Friends and Family Group

By Michael Sadowski, June 9, 2016 at 3:29 PM

The Lebanon County tourism industry is getting what it's been clamoring for: a new hotel.

Midstate company Simraj Hospitality Management LLC plans to build an 85-room Hampton Inn on Route 422 in North Lebanon Township as soon as it secures some necessary paperwork from the state, according to the Niraj R. Parekh, president of the company.

The four-floor hotel will be built on about half of the 5-acre property on East Cumberland Street (Route 422). Part of the remainder of the property is wetlands, and Parekh said the wetlands won’t be disturbed.

Once he is able to start construction, it should be a year until the hotel is ready to open, Parekh said. It is expected to be about 55,000 square feet.

Lebanon County tourism officials have said for the last few years the county is lacking hotel rooms, which sends tourists to nearby Hershey or Lancaster County, which both have ample rooms. That takes possible tourism revenue out of the hands of Lebanon County restaurants and attractions.

Simraj Hospitality Management also is the owner and manager of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites less than a mile away at 2205 E. Cumberland St. in the township.

“We’ve seen the demand, we know it’s there,” Parekh said. “The Holiday Inn Express does very good business.”

The new hotel will be built next to White’s Harley-Davidson, which is at 1515 E. Cumberland St. Parekh said he has all the local approvals in hand, but he is waiting for a sewer module approval from the state. Once he gets that final approval, he said he can begin construction in a week.

Parekh said the Lebanon County hotel will be his company’s 10th hotel, with other hotels in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon and York counties.