Idaho Falls – You’re Building A Hotel Where?
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Is there any rhyme or reason to the planning that goes into Idaho Falls Hotels?
With the exception of a few locations I haven’t been able to figure out if there is any logic that goes into where the hotel locations develop.
The area of the Shilo and the Marriott by WalMart, those I get. Close to a freeway exit – ready to catch the Yellowstone traveler passing by visitors coming to town. But what about all the hotel development that has taken place around the Grand Teton Mall? Do enough people really come and spend the night to go to the mall?
The sad part of it all is with how they are kept up (or not kept up) it doesn’t seem like any hotel in Idaho Falls is doing exceptionally well. Many of the hotels are in desperate need for repairs and upgrades.
Maybe with the new nuclear business we have coming to town some of the hotels will finally be able to make the upgrades needed. Please feel free to review or comment on any hotels you are aware of that need repairs/upgrades or any truly great hotels you know of. Or please shed any light on what you think these developers were thinking when planning some of these locations.
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Comments
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0 
0 The hotels near the mall, as Nemesis correctly points out, were originally built to accomodate patients, families and professionals for the Idaho Falls medical community. It is still a concept some struggle with that patients from 100s of miles away have care at EIRMC and can’t be discharged directly to their rural home.
Additionally, with EIRMC holding the MEDCOR contract with YNP, any companions/relatives accompanying someone who is injured or becomes ill while at YNP will need a place to stay.
The bigger problem from my perspective, is when no rooms are available.
Their popularity and need has expanded to include those coming to Idaho Falls who want to have a shopping/multiple movie/fun time in Idaho Falls from wherever home is for those travelers. Additionally, many families who have married children or extended family, frankly find it easier to book a room or two for some and add additional beds, bathroom and a swimming pool for a family get together.
I’ve stayed in all 3 of the current hotels near the mall. Without a doubt, I have my favorite for business travel.
IF you look up the rankings per travelers, one of the three consistantly lands as the #1 hotel in Idaho Falls, given the family atmosphere. I’ve had my fair share of soccer and baseball players (and their families) from MT, WY western ID etc. dominate elevators and lobbies of two of the hotels (which is one reason I prefer the third).
Joe Eagle, do you know anything about the addition to one of the three hotels last summer, or why Ball Ventures almost built a 4th in the area?
I think it would be wise to remember, sometimes local corporations are limited by what the “chain” will allow. Unless one, or a very close family member/collegue etc., has truly been inside all of them as a guest, talked with management, experienced the European crowd at one, the kid/family crowd at another and the business/medical crowd (along with some tourists) at the third, I would be guarded to express opinions without potentially knowing more facts.
Just for fun, try to book one online and see the cost but limited availability. Most reps who travel to the area prefer to stay in Idaho Falls, both because of the airport and what is easily accessible to their hotels, instead of Pocatello. That is a plus for Idaho Falls and why some companies have located permanent positions in Idaho Falls instead of Pocatello.
Let me know what you learn. I know the reality as I book one monthly.
From my perspective, these hotels and others to be eventually built in the area are a real plus for Idaho Falls. It shows that some people are thinking about what other facilities/opportunities really brings people to town, besides being a stop on the way to YNP or Jackson Hole etc.
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0 0 Is it just me, or is anyone else having trouble understanding what OK4Now was saying. Everything was very vague. Why not name the motels/hotels. It might help some of the rest of us out.
MEDCOR??? I think YNP means Yellowstone National Park, but could be wrong, so am guessing that MEDCOR has something to do with that.
I recently had family staying at the Shiloh. They were extremely pleased with their accomodations, price and other amenities (such as full breakfast every morning and the swimming pool). They travel and stay in motels quite frequently and they said the Shiloh was one of the best yet for their family (2 adults and 3 small children — all under the age of 3).
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0 0 Le ritz is remodeling and upgrading rooms 1 wing at a time,I was told hotels operate at less than 30% occupancy.Chistmas, 4th july,are big
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0 0 Is the police dept. moving to snake river landing
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0 0 if so does judiciary impact hotel usage?
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0 0 I got the impression that OK4Now was deliberately not naming names, in a bid to be fair. I could be wrong.
Since I’m not going to stay at any of the hotels by the mall, and since I don’t live close by there so wouldn’t have my family stay there, either, it wasn’t a big deal to me to have this information stay vague.
OK4Now, you’ve sparked some interest with your comments. Would you feel comfortable naming names? If nothing else, you could give the name of the place that you prefer, as that would be a positive comment.
Idaho Native, I also had family stay at the Shilo recently and they were quite pleased, too. I have out of town business associates who stay at the AmeriTel and they are happy to be there.
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0 0 Comment removed for policy violation - Joe Eagle
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0 0 Anonymous…..The police department is not moving anywhere, the mayor and council decided not to have a bond for a new building at this time. Maybe in a few years. In the mean time, they are thinking about pumping money into the old building in an effort to make things fit. I dont know how they are going to do this, I dont think the structure has grown any in the last 30 years.
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0 0 I think Nemesis is correct about Ok4Now. At least that is how I read his earlier comments. Some people are comfortable naming businesses for various reasons and some are not. So what.
Does this site just focus on trying to dissect people who post here? Or does anyone other than Ok4Now actually have hard data on hotels in the area? He’s shared a lot on the Marriott thread.
Does anyone know how many times have there been drug busts at Le Ritz? It seems like a nice place, but I’m not sure about the multiple times drugs have been reported there. I’d like to recommend it to those traveling here for business, but read the police reports.
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0 0 Perhaps the Le Ritz staff is the only hotel paying attention to its guests. Many of these drug dealers move around from hotel to hotel so as to not stay in any one place for a long period of time. This extends their odds of getting caught. I commend the staff at the Le Ritz for paying attention and making sure this sort of activity doesn’t happen at their hotel.
