At least eight major hotel projects are moving forward in Lancaster County, bucking the recent slowdown in construction and the economy as a whole.

The struggling economy has dragged down many businesses in Lancaster County, but it hasn't stopped the hospitality industry from ramping up the number of hotel rooms here.

There are no fewer than eight hotel projects in the planning, design, construction or postconstruction phases.

At
the top of the list is the 300-room Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square,
next to the Lancaster County Convention Center, which will host its
first convention April 28 when Reinhart Food Service's show is expected
to bring in about 100 exhibitors and more than 1,200 attendees.

The $170 million hotel/convention center might be the most recognizable project in the works, but it's far from the only one.

• A 125-room, six-story Four Points by Sheraton hotel
is scheduled to replace Passport Inn, formerly Congress Inn, which will
be demolished. The site is at 2310 Lincoln Highway East.

The new hotel is the latest project in East Lampeter Township's ever-growing shopping
and entertainment district, which includes Rockvale and Tanger outlets,
Dutch Wonderland, American Music Theatre and dozens of restaurants.

• Hampton Inn and Suites is seeking approval to build a three-story, 83-room hotel in Strasburg Borough.

Borough Council this month approved a preliminary land-development plan
for the $4 million project, but there are more than 40 conditions
attached to the approval.

The company wants to build the hotel along the Strasburg Bypass, next to Historic Strasburg Inn.

• An $8 million plan is in the works to construct a 184-room DoubleTree Hotel
at the 43-year-old Willow Valley Resort & Conference Center and
convert the south side of the complex into the 160-room Willow Valley
Family Inn & Restaurant.

The project, scheduled to be
completed by June 2010, still faces hurdles. Most notably, it hinges on
the willingness of Willow Valley's neighbors to bless the sale of
alcohol, which has been banned in West Lampeter Township since 1935.

• Merle
and Phyllis Good, owners of Good Enterprises Ltd., which includes a
publishing company, last year proposed an ambitious project they call
Village Green for 26.6 acres adjacent to their publishing business,
Good Books, in the 3500 block of Old Philadelphia Pike.

The project would include two hotels, a large family restaurant, a market building, a food court, a welcome center and shops and galleries.

• Red
Carpet Inn recently received conditional approval to expand its
facility along Route 72 near the Lancaster-Lebanon Pennsylvania
Turnpike interchange in Rapho Township.

Owner Pravin Patel plans
to build a new 50-unit, three-story motel on the 10.5-acre tract behind
the existing facility, plus a separate home for him and his family. The
new hotel would have an indoor pool and parking around the building. After the new hotel is completed, the existing hotel would be demolished and the site redeveloped, possibly with a restaurant.

Meanwhile, the owners of two other area hotels
have spent millions of dollars on extensive upgrades and improvements
well ahead of the opening of the nearby Lancaster Convention Center.

• Eden Resort Inn and Suites, 222 Eden Road,
Manheim Township, last year completed a $5 million project in which it
renovated rooms on its south side to create 20 new two-room luxury
suites.

In 2007, Eden completed an $18 million expansion that added 72 suites.

• The same year, the Hotel
Brunswick, 151 N. Queen St., completed a $6 million renovation — quite
an investment considering that Hamid Zahedi, the principal owner of the
hotel, paid $3 million for it in 2005.

By PATRICK BURNS