Blair County is reevaluating hotel needs and how best they can serve the community.

Just a few years ago, the Altoona’s Quality Inn closed and it looked like the Ramada Inn would be turned into a military facility. Since then, both have been reborn and reopened, with the Ramada becoming the Altoona Grand, and the Quality Inn site turning into two hotel Marriot sites, the Fairfield Inn and Suites, and the Townplace Suites.

Other hotels were also opening, including the Microtel, on Pleasant Valley Boulevard and the Wingate, along Chestnut Avenue. The Pinecroft area also became the location for two new lodging properties, the Comfort Inn Suites and the Days Inn.

The Director of the Chamber of Commerce worries it may be too much of a good thing.

“Hotels opened up in different areas and so now we have a lot of great lodging properties, but some of them, we know, are experiencing some downturns and at different times of the year are almost empty,” said Joe Hurd, Director of Altoona-Blair County Chamber of Commerce.

Hurd says the Chamber and Explore Altoona will meet with hotel managers in the next month or so to try to determine what challenges they’re seeing and how they can work together to find solutions.

He says Blair County doesn’t want any of the properties to close if they can avoid it.