History of my Holidome & The Investment Joy of My Dead Motel Renovation
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- čas přidán 24. 08. 2024
- I bought a dead motel at in Lincoln NE, an investment that often feels like a liability. This video talks about the joy this type of hotel used to bring guests via stay-cations and miniature theme parks. This video reviews a few challenges hotel owners face when deciding what to do with their hotel and also why many get knocked down.
I was recently disappointed to discover that the large Holiday Inn in Moline, Illinois was torn down. It had a waterfall pool, an indoor mini golf course, and a life-size polar bear at the front desk. This hotel was a staple of my childhood and it's sad knowing it no longer exists.
Unfortunately politicians usually like to push for new rather than keeping the original. Literally the story here, shiny sells.
I have always loved Holidomes - I think a major reason why they mostly died off is that it doesn't make sense usually to attach them to residential housing. They are most fun for kids and American kids don't live in apartments like kids in central Europe and much of Asia. I am glad guys like you are keeping Holidomes alive - you see money issues kill off so much of our childhood memories and history. I was upset to see the amusement parks get shut down in NE Ohio - Geauga Lake and Sea World, and so many shopping malls.
I miss the holidome style so much. As a kid, that was a site for sore eyes on a road trip!
I convinced my parents to do a staycation at the Rolling Meadows Holiday Inn Holidome for Bugs Bunny’s 50th Birthday celebration. It was such a fun experience. So many fond memories.
First of all, thank you for doing this series and being willing to share some behind the scenes information about all of this.
The concern that I see in how a lot of these turn out is that once they lost the Holiday inn label, they usually landed in the hands of brands that (all due respect) do not command as high a premium as What Holiday inn did. With the fact that as you said, maintaining these domes is very expensive. You have a massive space that is effectively a financial void. On its own, it does not create any revenue (aside from arcade games, pool tables, putt putt golf, and vending machines though I doubt They make up the difference especially these days). As a result, it would be very hard to turn a profit when the original model was to have a brand that commanded a higher price and now you have a deteriorating hotel under a brand That requires higher sales volume to make up the difference. Doing this as you know can result in a different set of problems that I'm sure you already know about.
Then there is the change in what are the anchors to pull people in that we have today versus when these were first developed. The anchors that have developed since the '90s has been offering freebies on breakfast, free Wi-Fi, fresh baked cookies, in the case of Drury inn free evening meal and three free alcoholic drinks. If you look at the model of the hotel chains from these times versus the newest offerings You see that many like Embassy suite and Drury inn and Crowne plaza had atriums but newer offerings offer the freebies while quietly not offering the atriums as frequently anymore. The atriums unfortunately are not as effective as a anchor as having free food is apparently. This is become more important with the inflation everyone is facing.
My theory would be I would visit different existing holidomes (whether holiday in branded, rebranded, or self branded) That maintain a positive reputation (above four out of 5 stars) and study them. I would look at The holidome at six flags St Louis, the Auburn Place in Cape Girardeau Missouri, The one in Frankenmuth, and so forth. I would suggest also looking at the video concerning the Holiday inn in rolling Meadows Illinois which is now gone. What I think caused that one to fail was based in the reviews. It was an incredibly beautiful hotel an amazing interior environment, but As badly as I wanted to stay at that hotel, the reviews prevented me from trying it. (If you want to know the problem, send me a private message and I will tell you what the reviews claimed).
To get this all fixed up is going to be a lot of effort and a ton of money like you already know. I would say that you need to adopt a model of continuous improvement as you can't let problems get out of hand as they can destroy your reputation very easily. My plan would be to try to make this a premium offering in the market. In reality it is a luxury to have such a dome and it should be treated as such. You'll have to get it up to the right standards before you can charge a premium naturally but I think if you focus on gradually moving it up market, choosing either a theme whether it's tiki, French quarters, or something else, use of some kind of affordable amusement ride whether it's like a motorized merry-go-round, or some ride young kid ride like the floating rocket from Chuck e cheese, or say spinning bumper cars, You could explore the different ideas if any of these makes sense. I would think theming would probably be the most useful.
