April 12, 2025 • 53 mins
Join host Terrie Dean and special guest Christopher Baran, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Nemacolin, as they delve into this remarkable success story.
Nemacolin is a luxurious resort nestled in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands, offering diverse accommodations, world-class amenities like top-tier golf courses, a renowned spa, exquisite dining, and thrilling outdoor adventures. Whether you're looking to unwind or seek adventure, Nemacolin's unique blend of opulence and outdoor activities makes it a must-visit destination.
Nemacolin is a luxurious resort nestled in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands, offering diverse accommodations, world-class amenities like top-tier golf courses, a renowned spa, exquisite dining, and thrilling outdoor adventures. Whether you're looking to unwind or seek adventure, Nemacolin's unique blend of opulence and outdoor activities makes it a must-visit destination.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It's a travel show and podcasts from your friends at
the wishing Well two forty three f avenue in Harsimmerg
and online at the wishing Well dot this. The wishing
Well is your ultimate luxury concierge, travel agency and a
Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show and podcast hosted by
Terry Dean, bringing her over forty years of experience in
the travel industry to help guide you to great experiences
(00:23):
in your travel, whether it be around the block, around
the country, or around the world.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Let's bring in Terry Dean. Say hello, Chris, how are
you this wonderful Saturday morning?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
You know what, I wish we weren't getting so much rain,
but I'm glad that it's the weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
We needed it, right, I mean, things were really dry
and there was fire threats, and so I'm really happy
that we're having a little bit of rain. Wasn't too bad.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And getting ready for I guess it's next weekend Eastern Rondo.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Right. It is, went fast, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'm glad because I haven't had any meat on Fridays,
so I'm ready to have.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
A nice arts are you n Yeah? Okay, doing the
Linton Fast. Okay, Well, some people give up chocolate. You
gave up me.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Oh well, we have to give up meat every Friday
during what and I gave up coffee creamer.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Oh man, I've been drinking black coffee. Oh I would
just pass.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Actually, I've been drinking very very little coffee over the
past few weeks.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Well, we're going to have a great show today. I
am so so excited. We're going to forego today only
for our listeners who usually expect a certain format. We're
going to forego our news and we're going to forego
our sales because we're going to devote our entire show
to a particular property today and there's great reason for that.
(01:47):
I do apologize for this impromptu arrangement, but I'm not
going to make any apologies today for that, and you're
going to soon know why. As you well know, we
began a new series in luxury travel topics, and we
started that last week. Last week's show focused on small towns,
big luxury. We had a bunch of fun exploring places
(02:10):
like Sedona, Carmel by the Sea in Monterey, California, plus
Bar Harbor, Maine, all of favorites, you know, just favorite
little towns. What we discovered is that the common thread
running through those highlighted towns really was anything but common.
And as a matter of fact, the luxury we uncovered
(02:31):
was the stuff that dreams are made of. And I
love that. But this week I had the privilege of
spending three glorious days in the small town of Farmington, Pennsylvania,
in a resort of splendor that should be described as
the Mouse That Roared, and that actually is the name
(02:54):
of today's show. And I was there for the purpose
of attending one of our virtuoso on Tour meeting which
are held periodically at some of the finest and most
unique luxury properties around the world. Now, for those of
you who have never heard of Farmington, Pennsylvania, get out
your crayon and write that down, because it should be
(03:15):
added to your must see places this year. We love
that you all join us here on a lifeless ordinary
every week. But today you're in for a real treat,
to be sure. Now, in just a minute, I'm going
to be welcoming our guest on today's show. But before
I do, Chris Carmichael, I want to ask you what Farmington, Pennsylvania.
(03:39):
The reality TV show The Bachelor and eighty four lumber
all have in common. And actually, I'll tell you what.
Let's bring our guest out of hiding for a moment
and I'm going to ask him what those three things
have in common.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, miss, answer is all three of those wonderful institutions
an organization sharing common the most magical playground called the
Nemicolan Resort, Dingdingding.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You are correct. But before you injure yourself trying to
figure out all the things that we know and love
about this wonderful property, let me welcome our guests on
today to a lifeless ordinary. I'm pleased and extremely honored
to have Christopher Baron, vice president of Sales and Marketing
(04:35):
of Vanima Colin, as our very very special guest and
luxury resort representative for today's episode. Chris. We began a
new luxury travel series last week entitled In the Smallest
of Places. Farmington, Pennsylvania might be considered a small East
Coast town. I think that's probably accurate. But if you will,
please talk to our audience about the biggest success story
(04:59):
in small town America destination that is simply called NEMA Coolan.
