The Hampton Inn is now open at 167 Market St. in Potsdam. NorthCountryNow.com photo by Matthew Lindsey.

By MATTHEW LINDSEY

POTSDAM – After more than 30 years of community leaders seeking a national chain hotel, Hampton Inn, is now open for guests to stay.

The three-story, 94-room hotel, opened Dec. 10 and boasts an indoor swimming pool, fitness center, small meeting room and a warm breakfast for guests from 6 to 10 a.m., according to General Manager Paul Kessler.

The building sits on a 3.44-acre site at 167 Market St., just south of McDonald’s.

“There is a mix of twin and king size rooms and double queen rooms,” Kessler said.

The plan to build the hotel was announced in November 2012, and Andy Patel of Visions Hotels began buying up the lots needed, including property where Scoopuccinos, Ton’s Sports Bar, and Village Florist were previously located and arranging financing, which Patel said would total $6 million to $7 million.

Patel paid $1.2 million for the lot to owner Jim Sheehan, whose commercial tenants and his own business moved to make way for the hotel. He has discussed ideas for hotels over the years with planners in the region and has made prospecting trips to the North Country to gauge the need for hotels and availability of property.

With only a few locally owned motels and the higher-priced upscale Clarkson Inn in Potsdam to accommodate visitors, inviting people to come to Potsdam for major local events such as graduations, alumni weekends and sports tournaments was made more difficult by a lack of enough nearby lodging facilities. Village leaders hope the hotel will help with that issue.

“The development of a hotel has figured very highly in village economic development plans for years,” Potsdam Director of Planning and Development Fred Hanss said when Patel’s plan was announced a year ago in November 2012.

The hotel employs 19 people, according to Kessler, who worked for Best Western Inn, Canton, for 10 years prior to joining Hampton Inn.

A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for after the holidays, Kessler said.

“We are looking to adjust to being a hotel instead of a construction site and focus on guests staying at the hotel,” he said.

Contact the hotel at 265-0100.