18 February 2003
The News Tribune

Revitalized Fife hotel plans upscale profile

By C.R. Roberts

Some 150 disconnected toilets placed neatly in rows sit attentively in the ballroom.

Nearly 300 empty sinks wait nearby in the shadows of exposed hanging wires and tunnels of silvery in-ceiling ductwork.

"It will be a new hotel. It's going to be a lot more upscale than it was," said Doug Bartells, general manager of the Best Western Fife Hotel & Conference Center.

Formerly known as the Executive Inn, the facility closed last summer after entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

"We believe it can be a vital part of Tacoma," Bartells said. "It's going to be a nice three- to four-star property."

Gone are the old name, the worn porcelain and a look dating from a Reagan-era heyday.

Upcoming are a new kitchen, a full sprinkler system and rooms large and small that will accommodate the electronic needs of meetings and guests. Add new furniture, fixtures and a fresh decorating scheme.

The project will cost owners Fife Lodging LLC - formed by Tacoma's Quad/Tucci - more than $5 million, Bartells said.

The indoor ground-floor pool will remain, as will a restaurant and lounge, but some spaces will be fully redesigned.

"We've made a big difference in the way it will operate," he said. "There will be preconvention gathering space and a different flow in the meeting and convention areas."

The conference center is best suited for associations, corporate meetings and smaller conventions, Bartells said. The International Wood Collectors have signed for an August gathering. Other groups have made inquiries.

The facility, which will be Pierce County's second-largest hotel and convention space, is slated to open in early summer.

Said Ruthie Reinert, executive director of the Tacoma Regional Convention & Visitor Bureau, "We're very happy to have them back."

Reinert said she looks forward to having another multiuse facility she can offer clients who plan meetings and conventions in the South Sound.

"We're sure the customers will look forward to it," she said.

The Fife-Area Chamber of Commerce also praised the idea of the return.

"We welcome them into the area, and we think they will be an asset - not just because they have the word 'Fife' in their name," said Malissa Morant, membership manager of the chamber. "It does bring a lot more attention.

"It will be good for visitors and for businesses in the area."

The Executive Inn employed 70 when it closed, said former manager Coy Wood.

Bartells said he would begin hiring a staff of 100 employees in May.

"I'm looking for everybody," he said.

Bartells will first hire the core of his management team - chef, food and beverage director, directors of catering, housekeeping and sales, and a front-office manager - who will then hire their own individual staffs.

"I think there are a lot of qualified people out there right now," Bartells said.

For now, there's only him.

Bartells most recently managed Seattle's Executive Inn, and he is a principal with Chambers Lodging LLC of Seattle, which will operate the Fife hotel on a yearly management contract.

Chambers likewise has agreements with such businesses as Best Western Rocky Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, Mont., Days Inn in Kent and Best Western Airport Plaza in Reno, Bartells said.

The Seattle architectural firm Degen & Degen is designing the remodeled Fife facility, and Merit Co. of Lakewood has been assigned as the general contractor.

The hotel will offer 138 guest rooms as well as the 8,000-square-foot ballroom.

"We feel that there is a lot of potential for this location," Bartells said, speaking both of Fife and its nearby and revitalized cousin, Tacoma.

The entire area, he said, "seems to be in an awakening. It's a pleasure to be involved with it."

Best Western Fife Hotel & Convention Center
Opened: 1982.
Closed: Last July.
Reopening: This summer.
Owner: Quad/Tucci.
Management: General manager Doug Bartells with Chambers Lodging LLC of Seattle.
Cost of renovation: $5 million.
What's new: Redesigned restaurant, lounge, convention space, guest rooms, full sprinkler system, new kitchen, new roof.
What stays: Indoor pool, ballroom.
Room rates: Moderate, generally $70-$80.
Staff: Approximately 100 positions to be filled, beginning in May.

(Published 12:30AM, February 18th, 2003)