Chateau Avalon In Bed With Choice Hotels

Chateau Avalon, a 61-room hotel near the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., with uniquely themed suites such as “Camelot” and “Tuscany,” has entered into a partnership with Rockville, Md.-based Choice Hotels, in which the latter lists Avalon under its Ascend Hotel Collection, and places the property on its online-booking services, which is a network of 7,000 hotels around the world. 

The partnership will boost Avalon’s online presence, hopefully resulting in increased reservations made by out-of-town guests, said Steve Beaumont, the hotel’s builder and owner, who is also president of Lenexa-based Beaumont Commercial Services.

“By affiliating with one of the big companies, that puts us on a level playing field with everybody else,” he said. “This was very good for what the Chateau stands for and our independence.”

Beaumont will continue to own and operate the Chateau, which is refereed to on booking sites as “Chateau Avalon, an Ascend Hotel Collection.” The property, built in 2004, is in the midst of a major renovation to be completed after the winter, Beaumont said. Suites are being upgraded, with updates of their current themes, and the firm is also adding a conservatory that will have room for 220 people for weddings and receptions. Beaumont, who didn’t reveal the cost of the expansion, said the new wedding space is appropriate, since many of his current guests are already celebrating weddings and anniversaries. The space will be near the Chateau’s fountain, which Beaumont claims is the metro area’s largest.

The deal with Choice came about because one of the company’s regional managers had stayed at the hotel and suggested that Choice pursue the deal.

And as a result of the partnership, Beaumont said there might be more Chateaus in the future in other metro areas, though any such brand expansion wouldn’t be for a while.

Beaumont Commercial is in another partnership, with Legacy Development, and the two are currently developing the mixed-use Bellmont Promenade, in Shawnee.