The other thing you could explore is whether it would make sense to convert some of the rooms in the dome section to luxury apartments for young families.
Regardless I wish you luck sir.
We bought an old holidome in Arkansas. We had the major of the same issues. 179 doors on 5 acres.
What did you ultimately do with it? Any suggestions on pool?
It was magical! We would get a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Kids everywhere. The food was good. I miss hotel food. Make sure you put the sign back up with real neon.
It’ll have to be a different name than holiday inn but would be fun :)
Pool, hot tub and sauna. I would love to make a trip there when it’s done!
I'd like to know why the motel lost its name Holiday Inn? I love the name Holiday INN, and worked there back in 1975-76. A Holiday Inn on Cornhusker Hwy, and just up the road going east NOW is the truck stop. I watched it change names through the years and never knew it was going downhill for so long. I always prayed that someday it would come back to the name Holiday INN with added neon lights. Doing a great job on the rebuild. I mentioned before about the past with the noise complaints the motel guests were saying its too noisey inside the dome after 10pm, when i was working there even back then, it was very noisey during daytime hours.. Maybe keep the activities in an enclosed area with doors/walls/glass windows to keep noise at a minimum..something similar to how the exercise room was. When we have football games in town, Lincoln always needs more motels to accomodate football players
Thank you, all I have are the rumors I’ve heard from past employees if you’d like me to share them?
I spent many of my Christmas Eves there as a child!! Even had my daughters birthday party there once before it became really bad. I would love to see it come back to life. It was so sad to see it so run down. I would definitely bring my family to stay there if it was brought back to life. I would actually like to see it back to the original style when I was a kid. Which was around the Terms of Endearment days. Good luck with all you do!
We use to go to the first bar there in the early 80s.. had a blast
Oh my goodness! My grandparents put together family reunions there, starting in 70s. I think our last was in spring of 94 for my Grandpa’s 100th, but I think it was a HoJo then.
I may have family photos from those times if you are interested.
Amazing to google what happened to it and find your video!
Nice. Yea we are in the middle of renovations trying to bring her back in one fashion or another. I’d love photos when we get to that point. Still not 100% sure about what we are doing with the dome. Had a lot of people suggest a Lincoln history museum of sorts
I miss Holidomes. They were the best!
I worked at your motel while in high school back in the late 70s as a porter. would set up the party rooms in the basement, and do odd jobs for the front desk. I saw big partys by the pool and visiting football teams in town to play the huskers. I have good memories of working there.
That’s fun, a friend of mine, Roger Yant, suggested if I can get the funds together to use the dome as a museum we should look into having the boomers of Lincoln act as your guides/ hosts to share their story of Lincoln’s past. Would love for you to consider this if I can make it happens!
Growing up we would spend a few days a year at the one in Kearny when my dad was in meeting and I always loved going there because they had a great arcade
I think the Kearny one may still be a holiday inn. Don’t quote me but someone recently told me they kept their flag.
@@TheUglyMotel nope they are a Ramada they still have the Awesome swimming pool though but holiday in built a new hotel there that is pretty nice
@@andrewroesler2689 nice! That’s my goal. The only Wyndham conversion better would be a Wyndham gardens. Which would be awesome but I’d have to get the city’s backing and be deemed a historical site.
@@TheUglyMotel hope for the best for you
I appreciate it bud. I’ll start posted the main hotel stuff here soon. Either way it goes I’ll post it lol
Any updates on this? We used to have a few in Indiana but they’ve all went under/become very shady.
Unfortunately it was the same In Lincoln Nebraska. I have a plan to bring inside back, I’ll be posting an update video here soon. Interesting ideas different than others
I have so many memories from staying there so many times growing up in the 70s
you should share some of them :)
My biggest question is the front desk…any idea if it’s the layout changed?
