Texas firm buys water-park hotel on northwest side

General Hotels Corp. has finalized the sale of the Caribbean Cove Hotel & Water Park, averting closure of the 344-room hotel on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

The buyer, Houston-based Allied Hospitality Inc., is “considering options with respect to rebranding and renovating the property,” General Hotels said in a statement issued Wednesday.

IBJ reported Aug. 11 that General Hotels had reached an agreement to sell the hotel, but would close the property if it couldn't close on the sale. Last month, General Hotels notified the Indiana Department of Workforce Development that, without a sale, the hotel would close Oct. 9.

The hotel’s 266 employees are expected to continue working under new ownership, Indianapolis-based General Hotels said in the statement.

The purchase price was not disclosed. Neither General Hotels nor Allied officials could be immediately reached for comment.

The facility at Interstate 465 and Michigan Road operated as Holiday Inn for more than 30 years. In 2004, General Hotels added the 50,000-square-foot water park to boost weekend occupancy.

But General Hotels said business slipped over the years after other water parks opened in French Lick and Shipshewana in Indiana as well as in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Earlier this year, the company dropped the Holiday Inn brand.

Allied Hospitality owns and operates a number of hotel and resort properties. In April, it bought Newark, Ohio-based Cherry Valley Lodge & CoCo Key Water Resort for $4.97 million, according to Columbus Business First.

Locally-based General Hotels operates 12 hotels with more than 1,800 total rooms. Its Indianapolis holdings include Crowne Plaza at Historic Union Station, Crowne Plaza at Indianapolis International Airport and Homewood Suites by Hilton at Keystone at the Crossing.