Hawkeye Hotels opens boutique in its home state

THE BOUTIQUE HOTEL Chauncey, owned by Hawkeye Hotels, opened recently in Iowa City, Iowa. The 51-room hotel is part of a mixed-use development that includes a movie theater, coffee shop, offices and condominiums.

And the building housing the Hotel Chauncey will feature a 12-lane bowling alley and arcade on its bottom two floors. The hotel is on floors five through eight.

"Our company not only has roots in Iowa and a headquarters just down the road, we also have a number of Hawkeye alumni on staff,” said Raj Patel, Hawkeye Hotels’ chief development officer. “That makes Hotel Chauncey a special opportunity to create an asset for a community that has supported our work for many years."

Bob Patel is CEO of the Coralville, Iowa-based company.

All guestrooms in the hotel include kitchenettes. The hotel also has a fifth-floor roof terrace with views of the city’s downtown and the University of Iowa Campus. The terrace also is available for private events.

"Many of the spaces, including hotel rooms, were designed to take full advantage of the views," said James Phelps of Rohrbach Associates P.C., the architecture firm that designed the Hotel Chauncey. "Most rooms include a floor to ceiling glass wall that provides natural light and great views. The team worked to construct a building that exceeded minimum energy standard requirements and designed with a sustainable approach."

Hawkeye Hotels, formed in 1982 in Mena, Arkansas, today owns and operates more than 50 hotels across the country with an additional 50 hotels under development. In August it acquired the Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, as part of its expansion into the Northeast.

Hawkeye also is developing a 150-room Holiday Inn in nearby Erie, Pennsylvania, which is under construction and expected to open this year. It also plans to open the Hotel Fort Des Moines in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, later this year as part of Hilton’s Curio Collection.