The Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce lunch Monday included a presentation from a representative of the Hotel Weyanoke, John Shideler, who gave an update regarding the hotel which, according to Shideler, is set to open in late April.

Shideler said the hotel is going to be “absolutely stunning.”

“I’m as thrilled as all of you if not more than you,” he said.

Shideler said the hotel will have eight different room types, including a two-room suite, king junior suite with a balcony, king junior suite without a balcony, a king suite without a balcony, a double queen with a balcony, double queen room, a king room and a queen room.

“So lots of variety,” he said, noting that the hotel will have 70 rooms.

He also spoke about the hotel’s three dining options, including Sassafras, a coffee shop featuring pastries, paninis and wraps.

“We’ll have a grab-and-go area where students can come up and go to the window and just grab and go,” Shideler said. “Drink their coffee and head off to certain classes.”

Other dining areas set to be at the hotel include The Cat Bird, the first rooftop food and beverage venue in Farmville; Effinghams, offering freshly-made pizzas from a woodburning oven; and Campagna, Hotel Weyanoke’s fine dining Italian-themed restaurant.

He said it is currently under evaluation whether the hotel will do 100 percent valet parking.

“I am not a fan of dictating to a customer that you have to pay to park your car,” Shideler said. “I don’t like it when I’m told that, but we’re not in Washington, D.C. either. So if we do have valet parking, it’s only going to be $5 per car, and the only reason we would do this is because parking is extremely limited.”

He said he’s looking to find an area for people to park their cars if they choose not to do that.

Shideler said price points for hotel rooms, depending on the week, would be, on average, between $129 and $189.

On March 8, 2017, the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) and state leaders pledged support for Hotel Weyanoke’s renovation and restoration project.

The $12.2 million project is receiving support through the VTC’s Tourism Development Financing Program, a gap financing program for larger-scale tourism development projects geared toward fostering partnerships with developers, localities, financial institutions, the Virginia Resources Authority and VTC, according to state officials.

Developers are rehabilitating and converting the existing 27,000-square-foot building and constructing a 30,000-square-foot addition on the same property.