EAST MOLINE, Illinois- Dan Murphy brought the first hotel to the city during the month of December, and when you ask him why he invested in it, he goes back to his childhood.
"Hearing the whistles, and seeing the people coming and going, this place was alive."
We had Breakfast With...Murphy on Thursday, December 13 on Good Morning Quad Cities. Murphy grew up in Silvis and moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin in 2004 to start a business called Precision Pipeline. He sold it five years later. Throughout that time, Murphy says he's never lost touch with his hometown.
"I think it's important to never lose touch with where you came from," Murphy said. "You give back if you can, and I try to do that."
Murphy put money into the Hyatt House and Hyatt Place hotels called 'The Bend.' Combined, they have more than 230 rooms. Murphy says it's been ten years since he was first contacted about the project.
"We were fortunate enough that some of the people we were dealing with at the time had contacts with Hyatt," Murphy said. "Some of this is like anything, some of it is just chance."
Murphy says market studies have shown a hotel like this can sustain itself, and even though he brought the idea to Hyatt, he hopes this hotel is a model of success in the years to come. To learn more about the hotel's Winter Extravaganza, click here.
There are also two hotels going up in Bettendorf. One at the site of the old Lodge hotel off I-74. Another is going up at the site of the new TBK Bank Sports Complex. Both of them are being built by Frontier Hospitality Group. Mayor Bob Gallagher says another hotel is supposed to go up next to TBK Bank as well.
