American Hotel anticipates good year

“Working hard makes a bigger difference in a smaller community,” observes Mike Patel, who has owned the American Hotel at 1313 North State Street since this past January. As soon as he had acquired it, he closed it for renovations, replacing the flooring, repainting the walls and acquiring new furnishings in each of its 50-some guest rooms. The hotel began accepting guests in May, and was able to accommodate more and more people as rooms were fully renovated.

 

During the summer, he says, there were times when the hotel was full nearly to capacity. “I think we did well,” he recalls. In addition to the guest spaces, the front lobby which also serves as a breakfast or meeting area received new flooring and furniture.

 

“It’s very different than it was a year ago,” he observes of the whole facility.

 

After managing three Wisconsin hotels associated with the Marriott franchise for six years, Patel says he went looking for a business that he could afford to purchase and upgrade using his personal savings.

 

He says he chose the American Hotel because it is in a small town where he learned officials are approachable and supportive, as opposed to those in larger cities where he has sometimes found them to be inflexible. It was also important to him that his new property not be associated with a franchise. He explains his experiences with Marriott had shown him that the franchise sometimes makes decisions based on public image rather than on sound business practices. He offers the example of being told to replace carpeting only because of its color, even though the current floor covering was still attractive and had years of use left in it.

 

Now that it’s renovated, the hotel has two suites available: one has a large whirlpool bath along with a king-size bed. The other is of larger size and has two queen beds. Also available are 21 standard-sized rooms with two queen beds; 18 rooms with one queen bed; and a few rooms with a single king-sized bed. 

 

Because less travel takes place in the winter, Patel describes having lower rates at this time of year; all year long, though, he says his rates tend to be lower than those at the GrandStay just a few blocks to the north–mostly because the American Hotel has fewer amenities, perhaps most noticeably, no swimming pool or spa. All his rooms have televisions, but most do not have refrigerators. Microwave ovens are in the breakfast room in the lobby and throughout the hallway on the first floor. In-room microwaves are available on request.

Manager Kristi Lester lives in an apartment on site and staffs the front desk. She says thanks to short-term events such as weddings or important athletic competitions, the hotel sees occasional surges in wintertime use, but is seldom very full this time of year.

 

Patel says he makes use of the winter lull to give back to the community by taking in “long” term tenants–people who stay anywhere from a week to a month at reduced rates. The individuals typically cannot be in their homes or apartments due to some sort of emergency: The problem might be frozen pipes, lack of heat, or some other circumstance that would likely otherwise leave people  homeless. When a wall collapsed in a Waseca apartment building earlier this year, Patel says his hotel found room for some of those tenants.

 

Many hotels, he goes on to say, do not take emergency stays because tenants must usually bring their pets, if they have them, and because of the smell of smoke.

 

He explains smoking is not allowed in any room in his hotel, but when smokers “move in,” they bring their clothing and some possessions with them that carry a strong smell which then permeates the space.

 

“And of course people who don’t smoke find that unpleasant,” Patel goes on to say, “and it can affect the reputation of the hotel.”

 

He is willing to provide short-term housing, he says, mostly because it helps the community. He says he hopes those who come to stay recognize the circumstance and do whatever they can to preserve the integrity of his newly refurbished rooms. Long-term stays will not be available in the warmer months of the year, Patel points out, because the business focus of the hotel is to accommodate people staying a few nights at a time.

 

Now approaching the end of his first year as owner, Patel says he believes he made a good choice when he acquired Waseca’s American Hotel. He is pleased with the way the first year went, and hopes for even better satisfaction in the second year, with remodeling and refurbishing complete and all rooms available throughout the busy season.

 

When the weather grows warmer, he is still looking at refurbishing the asphalt out front and making the painted parking lines more visible. He also plans to acquire a new, more attention-catching sign.

 

In the meantime, he invites anyone interested to come to the hotel for a visit and a look at some of the rooms. He also hopes people will speak up right away if there are any statements circulating about problems or flaws.

 

“If there is something wrong, I want to fix it as quickly as possible,” he says. “We want people to feel comfortable and welcome here.

 

“My goal is, if people are standing at our counter, they will go ahead and check in for a stay.”