Two new hotels, the first midscale branded properties in more than a decade, are open or about to be near Jacksonville International Airport.
The five-story, 105-room Tru by Hilton Airport I-95 opened Feb. 29. at 1265 Airport Road.
The five-story, 102-unit TownePlace Suites by Marriott is scheduled to open May 15 at 1287 Airport Road.
The hotels are side-by-side at northeast Airport and Ranch roads, west of Interstate 95.
Inn of Jax LLC owns the properties. Its managers are owners of Lake City Hotels Inc., which is based in Lake City.
“This personally means a lot to me,” said Nick Patel, Lake City Hotels Inc. chief operating officer.
The properties are about 2 miles from Jacksonville International Airport.
“We started the idea of doing something at the Jacksonville airport in 2018. Because of COVID, we were unable to start the project quickly, but as soon as we realized that COVID was not going to be an issue anymore, we put the plans in place to go ahead and build this,” Patel said.
Inn of Jax LLC bought the 4.03-acre property in July 2019 for $2.85 million from RSAS LLC and USA Express Inc. of Miami. It demolished a closed 3,134-square-foot Wendy’s restaurant on the property.
Patel said the north side of Airport Road had been the main side for hotels but then the south side was developed with more properties.
“For us to build two hotels will revitalize the northern side,” and spark more growth, he said.
“We are the first investors who are taking the risk to build here on the northern side of the road after many years and I hope other people will follow us.”
There are at least 16 hotels along Airport Road between I-95 and the airport.
Tru by Hilton General Manager Travis Highland said the hotel is a minimalist, contemporary brand attractive to millennials.
He said colors in the rooms and lobby are vibrant, with a Jacksonville mural near the billiards table. Rooms have refrigerators but the microwave is in the lobby.
The lobby includes a market, privacy pods, a pool table, seating areas and more.
Tru by Hilton says the hotel’s central lobby, The Hive, is designed as a space where guests can dine, work, play and relax. The game area features pool and other games, while work pods offer private spaces for concentration.
Guest rooms have mobile desks, multiple device charging stations and sound absorption.
Rooms have minimal furniture and electronics but larger bathrooms. “We tore out the carpet and took the doors off the closet. What’s left? Only exactly what you need—a fun room at a functional price,” says Hilton.com.
“It’s where the minimal meets meaningful,” said Tracy Brown, regional director of sales in Jacksonville, touring the lobby, where guests recently gathered among chairs and tables at a meeting.
“We want you to stay in the lobby. We want this to be an extension of your room. This is a building that is really, truly an extension of your home,” she said.
Brown said the “connectability” also includes technology, with outlets and connection ports “within an arm’s reach in almost every space in this hotel.”
“We understand the importance of how our society is working more remotely. I think even prior to COVID that was appealing to that younger generation that might work off-hours, so the brand really wanted to be able to appeal to having those privacy pods but yet in an open-air concept,” she said.
“Instead of feeling like I have to leave the hotel and go sit in a coffee shop, I can find that same experience right here in one of the privacy pods.”
The brand also connects the community to the hotel with the main mural.
“We really want to not only bring the spirit of Tru by Hilton, we want to bring the true spirit of the town,” Brown said.
Patel said the properties are the first midscale-branded national hotels built at the airport in at least 10 years.
The team said the market comprises several types of travelers, including business travelers such as those working with logistics-related businesses in North Jacksonville; people who want to stay near the airport to avoid a morning drive to catch a flight; transient business along I-95; and visitors in town for events such as weddings, graduations, family reunions and other occasions.
The two hotels do not have meeting rooms. They do have pools, grilling areas, markets and complimentary breakfast buffets. Both are pet-friendly.
The TownePlace Suites brand caters to visitors staying two or more nights. Those rooms have microwaves, cooktops, refrigerators, dishwashers, utensils and cookware so guests can prepare food in their units.
Brown said that clientele includes travelers in town for work, assignments or events.
“I truly believed that the Jacksonville airport area needed new hotels,” Patel said.
He said the two hotels share a parking lot. Each has a pool. There also is a shuttle to the airport.
“We can provide accommodations to guests whether for extended-stay or one-nighters,” he said.
Brown said the businesses can benefit from the growth in passenger travel at JIA with the third concourse planned as well as with an additional cruise line coming to the JaxPort cruise terminal, also in North Jacksonville.
Carnival Cruise Lines departs there, and Norwegian Cruise Line begins seasonal service in November 2025.
She said the hotels also can support “the economic development of the revitalization of Downtown.”
The location is about 12 miles north of Downtown Jacksonville.
“We need to have hotels if we want to bring in more people and businesses,” she said.
Patel said the area east of I-95 also is a source of growth with the commercial and medical developments, especially the new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic and 30-bed domiciliary, being built near River City Marketplace.
Patel estimates there are probably 1,000 hotel rooms in the Airport Road market area, and his products account for 207 of those.
He said Tru by Hilton has experienced a strong demand with occupancy at 60% to 70%.
Rates online start at $111 for the night of April 13.
Patel has seven hotels in Lake City and two in Gainesville.
He hired Highland at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Gainesville and promoted him to Jacksonville. Patel also owns the Country Inn & Suites by Radisson in Gainesville.
Patel declined to estimate the total investment in the properties.
Total employment will be 45 to 50 among the two.
“I was able to find good hard-working staff that potentially shares the same love for this hotel that I have,” Highland said.
Tru by Hilton says it has more than 250 open locations across the Americas.
Patel also said Jacksonville is one of the cities with the largest number of Tru by Hilton properties in the United States.
The first five are:
• Tru by Hilton Jacksonville West, the newest, opened in March at 4142 Perimeter Industrial Parkway in Perimeter West Industrial Park at northeast I-295 and Pritchard Road in Northwest Jacksonville.
• Tru by Hilton Jacksonville Airport at northeast Ranch and Airport roads.
• Tru by Hilton Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center at 4640 Tropea Way in Town Center Promenade.
• Tru by Hilton Jacksonville South Mandarin at 2970 Hartley Road.
• Tru by Hilton in Southside at 4945 Lenoir Ave.
More are planned or in consideration.
There are two TownePlace Suites in Jacksonville at 13741 Beach Blvd. and 4801 Lenoir Ave.