Sho-Ban Hotel Construction In Full Swing

The Shoshone-Bannock Hotel and Events Center is slated to open this summer, and now, construction at the hotel is in full swing.

The 156-room hotel is jam-packed with amenities and surprises designed to immerse guests in the Shoshone-Bannock culture without them even knowing it.

The front doors of the hotel open to the frames of a two-story high drive through area that has been designed for big tour buses, and more.

“Family minivans and smaller SUVs as people take their summer vacations,” said Jim Metzger, the director of hospitality for Ovations, the company behind the building.

Metzger showed off the area that will become the sports grill, and said the idea is to bring people together.

“(It reinforces) some of the tribal philosophy of, ‘Keep that family together. Keep the family close,'” Metzger said.

The idea of infusing elements of the tribes in the hotel is all over the place. The gift shop will be run by the museum and will sell tribal beadwork. The wallpaper outside of the events center changes color in the sun and has the look of salmon scales. The names of the suites will all be animals written in the Sho-Ban language.

“I’m really excited to see that come to fruition, because for my children, definitely bringing them to the hotel so they can learn, it’s almost a living museum in a sense,” said Sho-Ban public affairs representative Randy’L Teton.

The hotel is being completed in stages on each floor, and on the third floor, crews are completing the suites. In one, the master room can connect to other adjacent rooms and sleep up to 15 people, perfect for family reunions, Metzger said. And the room is packed with technology: The mirrors in the bathroom will have TVs in them that guests can watch from the bathtubs.

Teton also said that the tribal council is considering selling alcohol at the sports grill, but the council is collaborating with other community members and has not made a decision yet.

The hotel also has 15,000 square feet of event space, two restaurants and a full-service spa.