New four-story, extended-stay hotel opens in Loves Park’s growth corridor
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — A new four-story, 122-room extended-stay hotel has opened in the city’s growth corridor near Interstate 90 and Riverside Boulevard.
City officials and The Parks Chamber of Commerce gathered Tuesday afternoon to cut the ribbon on WoodSpring Suites, a 48,660-square-foot hotel at 4101 Galleria Drive. The hotel opened on Dec. 6.
“You’re in absolutely the right location with all the activity along here,” Duncan Geddes, executive director of The Parks Chamber, told hotel officials at the ribbon-cutting. “There’s so much activity at Sportscore and Costco and the baseball stadium and the hospital. This is an excellent spot to be.”
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The hotel is designed to serve both short-term and extended-stay visitors, whether it be a family in town for a couple days for a soccer tournament at Mercyhealth SportsCore Two or someone who needs to be near a loved one at Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside during a prolonged hospital stay.
“There’s a lot of people who come to this community that work and stay here while they work for a week or two weeks,” Mayor Greg Jury said.
The hotel features in-suite kitchens, on-site guest laundry and a fitness center. It’s 100% smoke free and dog-friendly.
“You need a place that has a kitchen when you have children,” said Susan Egan, general manager of the hotel. “They’re spacious rooms, they’re not cramped. … It’s an inexpensive way to have a nice room, a kitchen and have the space you need.”
WoodSpring Suites is the fourth hotel to open in the increasingly busy corridor near Interstate 90 and Riverside Boulevard. It is adjacent to the Home2Suites by Hilton, and it is in the area of Holiday Inn Express and Quality Inn.
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The hotel now employs 11 people.
Guy Pisani, development manager for Holladay Properties, said developer Kurt Carlson introduced them to the site while showcasing the area. The hotel opened just 11 months after they closed on the purchase of the property.
Pisani brought to the ribbon-cutting a copy of Rockford Magazine from May of 1988, which profiled Carlson and his vision for the 670 acres in the area that was still undeveloped at the time.
“The last line that Kurt says is, in the very last line, ‘I just hope I live long enough to see it developed,” Pisani said. “It actually happened 37 years later.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
