County's First Microtel Opens Near I-75

There is another hotel choice for motorists driving through Hernando County.

A nine-month construction project was completed last week by Microtel. The 58-room economy hotel is located at 6298 Nature Coast Blvd. near Interstate 75 and State Road 50.

The county's first Microtel originally was scheduled to open weeks earlier, but the owners opted for an upgrade from siding to stucco and improved the pool area "to make it a nice product right out of the box," said Reggie Termulo, of CMI, the Dunedin-based contractor that oversaw the construction.

It became the 301st Microtel property in the country, said a spokeswoman with Sky Hospitality, the company that owns the hotel chain.

Construction is scheduled to begin later this month on a second Microtel in Hernando County, said Termulo. It will be located near the Outback Steakhouse along U.S. 19 - south of Weeki Wachee.

That site will include 68 rooms and a conference room, which was not included at the Ridge Manor site.

The new hotel, which hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony last weekend, includes a swimming pool, laundry room, exercise facility, Internet access, flat-screen televisions and a microwave and refrigerator in every room.

"It's a beautiful product for an economy hotel," said Termulo. "You get a lot of bang for your buck."

The Microtel in Ridge Manor was built after Sky Hospitality conducted a feasibility study and realized the area was ripe for another hotel, a company spokeswoman said in January.

A nearby retention pond had to be made larger because only two businesses were using the road until recently, according to CMI.