For Sale -- One brand, new aviation themed hotel

On the plus side: it's good to find a lovely place for people to gather, or ways to while away hours. Have had wonderful conversations at the Hangar Hotel in Fredericksburg, TX, on the balcony overlooking the runway-- the ad-hoc landing critique committee, if you will. At a hotel in Asheville, where there were game tables where guests gathered in front of a roaring fire to play chess, cards, or board games. At a family-run hotel in the Outer Banks, where there is a fine little library of used books for those wicked-cold nor'easter days when nobody's venturing outside.
Although as a fairly early-riser, I don't often find myself disturbed by housekeepers, I should think that those with crazy schedules would be just as happy to find a stack of fresh towels, coffee packets, etc, left outside a dnd-hang-tagged door.
 
Everskyward said:
+1. Sometimes I don't think they pay any attention to the "do not disturb" sign.
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We pay ABSOLUTE attention to the "Do Not Disturb" sign, but that practice routinely gets us bitched at by folks who forgot they left the sign out.

They'll call the front desk at 4 in the afternoon asking "Why didn't we receive any housekeeping?", and we will check the housekeeper's sheet that shows "DND" -- "Do Not Disturb". Of course, our housekeepers went home hours ago, so the best the guest is going to get at that point is "towels and trash" service.

We've started sliding a form under the guest's door, stating that "We saw your 'Do Not Disturb' sign out, and did not knock" -- but that still doesn't solve the problem 100%.

Bottom line: You can't please everyone, but my preference is to please smart people, so we shall keep on honoring the "Do Not Disturb" sign.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Agreed on that one. The worst are the hotels that charge you $xx per DAY, but "day" not being a 24 hour period from when you turn it on, but a calendar day; so if I want internet when I get in from dinner, my "$xx per DAY" only lasts til Midnight, and then I'm dinged again for a full DAY for being on from midnight to 2am catching up on POA posts.

WiFi's cheap--make it free. And if a hotel MUST charge for internet, make it be a 24-hour period from when I first log on, or one fee ($9.95, no more) for the entire stay.
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Agree 100%. We were the very first hotel in Iowa City to even OFFER wireless (back in '02), and it has ALWAYS been free.

We stayed at a top-dollar hotel in Washington, D.C. that actually had a credit card swiper BUILT IN to the computer terminal. Want to check your email? Swipe your credit card. I wrote a bitter, bitter letter to the management about THAT one...
 
My no likes:

Loud heating/AC - got to be the worst.
Not paying attention to the "Do no disturb sign"

Likes:

Quiet
WiFi
Good food close by
 
I don't get leaving the do not disturb sign out and bitching about not getting the room serviced.

We do not change our sheets and towels everyday at home. I'd much rather sleep through the housekeeping rounds and miss a day.

Joe
 
ausrere said:
My pet peeve with hotels is the beds. Why do all hotels assume that everyone likes beds as hard as a rock? I go out of my way when I'm traveling to stay at Radisson Hotels because they have Sleep Number beds that I can adjust the way I like them (soft enough to disappear in!). I just spent a week in Huntsville, TX where there wasn't one. It'll take me another week to get the stiffness out of my back and neck because of that bed!
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Sleep Number beds are hugely expensive, not durable, and generate an incredible number of complaints, thanks to the danged air compressor going off in the middle of the night. (They eventually leak, and the compressor goes off automatically to keep the bed at the desired pressure.)

MY biggest pet peeve about motel beds is their size. Anything smaller than a queen bed should be illegal, and therefore our smallest bed is a queen.

For reasons that still escape me, guests complain more about SOFT beds than hard ones. So, we buy the standard motel (brick) beds, but have come up with a half-way decent solution for those of us who like a softer bed: Egg-shell foam mattress toppers.

We can take them off and on in seconds, and they change a brick into a soft(er) bed. And they're cheap enough to throw them away often, so the beds last longer, too.

Personally, I love Soma soft-sided water beds (with pillow toppers), and that's what we have in our honeymoon suites. They occasionally generate complaints from the usual rock-hard-bed fans, but you can't please everyone.
 
Areeda said:
My no likes:

Loud heating/AC - got to be the worst.
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I'm always astounded at the differences between guests. Case in point:

A few weeks ago, we were sold out except for a suite that used to be our massage therapists office. It's small, but has a nice jacuzzi hot tub. We usually only use it for staff who need to spend the night.

