ORLEANS — David and Marilyn Snodgrass hope to sell the Orleans Hotel Bed and Breakfast to the right people.
The couple purchased the hotel in south-central Nebraska in 2014. They remodeled the establishment to add 21st-century comforts, such as central air conditioning and a new roof, while preserving its historic charm. A map hangs on the wall in the hotel’s lobby, pinpointing the homes of all their visitors; they’ve had guests from over 40 states.
When the opportunity arose for the couple to purchase a farm that has been in David’s family for over 100 years, they couldn’t pass it up.
The Orleans Hotel Bed and Breakfast was built in 1929. Its current owners, David and Marilyn Snodgrass, are planning to sell the business after operating it since 2014.
“We decided if we didn’t buy (it), it would never be up for sale again. It’s just a small farm with a nice house,” Marilyn said.
They bought the farm and moved into the farmhouse eight miles north of Orleans. With a hot housing market and the ability to help transition new owners into the hotel, the Snodgrasses decided to sell their business.
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“The time was right,” Marilyn said.
The Orleans Hotel has been on the market for about a year, but the couple has no plans to close the business.
The hotel first opened in 1929 and features 22 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a basement den, a large dining hall and a kitchen. Original hardwood floors and a majestic staircase in the lobby give guests a peak at the character that the hotel has to offer. The couple collect antiques and have filled the hotel with unique pieces that will remain in the hotel when it’s sold.
“If they buy it today, tomorrow they could rent rooms because we’ll have all the linens here and dishes. … It’s going to be that convenient for somebody,” Marilyn said.
David and Marilyn Snodgrass have owned and operated the Orleans Hotel Bed and Breakfast since 2014. They have placed the hotel up for sale.
Along with running the business, the Snodgrasses are heavily involved in the community as board members and mentors for TeamMates. David is also board member for Camp Joy and the Orleans Cemetery as well as a volunteer firefighter with the Orleans Volunteer Fire Department.
When the next owners take over, the Snodgrasses will be available to help with the transition.
“We’ve also told people that we would be just 15 minutes away if they needed help or need some advice,” Marilyn said.
Located in the middle of the woods in Hendersonville, North Carolina sits this cozy cabin. Despite the pandemic, the owners of this short-term rental say business has been booming.Donna Lyerly: “From July to December, we saw recording bookings.”Keith Lyerly: “As things started opening up a little, we found that people needed to get out, they needed to get away. The month of October, we were booked every day, which is not normal.” Keith and Donna Lyerly aren’t the only hosts seeing a rise in bookings. Short-term rentals outperformed hotels in dozens of markets around the world in 2020, according to industry analysts. Geleen Antonio who’s been traveling around the U.S. for months says she prefers to stay in a short-term rental, because of the amount of control it gives her.Antonio: “I do feel safer because I go through all the checklists, making sure they’ve cleaned everything and have had space in between visitors.”But while more and more travelers search for vacation rentals in remote, rural locations, the demand for rentals in big cities especially ones with large numbers of COVID-19 cases has dropped.Christina Zima: “Pre-pandemic, I was managing 25 houses, and now I’m down to 12.”The majority of properties Christina Zima manges are located in Silicon Valley an area that turned into something of a ghost town as tech companies transitioned to remote work allowing residents to flee to more affordable places. While her clientele used to be mostly business travelers, Zima’s guests now tend to be long-term renters such as locals renovating their homes or students attending college nearby. Over the course of 2020, Zima saw her gross rental income decrease by about 60% compared to 2019. Zima: “Honestly, I don’t see it getting better fast. I think it’s going to take a while, at least for what we’re doing.” Zima says she’s repeatedly run into issues with guest expectations during the pandemic.Zima: “We get a lot of people also trying to demand that we leave the house empty for three days before they arrive. Then we’re just like ‘OK, I guess it’s not the house for you,’ because we can’t survive if we have to give three free nights away with every booking. That’s not going to work. AirBnB guests aren’t willing to pay a deep-clean rate. I mean, deep cleaning would be $450 dollars for a regular house. Nobody’s paying that for an AirBnB where they stay maybe a week or something. But they expect it to be cleaned as if it were a deep clean.” But the Lyerlys who also run a short-term rental hospitality and cleaning company say they’ve gotten used to people’s differing standards regarding cleanliness. Donna Lyerly: “They’re here to party. They are sick of being cooped up in their own home and they’re just ready to relax and be on a vacation. And then we’ve got the people that are pulling the furniture out from the wall and pulling bed linens off to check mattresses.”Either way the couple has high hopes for 2021.Donna Lyerly: “If the activity in bookings is any indication, this will be a banner year for us because we’ve just got a lot more activity.” The data backs them up. While half of U.S. hotel rooms are projected to remain empty this year, industry analysts at AirDNA expect short-term rentals to become the primary lodging choice for vacationers as travelers seek more space and privacy.
They have had interested parties look into the hotel, and there has been a variety of ideas for the property from an Airbnb to adding a restaurant in the building. The nearby Harlan County Lake and hunting areas have piqued many potential buyers’ interest in the property.
For the Snodgrasses, getting to know the guests and having breakfast with them in the dining room each day has been the best part of their experience with the hotel. The venue has hosted a number of Christmas and Valentine’s Day parties, family reunions and a weekly bridge club. Marilyn has mixed emotions about selling, but she is hopeful about passing the keys on to someone who will love the hotel as they have.
“It worked really well,” Marilyn said. “We’ve had a good time, and we kept it going.”
She kept her win on “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” a secret for six months.