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0 0 The LeRitz is a locally owned hotel and because it is not a chain you may find some of the “shaddy” characters coming here. I have personally been inside this hotel (not for the drug stuff) but for meetings, and have found this to be one of the nicest hotels in Idaho Falls. I think it happens at other hotels, but maybe it comes back to the great staff that is very observant. Hats off to the LeRitz for having an observant staff.
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0 0 The hotels by the mall offer a place to stay for people coming to Idaho Falls for medical treatments. In addition to this, they also accomodate people who have a family member in the hospital.
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0 0 Jloe Vandal Wannabe said
May 11, 2008
7:23 pm
Comment # 10 “Does this site just focus on trying to dissect people who post here?”
Evidently! Don’t let em get away with it!
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0 0 J.Doe, are you going to actually write a post with substance or in regards to the actual topic? Or are you just going to complain about everyone else? (just wondering) 
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0 0 After you! Surely you wouldn’t mind demonstrating?
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0 0 Oh, J Doe, I’m a liking your style more and more! 
But true story, how’s about using your humor in a post we can all comment on? There’s nothing that says our posts have to be dry and boring, I’m betting you would liven things up.
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0 0 But Nem, I already have!
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0 0 As J Doe? C’mon, give me a break, here…methinks you are having fun at my expense!
That’s sometimes a good way to spend some time, but not on your holiday weekend!
Without revealing too much (obviously you’re trying NOT to reveal too much) is it possible to point out the post(s) you’ve written?
‘Cuz now I’m starting to play guessing games about your alter secret identity!
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0 0 On second thought, belay that notion. I’m not going to spend time trying to figure out who you WERE. I’m sure I commented the heck out of anything you wrote recently.
So, time to write again! And if you didn’t write as J Doe before, you could write that way now and employ that deliciously wry sense of humor.
And Guest_House, I look forward to your posts, too!
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0 0 Thanks to the moderator on comment 14. Seems to me this guy is more about bashing other peoples opinions/comments than leaving something relevant we can all comment on.
Nemesis’ comments towards him surprise me as she always seems more interested in people posting comments that dont degrade or put down others and that we can all comment on. Whats up Nemesis….having a change of heart? 
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0 0 ditto to #21…….
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0 0 The moderator, in adding that comment to #14, didn’t really get the whole picture, I don’t think. Be patient, work through the whole picture with me…
1. OK4Now commented in #2.
2. In #3 Idaho Native made a comment about Ok4Now, saying the comments were too hard to understand.
3. Lunch at the Snakebite #8 then added to that same commentary about OK4Now…not so very nice…saying: …
4. Jloe Vandal wannabe commented in #10, and was curious why people thought there was a problem with comment #2. It seemed that folks were picking on OK4Now specifically.
5. J Doe in #14 was agreeing with Jloe Vandal’s assessment, and basically challenging us regulars at this site to be more mindful of this issue.
6. I was agreeing with J Doe. No point to dissecting OK4Now, and I think comment #8 was rather condescending. I didn’t see anything wrong with what either #10 or #14 said, they were taking us to task for something we are guilty of on this site, probably more often than we realize.
Whew! Thanks for your patience! NOW do you understand why I said what I said?
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0 0 Thank you Nemesis, that seems accurate to me.
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0 0 Quite the detailed explanation and thanks that did help! I completely misundstood, sorry about that!
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0 0 I haven’t followed this one, since the egg on my face for not realizing that the Hotels near the mall were for the Hospital. (duh…)
I agree with most here that the comments about Ok4Now were uncalled for and have removed that post. I have also removed the comments by the Moderator. I will talk with the Moderator.
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0 0 I still think the quality of hotel in Idaho Falls needs to be greatly improved. Especially the Shilo Inn. Have you seen that place recently? It’s near falling apart. I put up a sister in the Hotel last year and after stopping by her room, I must say I was embarrassed to have put her there.
I don’t know about their other hotels, but for Idaho Falls they need to change their slogan from
“Shilo Inn, Affordable Excellence”
to
“Shilo Inn, Affordable (insert disgusting adjective of your choice here)”
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0 0 As far as the Shilo, I haven’t been there recently (myself), I’m sorry to hear that it has not kept up its standards.
Joe (E or V?) your comment #27 was funny! I’ll be thinking of new slogans all day!
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0 0 hmm….this whole “removal of comments” critiquing someone’s writing while allowing snarky comments about other posters really smacks of censorship.
I didn’t see anything warranting “removal” on this site.
I think Joe Eagle is in a now-win situation. OK4Now does write long posts and sometimes is hard to follow (EIRMC post is a great example, unless that, too, has been “edited”).
Puzzling.
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0 0 oops I meant “no win” situation, especially since the moderators came on board.
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0 0 not sure either, even after the “explanation” why people are applauding J. doe when all he/she has done is complain about other posters. That doesn’t seem to be in keeping with Joe Eagle’s “removal” policy, either.
Maybe we just need a new set of rules but I still think removing posts outright, because Joe Eagle disagrees with the opinion therein, is wrong.
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0 0 How is #14 more offensive than #15? And who are the moderators?
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0 0 How about we continue beating this dead horse? Geez!
And Joe already said the moderators names would not be revealed.
Now, can we please move on already?
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The hotels out close to the mall, my understanding were that they catered to the medically serviced crowd…either those coming to visit loved ones in the hospital, or those who needed to have a close area to stay while getting medical care, etc.
I suppose they’d also be useful if you were from a rural area and did some massive shopping here once in awhile.
I don’t stay in local hotels (hee hee) so I don’t know about their quality.
Just as with restaurants, we seem to have an abundance of hotels in this area.