But, the weather was bad, and a single guy came in needing a place to spend the night. It was all we had, so we cut him a good deal, and rented it to him.

When he checked out in the morning, he mentioned that the heating unit was "pretty loud" and that we would "probably want to check it out". I gave him a $25-off coupon for his next stay, and he was happy.

I went in the suite to check it out, and it sounded like a friggin' chain saw! There was NO WAY he could have slept in there, but he never called the front desk to complain, and wasn't even upset! (As it turned out, it was a simple fix -- just a piece of metal in the fan housing that was vibrating like a tuning fork whenever the fan ran. A slight bend with a needle-nosed pliers, and it was silent again.) I nevertheless felt terrible for the guy.

Conversely, I've had people demand a full refund when the bakery shorted us a chocolate cake donut, and they didn't get what they wanted in their breakfast basket. (We substituted a cream cheese danish -- oh, the horror!) :yikes:

Go figure.
 
rottydaddy said:
That is wise... I've stayed in a wide spectrum of places in the US, and for me it's the little things... like a hook on the wall near the door for your winter coat, soap that actually produces lather, good water pressure in the shower.... and most importantly, mgmt. that heeds my informing them that if I am working nights while I am there, housekeeping is NOT to bang on the door 5 times before noon.
:mad2:
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Mary and I made an effort to spend the night in each suite. That was a real learning experience, because you can spend a dozen hours decorating a theme suite and STILL not notice stuff that any real guest notices in an hour.

Example: I wear glasses. We stayed in the Red Baron Suite, and when we climbed in bed I took my glasses off, reached over, and...there was no end table on my side. Whoops -- we decorated for looks, not functionality.

So, we put in another end table. It doesn't look as nice, but it WORKS.

Same with stuff like hooks in the bathroom for your robe, a clock radio next to the bed, and a shower head that doesn't spray water over the edge of the tub.

When we travel, it's always easy to spot the rooms that no member of hotel management has ever set foot in.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
I'd love to hear some of the things you put in those two lists! :yesnod:
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How much time do you have? :)

The main pet peeves we have addressed include:

- Twin beds? Hell, no! Nothing smaller than a queen bed.
- No coffee maker smaller than 10-cup. (One or two cup coffee makers are an affront against humanity!)
- Crappy coffee in the rooms. I spent YEARS finding the great 10-cup coffee pillow packs we use, but they make great coffee.
- Breakfast served in a common area with a bunch of guys who haven't taken a shower yet.
- Breakfast served till 9 AM. Get there at 8:59, and all that's left is the stuff that everyone else has picked over. Get there at 9:01, and you go hungry. (We DELIVER breakfast to each guest's room, each morning.)
- Frozen, reconstituted "bakery" items.
- Charging for wireless. No way!
- Charging for local phone calls. No way!
- Charging for parking. No FRIGGIN' way!
- Weak water pressure -- shower head flow restrictors should be illegal!
- Charging for movies. B.S! Ours are free.
- "Conditioning" shampoo? WTF? It's either a conditioner, or shampoo -- not both. We provide both.

The list goes on... :yesnod:
 
I expect to see an article in Pilot Getaways about this place when you finish redecorating. And I've got to find time to fly my wife down some time. Sounds great.
 
Jay Honeck said:
We pay ABSOLUTE attention to the "Do Not Disturb" sign, but that practice routinely gets us bitched at by folks who forgot they left the sign out.

They'll call the front desk at 4 in the afternoon asking "Why didn't we receive any housekeeping?", and we will check the housekeeper's sheet that shows "DND" -- "Do Not Disturb". Of course, our housekeepers went home hours ago, so the best the guest is going to get at that point is "towels and trash" service.
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I don't care about getting housekeeping every day, in fact sometimes I'll go 3 or 4 days. Do I change my towels at home every day, no, plus hotels usually have 3 or 4 sets of towels. If I need more shampoo or conditioner I usually snag some from one of the carts in the hall. I figure the hotels, at least the housekeepers, like it better that way anyway.

I'm with the others who are annoyed with all the additional charges at some hotels; parking, wi-fi, water, etc. This seems to happen more at expensive hotels where the room is already $150-$200/night.

