Set off of I-95, adjacent to major corporate offices such as Subaru, Caterpillar and Alcoa, just minutes from downtown Lafayette or Purdue University, the DoubleTree Lafayette East is one busy hotel. With 128 state-of-the-art guestrooms, great dining, expansive meeting rooms and more, it’s also only one hour’s drive from Indianapolis Airport. It recently went through a major architectural design conversion, the results of which have added even more to its allure.
“This was a really challenging project,” declared Gisa Ott, Vice President of Sales and Management of Indianapolis-based CCI LLC, who served as overall project manager relative to the major amount of tile installed at the DoubleTree. “Architectural designs created by SRA Architects of Milford, Ohio, were outstanding,” she added. “The interior design treatments by Adrian Caradine Contract Design of Memphis, Tenn., perfectly complemented every room throughout the hotel. We knew this was a very, very special endeavor.
“There were so many different tile products specified; just about all of them came from Miles Distributors, our longtime supplier,” Ott said. “To select the best installation system for each of these tiles was daunting. Because we always want to do what’s right for our clientele, I listened to every sales pitch from every rep from every company. Most presentations were very good and very convincing,” continued Ott, “Although some, unfortunately, sounded as if they were being delivered by used car salesmen! One representative, however, Adam Abell of Bostik, came in, took his time, and professionally explained to me exactly why it made sense to have one source, one full system for the installation of all hard surface products specified for the DoubleTree.
“We were working with wall and floor tile from Landmark Ceramics, Atlas Concorde, Caesar, Ceramic Technics and Daltile. Massive, gauged porcelain panels from StonePeak were specified, as well,” Ott stated. “These are all great products; we needed a great installation system from one company. Adam convinced us to go with Bostik and as it turns out, this might be one of the best business decisions I’ve ever made,” Ott exclaimed.
Porcelain panels adorn lobby
In the hotel’s expansive lobby, designs called for a 20’ floor-to-ceiling, freestanding fireplace to be clad with StonePeak’s porcelain panels. “Because of this height, mortars which needed to be applied both on the Durock® substrate and back-troweled on the panels, seemed to make for a very clumsy process,” commented Ott. “Adam explained very patiently to me exactly what Bosti-Set™ was and the advantages it offered. And in particular, how projects calling for gauged porcelain panels could be installed much faster than we ever expected, even with a smaller crew. Adam demonstrated to our installers how Bosti-Set™ immediately grabbed porcelain tile panels in a single coat, did not allow any sag, yet made it possible for these panels to be ‘reposition-able’ for at least 30 minutes. “This was very helpful, as the gauged porcelain panels were beautiful, but frankly, a bit smaller in overall size than we had calculated. This flexibility feature of Bosti-Set™ actually made it much easier for our installers to position the panels perfectly. Mission accomplished!” she exclaimed.
Ott went on to state that every single room in the hotel called for some kind of “very specialized” tile installation procedure, and that to maintain a safe and professional installation throughout each of these spaces and to “preserve her sanity,” Bostik products were called on throughout. In addition to public areas, tile material was installed in guestroom entryways, shower surrounds and both vertical and horizontal bathroom surfaces.
“In addition to the Bosti-Set™, we used Hydroment® Ceramic Tile Grout™, Bostik Big Tile & Stone™ for the large format floor tile, Bostik Gold-Plus™ for waterproofing and, in particular, Bostik’s TruColor® Urethane Grout, which we absolutely loved.”
Bostik TruColor® RapidCure™ Pre-Mixed, Urethane Grout is a patented, water-based grout offering the ultimate in color accuracy, water resistance, stain and crack protection. This breakthrough formulation installs with better color accuracy than traditional grouts, and never needs to be sealed. Other grouts have loose color pigments, which can become washed out during the installation and clean up process. Additionally, this product never requires application of a sealer, helping to save up front costs and time.
TruColor® RapidCure™ quartz aggregate is color-coated to ensure perfect color consistency for every installation. Additionally, TruColor® RapidCure™ contains Bostik’s Blockade® antimicrobial protection, which inhibits the growth of bacteria, mold, or mildew the hotel guestrooms and public areas simply cannot have.
Bostik’s Abell added, “This was, almost to the day, a one-year tile installation project. Gisa’s team and I stayed in close contact throughout that entire time-span. Her entire organization is very professional, gracious and cutting-edge: the exact type of people that you want to do business with! Clearly, the Lafayette East DoubleTree project proved to be a signature tile installation – the result of great teamwork!”
