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for traveling sports fans

BY LISA COWNIE

“Caswell Park is very exciting. As a dad I have, and still do, travel a lot with my daughters’ softball teams as well as volleyball and soccer. So, seeing the hotel fill up with all of the families and knowing that they are making memories that will last a lifetime is inspiring.”

Eric Seljeskog and his team at Midwestern Hospitality Management, built the Comfort Inn on Commerce Drive in North Mankato in 2021. He has built hotels in communities all across the Midwest, but has never experienced anything quite like North Mankato.

“The community itself has been fantastic. Not just the people at the city, but the residents also. From the day we put the ‘Coming Soon’ sign up our neighbors started reaching out to us and telling us how excited they were for us to open and be part of the community. Most people don’t think much about the hotel down the street from them. Usually, you only think about hotels when you are far away from home, not just down the street. We strive for our management to get involved with the community as much as possible and to be good stewards. Not just for the people visiting the area, but also to those who live and work in the community,” says Seljeskog.

The city of North Mankato reached out to Midwestern Hospitality Management about building in North Mankato. The city had done a feasibility study and determined that the need was there.

“One of the investors in our property in Sioux Falls is from the Mankato

area and knows some of the people working with the city,” explains Seljeskog. “When they found out he was involved in the hotel business they asked him to reach out to us. We met with some of the city planners and looked at their feasibility study and spent some time in the area and we agreed that this location seemed to make very good sense.”

So far, all those feasibility studies have proved to be correct. But the successes have not come without challenges.

“Like most businesses these days, we’ve had some problems finding quality employees. And opening up around the COVID pandemic presented us with a number of unique challenges. But everything seems to be heading in the right direction now. We’ve got a great general manager now and he has managed to turn our staffing issues around. Business travel is back on the rise and that helps a lot. The summer tourism season is already starting to come together. And that is great to see,” says Seljeskog. The hotel amenities include 68 guest rooms with a meeting space, swimming pool, hot tub and fitness room. There is even a small bar in the hotel.

Seljeskog says, “I guess having a bar is a little unique for this class of hotel. But my partner and I both felt it is important to have a place for both business travelers and traveling parents to sit back and unwind after a long day."

At the end of the day, Seljeskog says, he is happy to be a part of the North Mankato community.

“When we have opened other hotels in the past the local people didn’t seem to care much one way or the other. But seeing this much excitement in North Mankato is heartwarming.”

For more information, visit choicehotels.com/minnesota/ mankato/comfort-innhotels/mn228 