I also don't like noisy heaters and air conditioners, especially ones which are positioned to blow on the desk or the bed. As far as beds go, I can sleep on anything but I've heard more complaints from other people about beds being too hard than too soft. I know someone who told me that he tried to pick the bed that is not aligned with the TV because that is the spot which most people pick and is most likely to have an indentation in the mattress.

Somebody suggested more guest interaction at meals which might be a nice idea at a hotel where most people go for vacation. I can't see business travelers being too interested in that though.
 
Congrats on the new purchase! Will your simulator be traveling down there with you, or will it remain in IA? We do an annual flyout in November with our club/FBO. Last year was the Bahamas. Maybe Amelia's Landing this year?
 
I'm generally easy;

1. Clean. No so much to ask, but getting rarer than one should expect.
2. Phone, 'Net, parking - first two should be comped, parking might depend upon locale.
3. Resort Fees - I throw down BS on this, BIG TIME! If your hotel is a resort, don't quote me a rate for the room, then add on a fee for the privilege of being at a resort - the room is already costly because, like, it's a resort, dude.
4. Decent towels.
5. Decent lights- once checked into a hotel (big flag, Hilton I think - high rise) in El Paso - the lights were so dim you could not possibly read, plus they flickered. When we got on the elevator to go down to discuss with the front desk staff, two hookers got on the 'vator with us. CJane was not impressed, they had no other rooms, so we took our stuff and moved on down the road.
 
gprellwitz said:
Congrats on the new purchase! Will your simulator be traveling down there with you, or will it remain in IA? We do an annual flyout in November with our club/FBO. Last year was the Bahamas. Maybe Amelia's Landing this year?
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Until we add a second story over the lobby -- which is in the plans -- we won't have a meeting room. No meeting room means no place for the flight simulator... :frown2:

It's gonna take a few years to get the place set up like the Alexis...

(And don't forget -- it won't be "Amelia's Landing" for 18 months or so. But you're more than welcome to come the the Harbor Inn!)
 
1. Clean. No so much to ask, but getting rarer than one should expect.
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2009 was THE worst year in lodging history. Many hotels are hanging on by their fingernails (heck, entire chains are on the brink of bankruptcy), so they have cut back on EVERYTHING -- including house-keeping.

3. Resort Fees - I throw down BS on this, BIG TIME! If your hotel is a resort, don't quote me a rate for the room, then add on a fee for the privilege of being at a resort - the room is already costly because, like, it's a resort, dude.
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Agreed -- resort fees are a TOTAL joke.

4. Decent towels.
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See my comments, above. Towels and linens are a very large target for cost-cutting. We go through an astounding number of towels, but have resisted the urge to go to go to a lesser grade.

It would be a lot easier for hotels to provide top-quality towels if so many of them didn't get ruined pointlessly. #1 is women using them to remove mascara -- even though we provide a dark green wash cloth LABELED for makeup removal.

The plus side? I've got the nicest "shop towels" on the airport, and a never-ending supply! :D

5. Decent lights- once checked into a hotel (big flag, Hilton I think - high rise) in El Paso - the lights were so dim you could not possibly read, plus they flickered.
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Most hotels (including ours) have converted to all CFL bulbs. These (and other measures) have saved us almost a thousand dollars per MONTH in energy costs -- but CFL bulbs come on dim and take a while to brighten up. I hate them, but you can't argue with their effectiveness -- and after a minute or two they are as bright as incandescent bulbs.
 
I have to add (as relates to CFL bulbs)- they are great, and I have no objection at all to them.

The event I referenced in El Paso was fluorescent lamps, but it was 1986, and CFLs as we know them (ie, decent and warm light) did not yet exist - they replaced regular bulbs with those gosh-awful ring fluorescents.
 
Another big request I'd make of hotels, in addition to the obvious- like cleanliness, is that there be a comfortable chair next to a good light, for reading. This is probably another expense that adds up in a hurry, but SO much appreciated.

I'll look forward to seeing your website once you get the aviation theme stuff done. We'll have to think of some (tax-deductible?) excuse to come your way.
 
As a heavy traveler, my only major and consistent gripe is that MANY hotels don't have a fan control. I don't want to hear doors slamming, people taking in the hall, cars pulling up and unloading outside, etc. Turning the fan on is the closest thing I've found to white noise when traveling, but at least half the rooms I stay in don't have the option. I don't care if it's hot or cold, I want the fan recirculating ALL THE TIME. I've got a friend that actually carries a fan with him when he travels. I'm definitely not there yet, but I've had nights where I thought he was a genius.
 
