Whitefish’s newest hotel, the Hampton Inn and Suites, celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony last week.

The 76-room hotel opened to guests in April on U.S. Highway 93 South. The 20,030-square-foot three-story hotel on the 5.6-acre property has a rustic design with a large open lobby with views to the mountains.

Construction of the $8 million project began in May 2015.

Larry Lambert, president of Lambert Hotels, cut the red ribbon, officially opening the hotel. He thanked a long list of people and groups for their involvement in the process of bringing the project to fruition including the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce, the Whitefish Visitor and Convention Bureau and the city of Whitefish.

He pointed to the hotel’s facade of rock and wood beams, along with the large porte cochère covering the front entrance to the hotel noting that it’s made of Montana wood.

“We wanted to put on a party to show this off to everyone,” Lambert said.

General contractor for the project was Swank Enterprises and local sub-contractors were used, as well.

“They said ‘We want to use local help’ and that worked out great,” he said of Swank.

Amenities at the hotel include a virtual golf room with a golf simulator for guests, an outside breakfast area to the north with a view of the mountains, a pool, workout room and conference room.

The Whitefish hotel is designed based on Hampton’s “forever young initiative” that was launched at its hotels in 2014 and looks to add a modern design element to its existing and new properties in the guest rooms, lobby, breakfast areas, and exterior of the buildings.

Rooms include movable desks and ottomans, a new mini-fridge and several power outlets for charging devices. Colors of the rooms include shades of gray while the dominant color in the bathroom is white to radiate cleanliness.

“This is for our next generation of guests,” Lambert said. “In the rooms there is power outlets everywhere — by the desk and bed.”

About 60 percent of the property is devoted to open space and sidewalks connect the hotel to the highway sidewalk system.

The hotel expects to employ roughly 20 people with an annual payroll of $400,000.

Lambert Hotels out of Missoula operates six hotels in the state. Hampton Inn is part of the Hilton Hotels Corporation, which owns, manages or franchises around 4,000 properties nationwide.