So how did it begin?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Absolutely well, thank you so much for having me on
on a life less ordinary mysteria. Mister Chris, pleasures be
speaking with you. It all started really as a dream
for the owner and founder of the resort Versus, Joseph A.
Hardy the Third. It's a beautiful story of family, pride
and really innovation for the past thirty seven years here
(05:29):
in the small town of Farmington, Pennsylvania. It's one a
story of perseverance, you know, I want to say fortitude
and really the outlook of the next trends in the
travel industry is really what drives Nemicolan as a resort.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, I agree. Yeah, And I've been in the travel
industry for over forty five years, Chris, and I've learned
that service and success of the delivery of service is
measured by the most important people that receive it. That's
the guests now, I as well as an additional fifty
other virtuoso professionals that joined me at Nemacolon this week, which,
(06:10):
by the way, thank you. We were all blown away
by the attention to service and detail that we all
individually and even collectively received at your property. I want
to know what is the secret sauce for your property?
In delivering that so consistently, Tom after Tom after Tom.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Absolutely, and it was our pleasure having you this week.
We really we cherish those these shows, if you will.
That absolutely allows us to showcase our wonderful resort to
a whole new audience. It is something truly that to
be seen to be believed. And I believe what really
sets our hotel apart is the authenticity of our associates
(06:55):
are now president CEO, Maggie Hardy, who is the daughter
of Joseph A the third, carries on that brand promise
and really what I do love about coming into work
every day, and I think that allows us to deliver
the brand promise is she quotes quite frequently that she
has two bosses, the guests and the associates. And I
really do believe that that mission statement, if you will,
(07:17):
sets us above all of our competition that are owned
by various private equity firms and the corporate type ownerships.
You have a family that owns this hotel and I
really believe that that is the part.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I think it does too. And I think you know,
anytime you have a knitted family together in a lot
of businesses, I think something good is going to come
out of that. There's a lot of tiers and levels
of accommodation at Nima Coolan available to guests who want
(07:49):
to stay there. You've got couples coming in, families, multi
generational travelers, even specialty groups. So I want you, if
you will talk to our audience about the diverse accommodations
that are offered at Nemicolin and if you will, Chris,
the differences as well as the similarities of these well
(08:10):
appointed accommodations, and dear lord, can we please talk about
the butler service too, that crazy good.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You know, guidelines are often thrown around that we have
something for everyone, and here I really do believe that
we do. There is five different types of accommodations, if
you will, there's three collective hotel options for our guests.
That is the wonderful French inspired chateau, which is that
iconic moment as you're kind of driving through the Laurel
(08:43):
Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania. It's this big iconic building modeled
after the French hotel the Ritz and actually in Paris
that you know, our owner went on to travel one
time said yes, I'd like one of those in southwestern Pennsylvania.
So we built one of those that is one hundred
and twenty four key, These beautiful double vaulted ceilings really
(09:03):
just a great soaking tub involved all the appointments there
and as you mentioned, full butler service were all one
hundred and twenty four of those keys. The next hotel
accommodation we have is what we lect to call the
Grand Lodge, that is comprised of fifty six keys and
really to your point, designed for multi generational travel. Both
of these buildings went over a complete renovation just over
(09:25):
the past three years to the tune of over five
hundred million dollars. You'll see different marble in each one
of those bathrooms and toilet areas, and really that the
Grand Lodge is designed to have connecting rooms. Those fifty
six keys, they all connect in some form or another.
We've seen guests take entire floors if they want connecting
(09:45):
rooms or just have a family of travelers on a floor.
Then the third lodging option from a hotel standpoint is
called Falling Rock. Falling Rock is comprised of forty two
individual suites, again with full butler service. It is a
Frank Lloyd Wright inspired hotel, very much into the earth Tones.
It is on our campus but away from those two
(10:06):
main buildings, and it is our adults only offering, so
it's sixteen years plus that are allowed in that building.
