Community members and local businesses participate in the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event Thursday hosted by the Holiday Inn Express & Suites. Here, Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation (LACDC) Executive Director Lauren McDaniel, far left, Chamber Member Services Manager Sam McRae, Holiday Inn Express General Manager Dana Even and LACDC Board member David Jolly along with hotel co-owners James Kirkland, Brian Patrick Martin, and others help cut the ribbon to officially celebrate the newly renovated hotel. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Participants tour renovated rooms at the Holiday Inn Express. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
LACDC Board member David Jolly and Chamber Member Services Manager Sam McRae touring one of the renovated rooms Thursday at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
The Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event Thursday evening at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 60 Entrada Dr., was more than just an opportunity to socialize and eat a good dinner. It was an opportunity for its owners to emphasize their commitment to the community.
“…We now want to do is stress how this hotel can be a part of the greater community, how we can connect this area of Los Alamos to the center of town,” Co-Owner Brian Patrick Martin said.
He commended the partnerships that have been forged with the New Mexico Wildlife Center, First National 1870, the Los Alamos Cooperative Market and UBiQD.
“…truly we want to expand the partnerships with all of you here and all of Los Alamos…,” Martin said.
Martin explained that the hotel has four initiatives:
Install a bike rack so people can utilize the Canyon Rim Trail and travel to the downtown area;
Create a history wall to showcase Los Alamos history and continue the effort to have hotel guests experience the downtown area.
Promote the national parks in the area such as the Valles Caldera; and
Create a tap room inside the hotel.
All of these initiatives are not only to improve the hotel but also to better serve Los Alamos.
“We want to give Los Alamos a good product to match what the community deserves,” Co-Owner James Kirkland said.
One of the hotel’s partners, UBiQD, has appreciated working with Holiday Inn Express.
“It’s been a long time coming to get to the point where the vision is being realized of (our) windows being installed in buildings,” UBiQD Founder Hunter McDaniel said. “We are very grateful to Brian (Patrick Martin) and his team to promote our technology.”
Holiday Inn Express & Suites General Manager Dana Even, right, leads a tour of the newly renovated hotel. Renovations were completed last year and totaled $2 million. The hotel now features updated rooms as well as suites that feature kitchens, a meeting space complete with audio and visual amenities and catering services, a porch, an energy efficient heating and cooling system and UBiQD-installed solar powered windows on the ends of hotel floors. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
UBiQD Chief Production Officer Matt Bergren explains the technology behind UBiQD’s solar windows during Tuesday night’s Business After Hours at Holiday Inn Express. The six windows, which the local company installed in the hotel’s hallways, are collecting data on how this technology performs in the real world. However, they also feature USB ports that allow hotel guests to power their cell phones. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
New Mexico Wildlife Center Assistant Curator Karly Taylor introduces Business After Hours participants to Amelia, a 3-year-old American Kestrel. Taylor explained Amelia is a permanent resident of the Center after someone mistakenly thought the young hawk could be kept as a pet. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
David and Melissa Pearce of Infinite BBQ serve dinner to a hungry crowd at the Business After Hours event. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com