Kootenai River Inn takes design honor

BONNERS FERRY - Kootenai River Inn Casino & Spa has won the Champion Design Award for District II of Best Western International hotels.

"At Best Western, we know that providing an exceptional product and warm, friendly service satisfies our customers and helps us build brand loyalty," Best Western president and CEO David Kong wrote in a letter to Jerald Jaeger of Hagadone Hospitality Co., which manages the hotel for the Kootenai Tribe. "You should be very proud to be among only 11 other Champion Design Award winners this year. Thank you for setting an outstanding example of the beautiful, updated aesthetic and exceptional quality we strive for."

The Kootenai River Inn Casino & Spa, in Bonners Ferry, earlier this year added the 36-room Kootenai Falls Lodge - high-tech, comfortable rooms unusual for hotels built around a revenue-generating casino business. That addition brought the inn and casino to 101 guest rooms to go with four rooms featuring 500 gaming machines.

In a return letter to Kong, Jaeger wrote:

"As you know, The Kootenai River Inn is owned by The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and this award is a wonderful tribute to their vision and determination to keep the facility in tip top shape."