The Hilton Springfield will become a Wyndham next year.
Owner Bob Egizii confirmed that the towering 30-story hotel with 365 rooms on East Adams Street in downtown Springfield will end its association with Hilton at the end of this year. He said he has reached an agreement with Wyndham to become a Wyndham franchise.
“Wyndham has more hotels than Hilton does,” Egizii said “We plan to upgrade. They’ve (Wyndham executives have) been in and out of here more than 100 times. They’re all for it.”
Egizii said that the switch will cost more than $3 million to change signage and colors and otherwise comply with Wyndham requirements. He said that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Hotel across the street becoming a DoubleTree franchise in 2013 was a factor. DoubleTree is under the Hilton umbrella, and Egizii said the switch two years ago took him by surprise.
“Nobody called us,” Egizii said. “Nobody checked with us. It had never been discussed. It just all of a sudden opens up one day. That’s not the way that anybody does business that I know of. I think that both sides became pretty leery. I was pretty vocal about it.”
Egizii said that he sought to end the relationship with Hilton. The change can’t take place until the end of this year, when his contract with Hilton terminates, Egizii said.
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2015.
