The business is pretty good.”

Jessica Sabbath