Hotel History.
June 1972 Hotel opens as a 181-room Treadway Resort Inn. Unique New Orleans theme features include
three-story tropical courtyard, indoor pool with sliding glass-domed roof, Bourbon Street restaurant
and Lafitte’s lounge and 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
1974 Large outdoor pool added.
June 1979 Hotel adds new three-story building of 51 guest rooms and four new meeting/banquet rooms.
The addition of the 51 guest rooms makes the Treadway one of the top three largest hotels in Lancaster and the second largest Treadway of the Northeastern chain.
1984 Garfield’s Family Restaurant built at the front north side of the hotel with an exterior entrance.
October 1987 Hotel expands into the extended-stay market by adding two new residential-style buildings adjacent to the outdoor pool. Each building contains eight suites, each with its own full kitchen and fireplace, designed to accommodate guests relocating or on temporary assignment to the area.
1988 Two more extended-stay buildings were constructed.
March 1989 Hotel announces plans to join the Best Western family of hotels. At the time Best Western is the
world’s largest hotel chain and growing faster than any other hotel chain. The new name of the
property becomes Best Western-Eden Resort Inn. At the same time, the hotel begins construction
of its fifth residential-style building, making minor upgrades from their original four residential-style
buildings. Similar to their predecessors, the new unit contains eight separate guest suites with full kitchens and fireplaces. A full renovation of the hotel is nearing completion just in time for the raising of the hotel’s new name on its Route 30 sign.
1990-2000 Over the next decade the hotel focuses on improving the quality of its services and products in every aspect. Food and beverage operations become an even larger focus and the hotel’s efforts can best be seen in their already famous Champagne Sunday Brunch. Who knew a Lancaster County Brunch would gain national notoriety? Changes to the hotel’s interior continue to transform this once “nice” property into something that is now an industry leader.
2000-2010 Aggressive 10-year renovation program begins. After the dust settles, the hotel spends more than $30 million in improvements and renovations during this 10-year span.
March 2001
Garfield’s gets a complete redesign with totally new interior including the addition of a full-service bar and a new exterior look. The addition of a built-in salad and buffet “bar” is a feature of the
new Garfield’s.
November 2002 Encore Lounge, previously known as Rumors, aka Club Mirage, is closed and moved into a smaller space located directly adjacent to the hotel’s Arthur’s Restaurant. The vacated space is converted into a new upscale banquet room–The Presidential Ballroom–designed specifically to accommodate
weddings and other social events requiring a sophisticated atmosphere. Crystal chandeliers, granite
dance floor, tray ceiling with up-lit coffers and automated lighting adorn the room. The new ballroom
is an immediate success and wedding sales reach an all-time high.
May 2006 How to reinvent an established, well-liked product is the challenge of many businesses in the US today. Some, like WalMart, have mastered their ability to remain relevant through time. Others have not. The Eden Resort Inn needed a new marketing edge, and their guests provided the road map. 72 existing standard guest rooms are converted into ultra-modern two-room luxury suites, each with 550 square feet. These new suites are designed to specifically meet the needs of two different traveler categories: corporate travelers and families. The Eden has always been a leader in the corporate travel market, but with the new suites it can now appeal to both the “road warrior”’ in their standard guest room design, and the manager or visiting client looking for a more luxurious accommodation. At the same time, many of the new suites are designed to appeal to the growing demand for rooms that accommodate families. These new family suites are designed with two separate bedrooms, living room space, dual sink vanity with plenty of counter space, private bath and toilet facilities and, most importantly, separate 32” and 42” flat-panel high-definition TVs.
May 2008
If 72 upscale suites are good, 92 are better. Realizing the popularity of the new suites, the hotel undertook a second phase of converting an additional 20 standard rooms in the south side to two-
room luxury suites. These new suites opened in May to the delight of the hotel’s existing clients. At the same time, the hotel decided it was time to change its name once more to something more representative of the hotel’s different room types. That spring, Best Western-Eden Resort & Suites was put into use. The hotel now has a total of 284 guest room accommodations, of which 50% are two-room suites.
2009 All five residential-style suite buildings receive a complete renovation of their interiors. The hotel decides to name these suites “Villas” to allow for a distinction between the hotel’s many
suite options.
May 2010 The hotel opened a sixth residential-style building, adding eight more long-term guest suites to its offerings. The additional suite building, called “Villas,” houses the largest and most modern guest
suites on the entire property. Exceeding 1,300 square feet with separate balconies and with the ability to accommodate up to eight people comfortably, these new suites instantly become the hotel’s most popular room type.
November 2010
Best Western Worldwide announces its descriptor program, in which they will add a designation to their over 3,000 hotels in North America. The Eden Resort & Suites is accepted as Best Western’s very first “Premier” hotel in North America. On a sunny Thursday in mid-November, the hotel announces its delight in being approved to change its name to the Best Western Premier-Eden Resort & Suites.
May 2011
With the hotel never looking better, its guest room product completely modernized and redesigned, it is time to bring that same “Wow” factor to the hotel’s recreational facilities. Welcome, New
Outdoor Recreation Complex! This new million-dollar outdoor recreation area took years to plan, several months to construct but only days following its opening to realize what a “home run” it would be for the hotel’s guests. In May of 2011 the complex opened with a brand-new heated outdoor pool with in-pool seats, back and leg spa jets, zero-entry pad with water fountain features,
a 5,000-square-foot kids’ heated water zone spray park, children’s dry playground, billiards, Ping-
Pong, putting green, lighted basketball, shuffleboard and bocce courts, dining areas (some with charcoal grill stations), and Garfield’s poolside food and beverage service. Fun and relaxation for
all ages.
April 2012
A fourth elevator is added to the south side of the building. Additional elevators are always a good idea, but could this addition signify the start of an even larger, more interesting growth phase for the hotel? Only time will tell.
November 2013 Construction began on the 17 room suite addition with an anticipated completion date of April 2014.
The new rooms will include 10 additional 550 square foot two room suites, similar to those
already existing at the property, 2 additional 500 square foot two room “Parlor” suites and 4 newly
designed 1300 two bedroom “Premier” suites, including fully equipped kitchens and dining rooms,
fireplace and many more comforts and conveniences. Combined with a new fitness center the hotel
will certainly be at its best by Spring 2014.
Thank you to all who have visited the Best Western Premier-Eden Resort & Suites
and made the past 42 years memorable.
Here’s to the next exciting decade. Cheers!