@@TheUglyMotel I'm trying to picture that but I can't get a super clear memory...I can ask my brothers what they remember and if I can ever get my hands on childhood pics from one of them.. I promise you there were plenty taken there. My dad and us 3 kids lived in a trailer park that is now a car lot just off 48th & cornhusker when it got too cold in the winter which happened more back then we'd go stay there
That would be awesome. I’d love if you shared any pictures on THEUGLYMOTEL fb page. I really want to understand the original layout and how it looked when built and through the years :) Tia
I remodeled hotels Holiday inns and haldums starting in 1976 I have original ashtrays some ice buckets the pictures they would bring hot coffee to the rooms in coffee cups and even some little pencils with little writing pads anyone interested
Nice, that’s really fun. I may reach out when we start remodeling the main dome. I’d like a shadow box of sorts recognizing the old holidome history
@@TheUglyMotel well if you need help I don't know how original you doing I may have assess to original wall covering not sure if it still in friends storage would love to come look around might even pick up the old paint brush and run cases going to send you a picture
We finished exterior 55 for the most part. Paint rather than wallpaper and changed carpet. I’d be interested in seeing the holiday inn memorabilia though
We list the restaurant and bar area for lease with a realtor.
Do you think I should wait to rent until hotel is doing well again or list right away?
Mini casino !
🤔
Paul, great video as always. As a hospitality student young into my career, I love videos like this one here. As someone who wants to one day own their own hotel, what advice would you give to a student so that they could one day do the same?
Thanks bud I appreciate it! I’d say the most important advice I ignored and now understand is “buy new”. A new build property allows you to to focus on learning the business rather than chasing repairs.
Start small. Holidomes are awesome but definitely not the most profitable. A 30 unit hotel can operate lean and is a great way to cut your teeth.
Finally don’t be afraid to take chances, it’s how you learn. When I bought the hotel at 25 I used the equity in all my properties to do it. I was all in. Which meant i had to ensure I didn’t lose.
Hopefully this helped. I hope to be doing some videos of how to creatively finance hotels here soon. (Working on a secret project) lmk if your interested in a video like that and any specific questions :)
@@TheUglyMotel Thanks for the advice! I'd love to see a video on that. I'm currently learning the financial aspects to the hotel business so that would totally help.
Np, is your hospitality program at UNL?
@@TheUglyMotel I'm out of New Jersey. Community College & Stockton University
@@Blakester910 nice! You should tell your professor to check us out as a real life case study and hopefully give insight!!
RIP Ramada on 72nd Street in Omaha
They fixed the Coco Keys property in Omaha with a bulldozer!
Gosh. I appreciate the comment. But I guess I’m a little behind on this news. That owner put soooo much money into that place. I know for navy reserve family month wed book rooms there, heck even bought my arcade games from there
@@TheUglyMotel yeah a new $60 million dollar development is underway.
@@twsinc7662 any idea what they are putting in its place? The owner before last spent 60 million on the renovation. Not gonna lie my wife points to that hotels budget vs mine as the reason my odds are not in my favor lol
@@TheUglyMotel the previous owner lost it to the bank. He owed over $35 million in taxes, loans, and unpaid contractor bills. The entire piece over 14 acres sold for 5.6 million. There putting in luxury apartments, retail, and possibly homes on the back section.
@@twsinc7662 I heard stories that they weren’t doing well since the guy in Texas sold it. That’s too bad, they were credited with “restoring the hotel district of Omaha”. I’ll have to talk with Wyndham rep to hear the whole story, the owner was a friend of his.
Bring back the restaurant and reopen the small bar
I’m never running a bar again personally but I’m sure once hotel is going again I’ll have no problem finding a tenant who is interested in renting it.
U want to get jealous!!!!!????? From the age of 16 to 28 I lived and remolded holidomes jealous yet oh I worked for TIM Topeka Inn Management out of Topeka Kansas owned or operated 72 and jealous yet they kept me working West Coast they got the certain smell I would love to help you I have some Holiday inn paraphernalia I Will try and email you Nebraska couple hours from me good luck and I will contact you we used a product on walls called zolaton and we put feature strips above beds red's,greens,yellow, with matching carpet good Luck