Re: Some good news to my old friends here at rec.aviation

[Jay Honeck[_2_]]

> Does this mean that your hotel in Iowa is closing, or are you going to be
> operating two separate hotels, one in Iowa and one in Texas?

Although we seriously considered keeping both hotels, the distance (1,240
miles) apart is just too great. Therefore, it is for sale.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
Ercoupe N94856
www.AlexisParkInn.com
www.HarborInnPortA.com

[Martin Hotze[_3_]]

Am 24.02.2010 16:06, schrieb Jay Honeck:
>> Does this mean that your hotel in Iowa is closing, or are you going to be
>> operating two separate hotels, one in Iowa and one in Texas?
>
> Although we seriously considered keeping both hotels, the distance (1,240
> miles) apart is just too great. Therefore, it is for sale.

what brought you to this decision, if I may ask? family? climate?
economy in Iowa? need a new challenge? some from all?

#m
--
"What would I do with 72 virgins? That's not a reward,
that's a punishment. Give me two seasoned whores any day."
(Billy Connolly)

[[email protected]]

On Feb 24, 9:06*am, "Jay Honeck" > wrote:

> Although we seriously considered keeping both hotels, the distance (1,240
> miles) apart is just too great. * Therefore, it is for sale.

Get a faster plane! That will fix this problem LOL

[Jay Honeck[_2_]]

> what brought you to this decision, if I may ask? family? climate? economy
> in Iowa? need a new challenge? some from all?

All of the above. I've been trying to convince Mary that we should move to
the sunbelt for over 25 years. These last three brutal winters have finally
convinced her that it's time to go live where the weather is a bit more
gentle.

Actually, the economy in Iowa City has been relatively unaffected by the
Great Recession, although it did wipe out business travel. This greatly
impacted our bottom line, for a time, but we're actually having our best
February, ever, for occupancy.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
Ercoupe N94856
www.AlexisParkInn.com
www.HarborInnPortA.com

[Martin Hotze[_3_]]

Am 25.02.2010 06:51, schrieb Jay Honeck:
>> what brought you to this decision, if I may ask? family? climate? economy
>> in Iowa? need a new challenge? some from all?
>
> All of the above. I've been trying to convince Mary that we should move to
> the sunbelt for over 25 years. These last three brutal winters have finally
> convinced her that it's time to go live where the weather is a bit more
> gentle.

ah, ok.

> Actually, the economy in Iowa City has been relatively unaffected by the
> Great Recession, although it did wipe out business travel. This greatly
> impacted our bottom line, for a time, but we're actually having our best
> February, ever, for occupancy.

But do you have a mix of customers down there, too? I haven't checked
the region you're moving to, but isn't this mostly tourism? In Iowa,
IIRC, you have the stadium, hospital, the city itself, ...

#m
--
"What would I do with 72 virgins? That's not a reward,
that's a punishment. Give me two seasoned whores any day."
(Billy Connolly)

[Mike Adams[_2_]]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote:

> All of the above. I've been trying to convince Mary that we should
> move to the sunbelt for over 25 years. These last three brutal
> winters have finally convinced her that it's time to go live where the
> weather is a bit more gentle.
>
> Actually, the economy in Iowa City has been relatively unaffected by
> the Great Recession, although it did wipe out business travel. This
> greatly impacted our bottom line, for a time, but we're actually
> having our best February, ever, for occupancy.

Interesting. When I first saw your news I assumed you were expanding into the start of an aviation
themed hotel chain! So, will you take all the aviation memorabilia to the new place, or leave it and sell the
old place as is? (I suppose the answer is "everything's negotiable")

Good luck!

Mike

[Jay Honeck[_2_]]

> But do you have a mix of customers down there, too? I haven't checked the
> region you're moving to, but isn't this mostly tourism? In Iowa, IIRC, you
> have the stadium, hospital, the city itself, ...

Yeah, it's all tourism on the island. Kinda spooky, given the tentative
state of the economic recovery, but I'm betting that we're through the worst
of it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
Ercoupe N94856
www.AlexisParkInn.com
www.HarborInnPortA.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck[_2_]]

> Interesting. When I first saw your news I assumed you were expanding into
> the start of an aviation
> themed hotel chain!

Well, if it doesn't sell, we'll be doing just that.

My fear is that there is really no way to properly manage a business from
1240 miles away. I would rather see a motivated pilot buy it and run it
with the same on-site passion that Mary and I have done.

We'll have to wait and see how the sales effort goes.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
Ercoupe N94856
www.AlexisParkInn.com
www.HarborInnPortA.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jim Logajan]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote:
>> Interesting. When I first saw your news I assumed you were expanding
>> into the start of an aviation
>> themed hotel chain!
>
> Well, if it doesn't sell, we'll be doing just that.

Or bring on a partner to manage/co-own one of the hotels. Perhaps something
to look into if you haven't started already. Can't hurt to have that in
play as a backup plan.

> My fear is that there is really no way to properly manage a business
> from 1240 miles away. I would rather see a motivated pilot buy it and
> run it with the same on-site passion that Mary and I have done.
>
> We'll have to wait and see how the sales effort goes.

An entrepreneurial thing to try to do would be to sell one of the hotels
off as part of a franchise, not as a typical "you're on your own after you
buy" business sale. Thereby planting the seed of something like the Best
Westerns of the aviation set. ;-) (Stated partly in jest, though I think
actually plausible if a franchise business plan had been started, oh, a
year ago!)

[Martin Hotze[_3_]]

Am 28.02.2010 03:01, schrieb Jay Honeck:

> My fear is that there is really no way to properly manage a business from
> 1240 miles away. I would rather see a motivated pilot buy it and run it

family? Isn't your son 20-something already? And your daughter is
approaching 18, I guess.

> with the same on-site passion that Mary and I have done.
>
> We'll have to wait and see how the sales effort goes.

what we see here is that people don't want to go overseas so often than
in earlier days - no matter where they go (east or west). They might
accept some smaller trips (1-2 hours flight) but still airport security
checks are a PITA.

as for tourism itself (our region is heavily tourism-dependant): you
either go for _high_ quality or for cheap/mass market. I f you try to be
somewhat reasonable priced and try to be somewhat classy you will fail.
Customers from other countries/regions really do have a different
understanding for quality and class than you might have, this might be
higher or lower than your own understanding ... so you need to know your
customers. You need to know where your customers come from and you need
to address their needs (culture, religion, lifestyle, ...). You need a
concecpt and you have to stick to it, else you will fail.

#m
--
"What would I do with 72 virgins? That's not a reward,
that's a punishment. Give me two seasoned whores any day."
(Billy Connolly)