For the past 13 years, Magnolia Inn & Suites has been the premier destination for lodging in Columbia and remains a pillar of the community’s success.
Magnolia Inn began as a Microtel Inn & Suites in 2007, owned by Tommy Wallace, before it became independent as Magnolia Inn & Suites in 2015. The following year it was purchased by Duff Capital Investors, who continues to own it.
General Manager Sharon Russell said what makes Magnolia successful is that it tries to make the hotel a home away from home for its customers.
“We want you to be comfortable in our home,” she said. “Our staff is very inviting. Our rooms are exceptionally clean. We provide a very good environment at a very affordable price.”
Russell added Magnolia is very extensive in its training of employees to create the best possible atmosphere for its guests.
All of the hotel’s rooms are non-smoking so they remain a clean environment. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Magnolia offered a continental breakfast complete with biscuits and gravy, grits, sausage, eggs and bacon, which will be returning. For the time being, it is providing items that are easier to grab and go like muffins. The hotel also has high-speed WiFi throughout the building.
While there isn’t a gym on the premises any longer, Magnolia has partnered with Body FX 24/7 allowing guests to work out there for free at any time.
“It’s really nice, and our guests love that because they can go at any time they want,” Russell said. “We used to have a fitness center here, but one of the problems that we had was people working out (early in the morning or at night) and disturb people. This way they can work out at any time they want.”
When Russell began at Magnolia in 2009, most of its business travel was with the oilfield. Over time it started getting a lot of business from local construction companies, and now it’s pretty much everything.
“We get railroad workers, construction of every different kind, and we’ve had quite a surge in leisure travel, which we did not have before,” she said. “We have leisure travel throughout the year now.”
When there are baseball or softball tournaments in town, a lot of the teams and families stay at Magnolia, and Russell said she’s looking forward to when the new sportsplex is built and brings in more people.
Russell views Magnolia as a church she is the pastor in, and she enjoys being able to be a part of the guests and her employees’ lives, even if it’s in a small way.
“It’s an opportunity to give back,” she said. “I’ve been managed by good people. When you learn how to develop people, it’s a thing you want to do, and this gives me an opportunity to do that. It lets me share in people’s lives, and I love that.”
The coronavirus pandemic has been difficult for a lot of hotels with the public sheltering in place, but Russell said many of Magnolia’s customer reviews say it’s the cleanest hotel they’ve ever stayed in. In addition to its normal cleaning procedures, Magnolia has gone above and beyond since the pandemic began to ensure its guests they have nothing to be worried about.
“The Duffs have a chemical company and have provided us with a (high-strength) surface spray. On top of our normal cleaning practices, we treat all of our rooms with that surface spray to make sure they’re ready for each guest. We pull linens and everything out from every room every day and give the rooms a thorough cleaning. You could do a white glove test in our rooms so we’re safe,” Russell explained.
Magnolia Inn & Suites can be reached magnoliainncolumbia.com or (601) 424-4400 seven days a week and 24 hours a day.
Russell also offered a message to the community and the hotel’s guests.
“Thank you,” she said. “We get a lot of referrals from people in the community who call and say things like, ‘My brother-in-law is coming into town, and I told him to call you.’ I’ll see people in town, and they’ll say, ‘My family member stayed there and said it was great.’ We appreciate the support we’ve always had from our community. We enjoy being a part of Columbia, and it’s a great place to be.”
