For the past 38 years, Drury Hotels has been providing travelers with a clean, friendly place to stay at an affordable price. One hundred thirty hotels and 20 states later, the family-owned and operated hotel chain continues to make value and service their top priority.
The Drury brand was born in the small town of Kelso, Missouri with a farmer and his family. Lambert Drury taught his children the value of hard work, resilience and family. When baseball-sized hail destroyed a season's worth of crops, Lambert gathered ice from the fields and made ice cream for his children. The lesson of that day lasted long after the ice cream melted: face challenges head on and work hard to make the best of what you've been given.
In the 1960's, Lambert and his sons started a local plastering and construction company. As their reputation for quality and fairness grew, so did their vision for serving the community.In 1962, the Drury family bought a 108-room Holiday Inn, making their first entry into the hotel industry. Over time, the Drury?s became increasingly aware of the need for a value-focused alternative to overpriced luxury hotels and cheap, dingy motels. Filling this void became, and remains, the Drury?s main objective in growing their family business.
In 1973, the first Drury Inn was built in Sikeston, Missouri. Just off of I-55, the hotel marked the start of a fresh approach to the industry: build and operate hotels internally, cutting costs, and passing the savings on to their guests.
Not satisfied to simply expand, the Drury family began innovating new ways to offer guests additional value. At Drury Hotels, "The Extras Aren't Extra" isn't just a tagline, it's a business model. Guests enjoy free hot breakfast, free hot evening food, free cold beverages, free wireless Internet and free long distance phone calls.
Thirty-eight years and 130 hotels after Lambert Drury opened the first Drury Inn, the Drury family is grateful for the opportunities afforded to the entire Drury family - now 4,000 team members strong. President and CEO, Chuck Drury, remembers the humble upbringings of the company.
"We really didn't start out to build a hotel system across the country," says Drury. "What we really wanted to do was provide the customer with quality service and amenities each and every day, each and every stay." The same spirit that inspired Lambert Drury to turn hail to ice-cream still inspires the Drury brothers today. The Drury family remains driven to provide quality rooms at affordable rates, add new, free amenities and strive for an enjoyable stay for its guests.
Dedicated, hard-working team members are key when it comes to delivering on the promises made by the Drury family to travelers. Ranken Technical College has been a great resource for Drury's Recruitment team when it comes to filling maintenance positions. The students at Ranken have solid HVAC, electrical and technical knowledge and a strong work ethic.
Photo: Lewis R. Smith (2010 HVAC)
Some of the qualities of Ranken graduates that are attractive to Drury include a good educational background, solid training, stable work experience (preferably in the service industry), professional communication skills and a sincere interest in working for Drury Hotels. Drury attends Ranken Job Fairs annually,and also participates in classroom presentations, informational sessions and conducts on-campus interviews. As a result, we hire an average of 8-20 maintenance candidates annually from Ranken. In 2010, nine Ranken graduates filled maintenance positions in the St. Louis area. Ranken is a great source for our employees and Drury Hotels will remain a constant figure on campus.
For more information on Drury Hotels and employment opportunities, please visit www.drurycareers.com.