Revenge of the Mazeltov Jay. The only thing I don't like about your pronouncement is that I hadn't managed to get out to your hotel yet (never thought the middle of Iowa would make a good vacation spot). It sounds like you've used common sense and hands-on business practices to do what giant chains cannot. I can only wish you the best of luck in ridding yourself of the old hotel and making the new one into what you want.
 
jsbougher said:
As a heavy traveler, my only major and consistent gripe is that MANY hotels don't have a fan control. I don't want to hear doors slamming, people taking in the hall, cars pulling up and unloading outside, etc. Turning the fan on is the closest thing I've found to white noise when traveling, but at least half the rooms I stay in don't have the option. I don't care if it's hot or cold, I want the fan recirculating ALL THE TIME. I've got a friend that actually carries a fan with him when he travels. I'm definitely not there yet, but I've had nights where I thought he was a genius.
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Or, make sure the clock radio has an easy to use white noise / surf / crickets / bubbling brook options. My bedroom radio has this, it's cheaper for the hotel than running the fan on high all night.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Or, make sure the clock radio has an easy to use white noise / surf / crickets / bubbling brook options. My bedroom radio has this, it's cheaper for the hotel than running the fan on high all night.
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I bring a white-noise generator with me when I travel.
 
SCCutler said:
I have to add (as relates to CFL bulbs)- they are great, and I have no objection at all to them.

The event I referenced in El Paso was fluorescent lamps, but it was 1986, and CFLs as we know them (ie, decent and warm light) did not yet exist - they replaced regular bulbs with those gosh-awful ring fluorescents.
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Oh, yeah. Those *were* terrible. :frown2:

The new CFLs look just like "real" light bulbs, but they're still slow to brighten up. I'm hopeful that they improve in years to come, or that LED lights mature into a useable replacement.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
My bedroom radio has this, it's cheaper for the hotel than running the fan on high all night.
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To me the fan noise is more annoying than the other noise. If it's really too noisy I'll wear earplugs.
 
jsbougher said:
As a heavy traveler, my only major and consistent gripe is that MANY hotels don't have a fan control. I don't want to hear doors slamming, people taking in the hall, cars pulling up and unloading outside, etc. Turning the fan on is the closest thing I've found to white noise when traveling, but at least half the rooms I stay in don't have the option. I don't care if it's hot or cold, I want the fan recirculating ALL THE TIME. I've got a friend that actually carries a fan with him when he travels. I'm definitely not there yet, but I've had nights where I thought he was a genius.
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Mary and I ALWAYS travel with foam ear plugs -- and we have a FREE supply of them in our lobby. Some people express surprise by this, but like I said: We're all about resolving our pet peeves.

No matter what you do, EVERY hotel room sounds weird and different, which can make falling asleep difficult. Air handling units cycle on and off, the elevator down the hall dings open, and people walking around upstairs cause the floor to creak. Clocks tick, car horns beep, airplane take off -- you name it, nothing sounds like "home", and there is absolutely nothing a hotelier can do about it.

Ear plugs solve all these problems, and we never travel anywhere without them.
 
Bob Noel said:
I bring a white-noise generator with me when I travel.
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My iphone has a great white noise app. I used to use the one built in to my alarm clock, but the WhiteNoise app has many more choices of sounds to use. I'm one of those people that can't sleep without some type of white noise. Too many years of working nights and trying to sleep during the day.
 
I've always traveled with cassette/CD/mp3/iPod and very lightweight headset. I don't like ear pods at night - bothers my ears for some odd reason - but the headset is just fine. Solves so many problems with external noise and such. Plus, I get to choose the sounds.
 
You need to be open for the spring break rush! I'm going to be down there with some friends and we are looking for a place to stay.

Will definitely be down when you open up.
 
bigred177 said:
You need to be open for the spring break rush! I'm going to be down there with some friends and we are looking for a place to stay.

Will definitely be down when you open up.
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Sadly, we couldn't put this deal together in time for spring break. Hell, it's taken many months to get financing lined up -- and we started shopping for Harbor Inn (or a similar property) 11 months ago.