It has its own restaurant, its own pool facilities, locker
rooms where we offer massages and bring the spall them
in two. So those are the three hotel offerings. But
then as you mentioned too, you know generational travel and
sometimes independent travel. You really want that home away from home.
(10:27):
So then we also offer two other distinct accommodations. One
is our private homes and estates. Those are individual freestanding
houses located throughout our twenty two hundred acres here. They
range in the average of four to five bedrooms. Up
to it, we have a large estate called arted Estates
which sleeps twenty two people. We see a lot of
(10:49):
great family retreats there. But then also we've seen a
board of directors to take that entire estate. And really,
you know, there's two Jacuzi's there, there's a billiard's room,
there's a gym. It really is a fully self contained
mansion the state, if you will. And then our final
offering is what we like to call the homes, and
those comprised of forty townhouses. They're really great units. We
(11:10):
see a lot for family travel. They do have in
room in room dining kitchenettes, fully decked out kitchens with
fishes and all everything you can to create your meals
at home. They oversee our beautiful annual annual sessionary sanctuary
as well, have a little deck off the back. And
(11:31):
those are two bedrooms and two and a half bass
so there's two individual sleeping combinations, both with on suites
a downstairs living room with a half bath too. So
really it's kind of that townhouse almost apartment type accommodation
where we see two or three filmies get together and
get several townhouses together and really have their own space.
You get to be right next door to your neighbor,
(11:52):
join them on the back deck for a nice nightcap
if you will.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, it's a beautiful, massive property. And it was so
funny before you and I went on air. I was
kind of talking to the folks here in the studio
today and I said, you know, I kind of likened
this experience and my reaction to coming up on property
a bit like when I flew into Las Vegas for
the first time. It's like you're in the plane, there's nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing,
(12:19):
and then you go, wow, what is that? And that's
the reason that's kind of the reaction I had when
I came up to Nema Colin because you all occupy
how many acres there, Chris.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Over twenty two hundred acres. You know, it all started
with the original lodge purchasing nineteen eighty seven, which was
a hunting of fishing lodge up here, you know, beautiful
fishing and hunting trails throughout the property. But then little
by little she started added acreage through that. So just
so we'd like to say, there's ten acres on what
there's two hundred and seventy keys on the property, if
(12:54):
you will, So there's there's just under ten acres per
key here.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah. And the other thing that I really want to
soak in to our listening audience today is that level
of service. I know, I ask you what your secret
sauce was, But from the moment I pulled up on property,
I was greeted with a level of professionalism that I
(13:18):
haven't seen at a major luxury department store in many,
many years. I was somebody to them, even though they
didn't know my name, I was somebody important on that property,
and they had no idea who I was affiliated with
or associated with at that moment. They just knew they
(13:41):
had a job to do and they did it to
utter perfection. The other thing that impressed me so much, Chris,
was the number of years that I hear your average
employee stays with you talk to me about that.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Yeah, absolutely, and I was wonderful to hear that feedback.
We deeply appreciate it. You know, the the average tenure
of Nemical associate is just over I believe ten and
a half years. We really are embedded into this community here.
We are the largest employer in Fayette County, the county
that we reside in Pennsylvania, and really where Maggie always
believes in her two bosses being the guest and associates.
(14:19):
I say, the third pillar she believes this is training
and you know we fly. I can't tell you the
countless trainers. It's year round training. Everything is mandated from
a Forbes standard perspective, but also just a pure hospitality perspective.
One of the most endearing stories I like to tell
is that she doesn't really hands on. So when you know,
we opened up a new restaurant this past year called Gusto,
(14:41):
our Italian fair offering. She made sure every single one
of the fourteen hundred associates, down to your entry level roundskeeper,
you know, from the golf course eight in that restaurant.
So it really is something for me to see from
a hospitality perspective. And I've worked with some major organizations,
you know, the Hiltons and Marriottes of the world to
make sure that the groundskeeper that really is probably never
(15:04):
going to interact with the guests front facing experiences that
firsthand and eats in that restaurant is just a testament
to her dedication. And that's where I think really embodies everyone.
