The Holiday Inn is moving out of Ames.

The Hotel at Gateway Center, Hwy 30 and Elwood Drive, will not renew its franchise agreement with Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, making it an independent organization.

“We’ve been with Holiday Inn for over 20 years, and moving forward as an independent hotel means new amenities and comforts,” said Dan Withrow, general manager.

“We feel that we will be better able to give our guests a higher level of service by becoming independent.”

Withrow said the hotel will be officially independent on May 14.

The hotel, which opened in 1979 as an independent hotel owned by a group of investors associated with the ISU Foundation, became a Holiday Inn franchise in 1981.

The Hotel at Gateway Center will continue to acquire services as an independent hotel, Withrow said.

“We have lots of amenities we put in the hotel rooms. We do very unique things,” he said. “For example, we have several goldfish, and you can reserve a fish, whom we like to call Bob the Fish, for your room. We also have sleds and kites people can rent, and if people want special pillows, face masks or scented oils we have those too.”

The hotel grounds add to its uniqueness, Withrow said.

“Our grounds are unlike any other hotel,” he said. “We sit on 17 landscaped acres, and we just started our 40 foot waterfall outside of the garden room. There are over 400 trees and 400 parking spaces. We take a lot of pride in our grounds that most hotels don’t have.”

The Hotel at Gateway Center associates own the hotel, and it is a for-profit subsidiary of the ISU foundation, said Kris Fettkether, hotel representative.

“The ISU foundation owns us through a limited partnership,” Withrow said. “How that works is that we’re a for-profit business, but going into the independent status won’t alter that relationship.”