I didn't fully appreciate the worldwide financial crisis until trying to buy this motel. Even with great credit, triple the amount of required cash down, a purchase that was not dependent on the sale of any other property, and an 8-year record of success in the hotel world, getting financing was an incredible ordeal.

Three years ago, this would have been a "Sign here, please" deal. Not anymore. The credit pendulum has REALLY swung the other way.
 
There's one other thing I forgot to mention. I like it when there is a small refrigerator in the room where you can store leftovers or drinks.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Three years ago, this would have been a "Sign here, please" deal. Not anymore. The credit pendulum has REALLY swung the other way.
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The bank may not have a lot of love, but your insurance broker will!


Trapper John
 
AggieMike88 said:
While we are drifting to things we like/don't like about hotel stays, I'll add

Wants/likes...
Comfy bed (I like the idea of the sleep number, allows you to satisfy the widest range of guests)
Plenty of plugs close to bed and not hidden by furniture (I use a CPAP machine as well as like to have power for charging cell phone and laptop)
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I like my sleep number bed, but they ain't cheep - and I have the lowest price model...

Outlets. Yes! but it's a lot harder if you are starting with existing construction and not new.

DISLIKES...
out dated decor and bed linen
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I think one of the complaints that Jay has recieved is that the decor in one of the suites with a '60s theme was out of date???:rofl:
 
Trapper John said:
The bank may not have a lot of love, but your insurance broker will!


Trapper John
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Yep, insurance is very expensive -- but that's what you pay when you live on an island that can be wiped clean by the hand of God at any time.

Not that Iowa has been any bargain in that regard. We've had tornado damage, flood damage, ice storm damage (two fires caused by ice pulling branches onto high voltage wires), blizzards -- you name it. :yikes:
 
I think one of the complaints that Jay has recieved is that the decor in one of the suites with a '60s theme was out of date??
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Yep, that was one of the comments received on a survey (we survey EVERY guest about their experience) from someone who just didn't "get" what we were trying to do here.

The comment about our "Blackbird Suite" -- a 1960s, high-performance jet theme (with some of the coolest SR-71 stuff on the planet in it) -- was "decor is dated"... Augh! :mad2:

If they only knew how hard we had worked to FIND all that 1960s furniture and funky-looking lamps! :confused:
 
Jay Honeck said:
Yep, that was one of the comments received on a survey (we survey EVERY guest about their experience) from someone who just didn't "get" what we were trying to do here.

The comment about our "Blackbird Suite" -- a 1960s, high-performance jet theme (with some of the coolest SR-71 stuff on the planet in it) -- was "decor is dated"... Augh! :mad2:

If they only knew how hard we had worked to FIND all that 1960s furniture and funky-looking lamps! :confused:
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Years ago as an "Amish Country Tours" guide, I listened to at least one complaint a week about the "manure smell."

Gee, this is a tour of Amish Country -- guess what goes on here?
 
Jay Honeck said:
Yep, insurance is very expensive -- but that's what you pay when you live on an island that can be wiped clean by the hand of God at any time.
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You've probably run this down already, but make sure you have a really good insurance broker. As the Coastal Barrier Resources Act gets amended, the screws are getting turned tighter for getting flood insurance. If you're in an OPA, which you probably are, there are specific building construction dates and damage history dates that you have to meet to be able to get NFIP flood insurance coverage. And, with hurricane losses adding up, private insurers are disallowing claims for the storm surge damage that follows the wind under the idea that the surge is a flood and not part of the hurricane proper.

Not that Iowa has been any bargain in that regard. We've had tornado damage, flood damage, ice storm damage (two fires caused by ice pulling branches onto high voltage wires), blizzards -- you name it. :yikes:
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All that, and hail too!


Trapper John
 
Congrats on the new place, Jay. Seriously.. Will the last PoA'er out of Iowa please turn off the lights!? They keep talking about the 'brain drain' going on in Iowa - it has nothing to do with industry. It's based on the fact that WINTER SUCKS! :yes:

Welcome to life south of the Mason-Dixon line where you can drive with your windows down in February and not get hit in the face with a snowball for being a weirdo.

Can't wait to check out the new place!

As far as pet peeves: Can hotels PLEASE install 'normal' plumbing in the showers!? Why the heck does it make sense to put a shower head 5ft high!? I know I'm taller than average but seriously! Some of the places I stayed at were apparently plumbed by Oompa Loompas!
 
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