A group of developers plans to build a 99-room Home2 Suites by Hilton hotel in Ridgeway, just down the road from Martinsville Speedway and the Monogram Foods Smith River Sports Complex. The $20 million, 63,000-square-foot extended-stay property is slated to break ground in December, with an opening targeted for spring 2028.
A Gap in Local Lodging
According to Virginia Business, the hotel will rise at 60 Old Sand Road, at the junction of the U.S. 58 bypass and U.S. 220 Business. The developers behind the project are Chetan Uka, Jay Shah and Neil Amin of Shamin Hotels, and the trio expects to invest about $20 million to get it built. Uka and Shah live in Raleigh, North Carolina, while Amin serves as CEO of the Richmond-based hotel company.
The decision to build in Henry County wasn't random. Per the same account, Uka, Shah and Amin decided to visit the area after a civil engineer working on another hotel project recommended it to them, and what they found left an impression. Uka said visiting Henry County was eye-opening given the amount of activity taking place there.
Why Ridgeway, Why Now
The site's proximity to the sports complex appears to have sealed the deal. Uka told Cardinal News that the biggest factor was the nearby Smith River Sports Complex, which opened in 2009 and continues to draw tournament traffic alongside NASCAR events at Martinsville Speedway. Shamin Hotels purchased two acres of land for $800,000 to make the project happen, the outlet reports.
Uka also pointed to the practical appeal of the extended-stay format itself. He said the Home2 Suites concept suits both business and leisure travelers, and that suite rooms offer more space along with the opportunity to prepare food — a detail that matters for families attending multi-day sports tournaments or workers on longer industrial assignments.
Demand Studies Point to a Shortfall
The push for new lodging in the area isn't new. Dale Wagoner said the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. conducted a regional lodging-demand market study roughly four years before the Virginia Business report that demonstrated a need for a new hotel, and he said Henry County has a clear need for additional lodging options that meet the expectations of today's travelers. A follow-up HVS study released in February 2026 showed an even greater need for lodging, according to Wagoner.
That HVS analysis found that about 62% of local lodging demand has been leaking to surrounding markets, a figure cited in a county news release. Per the WSET report, officials attribute that unmet demand to limited lodging supply and inconsistent quality among existing properties. Business travelers tied to the region's industrial and employment centers — including Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre and Patriot Centre Industrial Park — account for much of overall lodging demand.
Industrial Growth Fuels Weekday Travel
HVS said local industrial projects are contributing to a growing base of weekday-oriented commercial travel demand, according to Virginia Business's reporting. Press Glass, which manufactures glass for the commercial construction industry, announced a $155.2 million expansion at its Commonwealth Crossing facility in Ridgeway in 2023. Crown Holdings operates a metal can production facility at the same industrial park, and Nathan Trotter announced plans in 2025 to invest $65 million in a tin-processing operation at Patriot Centre Industrial Park north of Martinsville.
Without enough rooms nearby, visitors have been finding lodging in Rocky Mount, Danville or North Carolina instead, the HVS study found, as reported by Cardinal News. Henry County officials hope the new hotel will help keep some of that traffic — and spending — closer to home.
Interestingly, HVS Recommended Something Different
Notably, the HVS consultants' recommendation didn't exactly match what's being built. The firm recommended a limited-service, midscale to upper-midscale hotel affiliated with a nationally recognized brand, suggesting a 90-room property near the intersection of U.S. 58 and U.S. 220 Business with a targeted opening of January 1, 2028. The developers instead settled on a 99-room, all-suite extended-stay concept with an opening expected a few months later, in spring 2028.
Martinsville currently has 11 hotels with a combined 620 guest rooms, according to HVS, and the market hasn't seen a new property built since 2000. Existing hotels still serve an important role, but officials say the county continues to lose significant potential lodging demand to surrounding communities. The new Home2 Suites will mark the first new hotel construction in the broader market in more than two decades.
