Can you envision a Hilton Hotel in Kyle?

The consultants hired by the City of Kyle to evaluate whether the city could feasibly be the location of a major hotel has said a full-service 150-room hotel with 13,500 square feet of meeting space would be a perfect fit.

"We believe a 150-room Upper Upscale, full-service hotel (Hilton, Marriott, Starwood, Hyatt, or similar variation) would successfully meet the needs within the Kyle market area while conservatively planning for future growth in the city," according to the report prepared by Stone Hospitality & Real Estate. "We have recommended approximately 13,500 square feet of meeting space (roughly 90 square feet per room). This figure stems from comparable properties in similar locations and intelligence collected from experienced industry professionals who recommend 70 to 100 square feet of hotel meeting space for every hotel room."

The report is interesting because it seems to me that it relies more on what’s happening in Austin than the current realities of Kyle. For example, the report says: "While the Greater Austin hotel market has enjoyed one of the greatest booms of new hotel supply in recent history, there continues to be absorption of the new inventory; however, we do not expect this trend to continue much longer. For this and other reasons, we are recommending a full-service hotel with 150-rooms. This is not to say that other types of hotel inventory would not work or will not be developed, but that our ‘best’ choice is as presented here."

That doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement for locating a Hilton-type facility here, but you can decide for yourself by reading the report in its entirely.

The recently announced Comfort Inn, to be constructed behind the Target Store, does not qualify as an "Upper Upscale, full-service hotel," in the Stone analysis. It said the Average Daily Room rate at the hotel it recommends to be located here should be $137.25, based on a 2017 opening. The average ADR at the Comfort Inn ranges from $70 to $95.

Although Stone did not recommend a specific site for the hotel, it was strongly suggested it should be plainly visible from I-35.

"There is a certain degree of intuitive support for a full-service hotel in Kyle," Stone reported. "Occupancies in the competitive market indicate that properties are already highly occupied on Monday through Saturday resulting in the need for additional full-service rooms to accommodate any new business to the area."

Again, you could read the entire report right here.