When the guests arrives, if they feel ownership, they feel
that they're coming to their home. We have a beautiful
fifty million dollar brand new housing facility. I really call
(15:25):
it a community. It's called Wisteria. She's invested, really, you know,
tons of not only you know, financial dollars, but into
the cultivation of a community here. So that groundskeeper that
you know, again, well, if the golf courses closed, he
might not interact with you, but he has a sense
that with Miss Terry arrives, he feels almost that that
(15:45):
ownership that they've come to his house and he wants
to and he'll he'll meet you and he'll say, you
gotta eat at Gusto. You gotta try to, you know,
the the bolonaise, it's amazing, you know, And that is
that's something that's not done at a lot of hotels.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Yeah, and that's very clear to me how the employees,
as you said, I love that word, they're invested in
the enjoyment of the guests. You know, it's not just
a job to them. This is something that they take
pride in. And you can tell I like to think
that because I saw this firsthand, that I can really
(16:18):
share with our audience that that level of dedication seems
to start from the top down. It's very much like
the philosophy that we have at the Virtuoso Network, and
that is that good starts at the top and it
trickles down to everybody who receives it. And when you
do it well, it is so powerful. And I also
(16:40):
love the fact that you were talking about another one
of my favorite things, which is Gusto. The food at
Nema Colin is second to none. Another one of the
things that definitely played into my personal overall enjoyment was
that culinary experience. The food around the property, Chris was amazing.
I had too much, but that's not really a complaint.
(17:02):
Probably more restraint required on my part in the future.
But it started for me in the French petisserie when
after four hours of traveling, I was just looking for
kind of a light bite and what I thought I
ordered was a grilled ham and cheese. What I received
was pure magic. It was called a crooked monsieur, which
(17:26):
is a very French version of a ham and cheese,
but with a fabulous French sauce, ham cheese and the
slightest mirror of Dijon mustard, perfectly grilled until it was
just oozing with delicious goodness. And I thought it couldn't
get any better than that. But then Thursday night, which
(17:47):
was our last evening on property, the chef and the
service team went all out, and I mean it was
an extravaganza. The four core score mate offering that we
all enjoy joyd would have made Gordon Ramsay and James
Beard weep with pride. I just know it now, mind you.
(18:07):
I was only on property for three days. So, Chris,
what other destinations of decadence and culinary delight can you
share with our audience that can be found on property
at Nemacullen. And if I'm not mistaken, I think you've
got even a new restaurant about to open pretty soon,
am I right?
Speaker 3 (18:28):
So we're currently renovating our five star, five diamond restaurant
called Latrek, which is our fabulous if you will tasting
kind of offering, you know, very that that special night,
whether it's with a significant someone else or you want
to treat yourself that renovation. That restaurant is currently going
on a renovation set to open up in two thousand
and six. But in addition a S two that twenty six,
(18:52):
as I'm losing twenty years here. In addition to Gusta,
which is our Italian fair offering, we have Faun and Fable,
Oqulius and the Peak, and all three of those restaurants
are what I would like to call destination restaurants. I'll
start with Faun and Fable, which is our kind of
b throw offering, very steakhouse driven, beautiful fay breakfast in
(19:14):
the morning for all of our guests on property. It's
a very decadent, over the top breakfast offering where you know,
not only do you have the you know, the standard
you know, egg station and omeleved station, but then it
delves into beautiful handmade French toast and as you said,
the pastry. We have a there's a twenty thousand square
foot pastry kitchen here on property that we get all
(19:36):
our pastries from fresh every day. I do sneak a
couple back there before they go out to the public.
As you said, super inslad here as well. But it's
a beautiful restaurant. It is considered our three meal on
property on the main campus. As we said, with the
Grand Lodge and the Chateau offering, we have Oculius, which
is our seafood Mediterranean inspired seafood fair over located in
(19:58):
the Falling Rock building. So that is beautiful. Chef Eduardo,
actually he's been with us for just over five years,
really brings in these beautiful coastal Mediterranean flavors. There's always
a fresh fish special. They fly to the fresh fish
and obviously being in Pennsylvania, we have to get a
lot of to be very good with our logistics. And
really i've seen him in any sort of instance, come
(20:21):
up with a beautiful special of what we get in
for the weekend really drives his menu, so it's nothing
reused or recirculated. It is fresh fish that daily. And
then we have the Peak which is kind of our
family all you can gather offering that's located in a
beautiful Peak facility which is our year round pool that's
heated as you mentioned earlier to eighty four degrees in
(20:42):
homage to our parent company eighty four lumber. So that
is more of your tacos, pizzas, small bites offering. We
have a beautiful several different chicken sandwich offerings up there
that's great for just kind of a family getaway or
a lighter bite. And obviously we do have twenty four
hours day rooms service which is curated by our chefs
and really, you know, if you just want to stay
(21:03):
in that wonderful room and not leave, we will bring
the meal toward to you.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
And I will say this about my experience, which was
very personal of course, at Nemacolin, is that there is
nothing that is standard fair there. Everything is over the top.
