The Best Western Olympus hotel at 161 West 600 South has been sold to Provo-based Horne's Lodging Properties.
The seller was United Savings Bank, which has owned the facility for four years. The sale price was not disclosed.Principals of Horne's Lodging Properties are Doug Horne, president, and his father, Seth Horne.
According to Tim Greenhalgh, director of operations, the Hornes formed a limited liability company to buy the property. He said limited liability is a relatively new business entity in which there are no limited partners, only the general partners, who are termed "managers."
The Hornes also own the Howard Johnson Hotel near Temple Square in Salt Lake City; the Landmark Inn in Park City; the East Bay Inn and Super 8 Motel in Provo; and the Howard Johnson in Albuquerque, N.M. The Olympus brings the number of total rooms operated by Horne's Lodging to 1,050.
Built in 1968-69 as the Tri-Arc Travelodge, the Olympus Hotel has 393 rooms in two towers. It has the Cafe Olympus on the ground floor and a Mulboon's restaurant - one of five in Utah - on the top level, formerly the 13th Floor restaurant.
Greenhalgh said the new owners will retain the hotel's name, management team and employees, including general manager Bob England, formerly manager of the Little America Hotel.
"The bank put quite a bit of money into the hotel and our plans include continuing to upgrade the property," said Greenhalgh.
He said occupancy has been running at around 60 percent "and we want to increase that greatly."