First it was Hotel Acadiana, then Best Western Hotel Acadiana, then Crowne Plaza. Now it's Hotel Acadiana again, and no one is saying what's up.
The West Pinhook Road Crowne Plaza is no more. It's Hotel Acadiana. Yet again.
The original Hotel Acadiana opened its doors in 1984 with six stories and almost 300 rooms. The West Pinhook Road property continues to be one of only three full-service hotels in Lafayette. The other two are the Hilton, which is separated from Hotel Acadiana by the Vermilion River, and the Holiday Inn Lafayette on NE Evangeline Thruway.
It later became Best Western Hotel Acadiana, but by the time it announced in 2008 that it would become a Crowne Plaza hotel, a more upscale brand of the Holiday Inn chain, the Best Western flag had disappeared.
As outlined in this 2009 cover story, "Uneasy Lies the Crowne," the construction project was plagued with problems. The property, however, appeared to overcome the issues covered in that story, and the hotel was licensed by InterContinental Hotels Group, the parent company of Crowne Plaza, to operate as a Crowne Plaza.
It remains unclear whether Crowne Plaza pulled the flag or the hotel dropped it in favor of another franchise.
Dale Pipher, Hotel Acadiana's general manager, did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.
Sherry Telford, corporate communications manager for InterContinental Hotels Group, would not comment beyond confirming that the Lafayette hotel is no longer a part of the IHG system. "This is an independently owned and managed hotel, so please contact the ownership for any further information," Telford wrote in an email response.
The owner of the property at the time of the 2009 story was Zeus Investments LLC of Houston, according to the local tax assessor's office. An employee answering the phone at the hotel Tuesday afternoon confirms that Zeus still owns the property.