TILTON, N.H. (AP) – The first hotels affiliated with national chains ever build in the Lakes Region will open within a mile of each other in Tilton next month.

The 92-unit Hampton Inn and 64-unit Holiday Inn both are being built near Exit 20 off I-93. Russ Thibeault, a Laconia economist, says his first thought was “What took them so long?”

He says in the last few decades, the region has lost more than 1,000 guest rooms as resorts and cabins have been converted to condominiums.

He believes the area is ripe for the development of more hotels and that national chains have recognized that.

A third national chain, Marriott, received approval last month to open a 75-unit Mariott Town Place Suites in Laconia next summer.