This post is the first installment of my business profile series, which will focus on unique things local businesses do to promote cycling.

The Windmill Suites at St. Phillips Plaza near River and Campbell takes full advantage of its location along the Rillito River Path. The hotel offers its guests complimentary bikes for checkout.

While the bikes are certainly not the highest quality and some need a little maintenance, they offer eight bikes both for adults and children.

Janelle Holyoak, a sales coordinator for the hotel, said they have been providing their bikes since the hotel opened.

“We opened in January of 1992 and I’ve been here since then and we’ve always had bicycles,” Holyoak said.

Guests of the hotel must fill out an insurance waiver before they can check out a bike. The hotel also offers helmets if the guests request them.

Holyoak said the amount of use the bicycles get depends on who is staying at the hotel, but there is usually more demand on the weekends.

“It is kind of hit or miss,” Holyoak said. “There are days where they are going non-stop and then you’ll go for weeks where nobody uses them.”

In addition to their checkout bikes, Holyoak said their rooms are big enough for cyclists to take their bikes into the rooms.

“We do have the bike path right behind us and we do try to cater to bikers,” Holyoak said.