OC experiencing a 90% Increase in Number of Hotel Rooms

More people are visiting the Golden Corner of South Carolina, proof of that can bee seen with more hotels being constructed in Oconee County. This fiscal year, Oconee County will see a 90% increase in the number of hotel rooms being built, tells Mountain Lakes Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Ken Sloan. “This new condo development on the Hartwell Village property right on the lake facing Memorial Stadium and there will be about 150 some odd rooms in there, I recall. These won’t be your typical condos, you can invest in them and they will have a rental management team that will rent them out primarily for the Clemson football games but also in the Hartwell Village. So, that is a huge bump in our hotel inventory. Almost right next to that is the Hilton Tru and that will have somewhere around 100-110 rooms. Then right off Highway 123 near the Applebee’s there is a place on the lake, its the only place on the lake on Highway 123, and that will be a Marriott Fairfield Inn with around 100 rooms as well. Right now in our entire hotel room inventory in Oconee County we have 381 to be exact, this will almost double that, so you will have somewhere around 300 more rooms. That is about a 90% increase in hotel rooms in Oconee County, so that will have a huge impact on our Accommodations Tax income.” Room rentals are also coming to the City of Walhalla, continues Sloan. “In Walhalla, you have Jared Ketterman who owns 28 West that new outdoor retailer there, just above 28 West, he also owns those loft units. He is almost finished developing two air B&B units up there and you will be able to rent those out. Then right down the street from that of course we have been hearing about this for a long time, the old courthouse, they are still moving forward with a very unique boutique hotel there with around 20 rooms and a restaurant and who knows what else they will have in there.” Sloan says many of these hotel construction projects will start soon. “I think these hotels you’ll start seeing them digging dirt sometime in the next few months, especially for the condo units and maybe the Hilton and then I hope to see these things completed sometime within the next 16-18 months.” In addition, in Long Creek, Wildwater is building four cabins this year and then four more next year with the goal of having 12 cabins over the next four years. Oconee is a Cherokee word meaning land beside the water, which is a fitting name for a place blessed with multiple lakes, rivers, streams and over 150 waterfalls. To learn more about fun things to do and see in Oconee County, visit www.scmountainlakes.com.