By Betsy Finklea
For the past few months, there has been a push underway by the Dillon City Council to bring a more upscale hotel or motel to the Dillon area.
The need became evident as people coming to Dillon for events such as ball tournaments, to work in the area, or for family-related activities such as weddings or reunions have been reporting that they are staying in other areas rather than staying in Dillon.  One of the main reasons is the fact that at the Dillon establishments, the doors open on the exterior.
At the December 2015 meeting, Mayor Todd Davis explained that at a hotel, the doors open on the interior not the exterior like Dillon.  He said there was a need for a hotel here in Dillon.  At that time, he said they had started making contacts with the legislative delegation and the S.C. Department of Commerce and that a meeting was planned in early January to see what they could do to entice or recruit a hotel to Dillon.  Davis said that expressing an interest had paid off.  He also noted that he had talked with Rodney Berry at Congressman Tom Rice’s office about the matter.
At the January 2016 meeting, Davis reported that a meeting had been held about the need for a hotel.  At that meeting, they met with Tripp Muldrow, who had done a study for the city a few years ago, by Skype, and the mayor, Senator Kent Williams, Rep. Jackie Hayes, City Manager Glen Wagner, Economic Development Director Tonny McNeil, a Parks, Recreation, and Tourism representative, and a Commerce Department representative.
Davis said Dillon certainly fits the criteria for a more upscale motel.  He said the group was surprised at the rates that the motels get presently.  Davis said they need to do a basic feasibility study, which he said will give them a yea or a nay on whether they need to move forward.  He said Conway did a similar study and was shut off quickly due to their close proximity to the beach.  Davis said that some people wanted to look at the motel downtown, but there could be issues with space and not taking full advantage of I-95. Davis said there are already some things in place including land being priced in the Wal-Mart area and the other exit.
The first phase would be the feasibility study which would run about $10,000.
Councilman Phil Wallace said he would like to see it downtown, but there was a much better opportunity on Highway 9.
City Manager Glen Wagner said that Hartsville put a hotel downtown, and they got some restaurants.  He said this helped their downtown, but they do not have an interstate.
Wagner noted that those coming to Dillon can go about 30 miles either way and stay in a hotel for pretty much the same price as a motel in Dillon.
Davis said he would like to see if the county would be accommodating with the $10,000.
Councilman John Braddy said he would like to see the city take the lead on this.
Upon a motion by Braddy and a second by Wallace, the council voted unanimously to move forward with a feasibility study at a cost of $10,000 using three percent funds.
At the February meeting, Davis reported that he, Glen Wagner, Tonny McNeil, Maggie Riales, and a consultant from PKF Consulting USA.   Davis said he told them that he wanted a quick answer.
Davis said the meeting sounded encouraging.  They have some developers names, but they will see what the study says when it comes back which will tell them exactly what they need and what to look for.  He said he was shown some possible sites, and they were getting back with the consultant on some figures and statistics to put a package together to give developers.
Davis said they generally look at a Hampton, Garden Inn, or Hilton.  An 85-room hotel would be an approximately $8.5 – $10 million investment.
Davis said the consultant like where they were.  “It’s all about 95,” he said.
Davis said they were told that this is one of the hottest times for a hotel to open.
As part of the study, the consultant will:
—“perform an in-depth evaluation of the suitability of the area for the development and successful operation of the hotel.”
—“investigate potential hotel room demand on a local, regional and national scale to determine potential levels of use for the hotel from corporate transient, leisure transient, and group meeting customers.  Key to this analysis will be the identification of the demand generated from each segment.”
—“review the historical lodging trends in the lodging market to update our understanding of the actual performance of the existing providers in the area.  We will also assess the competitive appeal of the subject locations(s) relative to that of the existing hotels in the market and to major demand generators in the area.”
—“investigate the level of new competitive supply in the market both under construction (if any) and proposed that could impact the success of the hotel.”
—“make recommendations to the scale of the proposed hotel including number of guest rooms, number and type of food and beverage outlets, amount and size of meeting facilities, and support amenities.”
—“analyze the financial aspects of operating the proposed hotel.  Specifically, we will prepare a ten-year income and expense pro forma and project pricing structure for the facility based on the planned and recommended number of guest rooms, meeting and conference room rental, estimated food and beverage service utilization, and other revenue generating potential.”
—“prepare a concise report detailing the approach to, and the results of, our findings.  This report may be used to solicit interest from equity sources, lenders or franchisors.”
Davis said they will pursue all ends and maybe something will happen.