A new flag soon will fly at the the Ramada Plaza Hotel & Oasis Convention Center.
Effective March 1, the property will be renamed the Oasis Hotel and Convention Center, a member of the Ascend Hotel Collection through Choice Hotels. The move will make Oasis one of three Ascend hotels in Missouri. Missy Handyside, general manager of the hotel and convention center, referred questions regarding the terms of the deal to Ascend officials. They could not be reached for comment by deadline.
An independent hotel previously, the Oasis became a Ramada in 2009 via Wyndham Worldwide and was advanced to a Ramada Plaza Hotel
in 2013, receiving several awards with Ramada along the way.
“They’ve been good for us and we have been very good for them. I think that was attractive for those with Choice Hotels,” said Handyside.
She noted the change would push the hotel into the upscale market.
“After Ascend approached us, we did a lot of research. We spoke with Ascend owners across the country and found that the Ascend collection was everything they told us it was,” she said.
Handyside said while some hotel chains insist on remodeling to create consistency and familiarity, the move to Ascend allows for Oasis to maintain its unique attributes. Other brands in the Choice Hotels portfolio include Comfort Inn, Clarion Inn and Econo Lodge.
She said owner Robert Low is always interested in improving the property, a former Howard Johnson he initially bought in 1999 to house employees of his trucking company, Prime Inc., during driver training sessions. He divided it into two hotels: the Oasis, which opened in 2000, and his Campus Inn next door that serves Prime employees. In the
mid-2000s, the Oasis property underwent a $10 million expansion and renovation, followed by a roughly $5.6 million
convention center expansion in 2011, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.
At the Oasis hotel, 120 guest rooms currently are being remodeled, and Handyside said the fitness center is next.
The hotel currently is working on a new sign and logo, which will incorporate a sun and moon concept the hotel previously used before switching to Ramada.
The Oasis will operate as a Ramada until Feb. 28.
