Archdale hotels fill up with guests

ARCHDALE — It didn’t take the Wyndham Championship golf tournament this week at nearby Sedgefield Country Club to perk up business for Archdale hotels.

They’ve already been busy.

“It’s the Junior Olympics,” said Abbey Wilmoth, assistant general manager at Holiday Inn Express in Archdale. “It’s special events time.”

While many of the events are based in Guilford County, the overflow of business is crucial for this Randolph County community.

The Amateur Athletic Union’s Junior Olympics are in their second week in Greensboro, concluding this weekend.

“The majority of rooms are for that event,” Fairfield Inn & Suites assistant general manager Kayla Mounts said, noting that the hotel is one of the host hotels for the Junior Olympics.

At Days Inn, Kay Amin oversees the hotel’s operations in Archdale. He said this is the busy summer season, enhanced by the Junior Olympics.

Because the hotel properties are generally full, Amin said the Wyndham Championship wouldn’t be able to impact the volume for the Days Inn. That’s interesting because Days Inn is part of the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts family.

By late last week, room availability for most of this week at the Fairfield Inn was limited.

“I have very, very few rooms left to sell,” Mounts said.

Archdale’s Hampton Inn, which is in the same marketing group as the Holiday Inn Express, also has been near or at capacity. There, some golf-related guests could be present for this weekend.

The location along I-85 is part of the reason for the heavy business for these Archdale properties.

After a couple of years of struggling because of reduced travel by the public and the elimination or reconfiguration of many large-scale events, business has finally returned to pre-pandemic levels for Archdale hotels.

“This is pretty normal for this time of year,” Mounts said. “Our peak season usually starts at the end of March and goes through November.”

Other factors that have boosted occupancy are youth baseball tournaments and High Point University orientation events. It’s about a 10-minute commute to High Point University.

But it’s clear to see what’s driving much of the business this week.

“We have lots of little Junior Olympians running around,” Wilmoth said.

The rates for the Archdale hotels tend to be lower than many Greensboro venues, so overflow business naturally comes this way.

“There’s an influx that’s good for the whole city’s economy,” Wilmoth said.

Officials at the Archdale hotels expect several more weeks of heavy volume. Some of that could reach another peak with the High Point Furniture Market from Oct. 22-26.

By Bob Sutton