The reason President Obama stayed at the Lawrence Holiday Inn?
It’s really quite simple, he had no choice.
With an entourage of more than 100 people, no way could arguably ritzier hotels like the historic Eldridge in downtown Lawrence (48 rooms) or shiny, new Oread overlooking the KU campus (99 rooms) get the job done.
Whereas as a convention hotel, Holiday Inn was up to the task.
And even at that, “They had to move a lot of people out,” says one Lawrence retailer who asked not to be named. “So when (Obama) stayed there, everybody else had to leave – they moved everybody to different hotels. We had people in the store here talking about that they had to move.”
On a more positive note, Holiday Inn Lawrence VP of sales Ivan Simac says the hotel was more than happy to accommodate the prez, albeit on less than a week’s notice.
“It was a lot of work for us to pull all this together, but of course it was a privilege,” Simac says. “I think that due to our size and our location right off the highway, we were the perfect location to fit their needs.”
And for those who may be wondering, yes indeed, the Holiday Inn Lawrence has a Presidential Suite. Continue reading
