Friday we told you about the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce being awarded the Outstanding Promotion Material award from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, but they weren’t the only Dallas County entity to be honored last week in Council Bluffs.

Perry’s Hotel Pattee was selected by the Iowa Tourism Office and the Travel Federation of Iowa as the Outstanding Lodging award winner.

Owner Jay Hartz tells Raccoon Valley Radio, his first thought when hearing news of the award was how proud he is about the Hotel’s employees who give 110 percent every day, “Without them, this would not be possible.”

Hartz says the state only gave one award to a hotel this year and “It is amazing to think that of the thousands of hotels in the state of Iowa, the Pattee from Perry won”.  He says Perry is a great place to live, work and visit and he hopes this award will further put them on the map of recognition.

The Hotel Pattee received several nominations for the award and Hartz says one of the judges cited the Hotel’s high TripAdvisor reviews as part of the reason why they are on the map for customer excellence.

Hartz says this honor makes him and his wife Denise want to work even harder “we want to continue and exceed exceptions of our customers.”  Adding that “The Hartz family is here for the long term and building a loyal customer base is key.”

Iowa Tourism Office manager Shwana Lode says their annual conference gives them the opportunity to recognize the best of the best in the industry.  She says the nominations are reviewed and scored by industry members and people who know and appreciate tourism in Iowa.

According to the federation, tourism in Iowa generates more than $7.75 billion in expenditures, employs 65,400 people statewide and generates almost $354 million in state taxes.

The inaugural BACooN Ride along the Raccoon River Valley Trail was also honored at the conference as the Outstanding New Event of the year.