SpringHill Suites opens with strong support in West Melbourne

By Javier Molinares
AL DIA TODAY

WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. — After years of planning, construction delays, and collaboration, the new SPRINGHILL SUITES® BY MARRIOTT® WEST MELBOURNE PALM BAY officially opened its doors with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 17. More than 175 guests attended the event, including elected officials, business leaders, and members of the local chambers of commerce.

Located at 4446 Hollywood Boulevard, West Melbourne, Florida, 32904, the all-suite Marriott property is managed by Strand Hospitality Services in partnership with asset manager Lowell Larson. The property can be contacted via fax at +1 321-821-6344.

Chris Adams, the hotel’s general manager, has spent decades preparing for this moment. 

“This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to open a hotel from the ground up in the same community where I live,” said Adams, who has called Melbourne home since 2018. “We started with zero staff, zero systems, and built everything from the ground up.”

Originally from Durham, North Carolina, Adams began his hospitality career in 1987 in housekeeping. “I did everything in housekeeping from making beds to cleaning the bathrooms, to mopping the floors,” he recalled. “It gave me, I think, an understanding of what individuals go through behind the scenes.”

He later moved to the front desk at the Omni Hotel in Durham. “We did everything from checking guests in, checking them out, trying to listen if somebody had a concern about their stay, making recommendations for restaurants or things to do,” Adams said. “Everything kind of flows to the front desk, you know, from a guest perspective.”

Adams continued to rise through the ranks, eventually becoming assistant general manager at the Hilton in Greensboro, and later overseeing multiple hotels as a regional director and consultant across the country. Still, he longed to settle closer to home.

“I was tired of commuting and I wanted to live, work and get involved in this community,” he said. “I don’t just want to run a hotel. I want this hotel to be part of the cultural and economic fabric of Brevard County.”

According to Jay Keller, Chief Operating Officer of Strand Hospitality, Adams was the ideal candidate to manage the property.

“We did an extensive search for this project, and Chris applied,” said Keller. “Chris was working in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at the time… and ironically, he lives just a few miles from here. Chris was very excited about this project, knew all about it, and wanted the opportunity to be part of it in some way.”

Keller said Adams’s community involvement and leadership made a difference from day one. “His greatest asset is that he enjoys and he thrives at being able to have a product that he believes in and goes out to the community and introduces it,” he said. “He’s good in front of people. And so because of that, his team here allows him to be able to do that.”

The project was years in the making, beginning with a plot of land and a vision led by Lowell Larson, who oversaw the development.

“We oversee the asset from the first ink that hits the paper in design all the way through opening the hotel,” said Larson. “We oversee the construction, the acquisition of all the products that go into the hotel.”

Larson was first introduced to the site in 2018 by the Benchmark Group, which has been involved in land development throughout Florida. “They invited me down here in about 2018 to look at the land, and we started to plan the hotel,” Larson said. “But along the way, COVID and various things kind of delayed the project.”

Construction officially began in 2022, and after delays, the hotel opened in 2025. Larson credited the success of the project to strong local support and effective management.

“You want to see this kind of involvement from the chambers, from the elected officials, from the community,” he said. “It’s what makes it all work because without that, you really don’t have a business.”

Larson emphasized that Adams’s early involvement during the construction phase was essential. “Essentially, Marriott wants you to have a manager involved very early on,” he explained. “As the construction group is finishing and moving out, that team is helping put all the FFE—chairs, the tables, the beds, the sheets, the towels… literally millions of dollars worth of product—into the hotel.”

Adams also credits local organizations with helping him build a strong team and make critical business connections. “Quite honestly, we got some very good leads and referrals on potential staff members through our contacts with the [Brevard Hispanic] Chamber,” he said. “We also got some very good information as far as certain companies that we should have a relationship with for business opportunities.”

With the hotel now open, Adams said the grand opening is only the beginning. “We’re not just cutting a ribbon,” he said. “We’re planting roots.”