Ameritel Inn To Start Work Soon On 118-Room Coeur D’Alene Motel

It’s been nearly a year since a new motel has opened in the Coeur d’Alene area, leaving a mere 2,200 rooms for rent.

The area has 2,112 motel/hotel rooms, 93 bed and breakfast rooms and 1,475 RV spaces, says the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce.

We’ve heard rumblings about potential motels on five CdA sites: Off Third Street south of Interstate 90; in the new development surrounded by I-90; Northwest Boulevard and Ironwood Drive; on Lincoln Way across from Kootenai Medical Center; adjacent to the Red Lobster at U.S. Highway 95 and Neider Avenue; across from Gibbs Tavern between Northwest Boulevard and the Spokane River.

If you picked Lincoln Way as the most likely motel site, you’re right.

AmeriTel Inn will begin building a $3 million, 75,000-square-foot, four-story motel on 2-1/2 acres bounded by Wild Waters, Shari’s Restaurant, ShopKo and Lincoln Way as soon as it gets a building permit.

The Boise-based company hopes to open the 118 rooms by May. It would employ about 30 people.

Comparable to Embassy Suites or Doubletree facilities, the inn will include a 24-hour swimming pool and fitness center, conference rooms, voice mail messaging, executive work stations with data ports and speaker phones, continental breakfast, airport shuttle and fresh-baked cookies.

Owned by Glen and Peggy Black, AmeriTel Inns are in Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls and Elko, Nev. Spokane is being considered as another site.

Five houses ranging in size from about 1,750 to 3,100 square feet and in price from $178,000 to $249,000 will be featured in the Parade of Homes in Coeur d’Alene.

Starting Saturday and ending July 21, the showcase of builders, trade contractors, landscapers and decorators will be in the Best Hill Meadows subdivision on Best Avenue just east of 15th Street.

The hours the homes are open vary, but in general they are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. until early evening Sundays, 3 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and noon to 8 p.m. Friday.

Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for seniors, with different specials and/or activities offered each day. (It’s not a good idea to bring busy children).

Special days are Friday, July 19, when Habitat for Humanity will be featured, and Saturday, July 20, when the builders, architects and trade contractors will be in the homes from 1-4 p.m.

Houses will be judged in several categories: master bedroom, kitchen, floor plan, interior craftsmanship, exterior design and craftsmanship, landscaping, interior design and decorating, masonry and concrete, cabinetry, Judges’ Choice and Peoples’ Choice. We’ll offer our votes in next week’s column.

The home show is a great place to get ideas and whisper about what you like and don’t like.

The Parade of Homes is presented by the North Idaho Building Contractors Association.

Traditional ethnic foods and 19 tap ales (from micro-breweries and imports) are featured by Moon Time Restaurant, now open across from Robideaux Motors at 1602 Sherman Ave.

The menu includes appetizers such as Manila clams and roasted garlic bread, salads such as panzenella (bread salad) and honey chipotle (apples, walnuts and red onions), sandwiches such as Caribbean pork and Anasazi bean burger, and the special 74th Street Gumbo.

Owners John Grollmus, Jeff Meagher and Brad Fosseen knew each other in Seattle and decided to open a restaurant offering the best things they discovered about different places in the Puget Sound area. Grollmus and Fosseen originally were from Spokane, and Meagher from Mill Valley, Calif.

Their grand opening is Friday. Live acoustical blues music will begin at 9 p.m. Regular hours are about 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The restaurant seats 50 people at tables and bar, and employs eight people. Phone 667-2331.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Nils Rosdahl The Spokesman-Review