And when I say that, I don't mean portion size.
I mean though the portions are as well, But I
(21:30):
mean there's just such an attention to the detail of
even the culinary experience that people have. You refer to
the peak. I had the opportunity with our group to
go up to the peak and enjoy an evening there,
which was fantastic. And I sat and I thought to
myself because where we were up in the upper level,
(21:50):
you could look down over the family pool that was there,
and the hot tubs and all of the activities that
are outside, and I thought to myself, this would be
a fabulous place for a family reunion or again that
multi generational type of experience. It's perfect for that. I though,
(22:13):
loved the food. The chef's there or chef I don't
know who it is, but honestly, he is worth his
weight in gold if you ask me. And we all
know what gold is selling for right now. Chris, I
enjoy always talking about food. I've enjoyed talking about the
Nima coole and when we're going to take a break here,
(22:35):
but when we come back, you and I are going
to spend a little bit of time talking about something
that I also enjoyed on property, and that is the
many many activities that are available and things to do
when people arrive. So we're going to take a break
and we'll be back in just a minute.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pick
so they can spoil your hard earned vacation. We have
plan your trip and heavy back as you traveled all
of this without support or so called convenience fees. We're
on the web at the Wishingwell dot biz or call
us at five four zero nine zero eight two three
(23:16):
three three. That's five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three. The wishing Well really does make dreams
come true.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Hey, welcome back to a Life less Ordinary, the Travel
Showing podcast from your friends at the wishing Well. You
can find them online at the wishing Well dot biz.
You can find them on f Avenue in Harrisonburg or
give him a call at five four oh nine oh
eight twenty three thirty three. Terry, I've been enjoying this
conversation with Christopher Baron, vice president of Sales and Marketing
at Nima Colan Uskeva. This is continuing the series that
(23:47):
we started last week, which is in the smallest of places,
and we continue that with the mouse that roared.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Absolutely, and I am so proud to have Chris bearing
with us today, vice President of Sales and Marketing at Nemicola.
I am so grateful for those of you who turn
in with us, tune in with us every week, and
we are opening the doors for you of one of
(24:16):
the most beautiful gems of luxury that one can find
on the East Coast today. And Chris, we've only shared
what I think is a thimbleful of the magic that
waits inside the gates of Nimic Colan. But as with
any great travel experience, activities like accommodations and services and
(24:37):
great culinary experiences are always a part of that. We
would probably need two extra hours to impart to our
audience to all of the things that there are to
do on property at nemic Coolon. But I'm going to
turn you loose and let you take us on an
activities tour if you will.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Absolutely I appreciate that and really agree with you. You know,
part of my job here as vice president the sales
market is actually our oversight of our website and social
media postings. And you know, I always I feel sometimes
I don't do an adequate job because everyone that actually
comes here says, boy, your website never does a justice,
and this is you have so much more to offer,
(25:18):
So I try, I try every day.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
The pH Yeah, you can't really create that kind of
magic though unless you see it. You must see this property.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
And it's actually interesting, mysterious is that you know about
we have about forty to forty five percent of our
guests are repeat However, during the time of during you know,
an a whole calendar year, about thirty percent of our
guests are first timers. And what's really interesting is that
I love that conversion. You know, we keep track of
these beautiful hospitality metrics of you know, getting new clients
(25:51):
and you know, once they come here, they tend to
come back again. For that exact question that you proposed
to me, the number of the share activities that we
have here, you know, of that thirty percent that comes
to the first time, they're generally celebrating you know, some
sort of significant you know, anniversary or life moment. And
what we try to do here is once you book
obviously through your Virtuosa agent and we and we kind
(26:11):
of we give you these great amenities and we and
we get you through a what's called our experience agent,
and our experience agent will take you through a lot
of our activities offering. It is no coincidence we have
over we have eighty four different activities property and they range.
They really range from season activities such as dog sledding,
(26:32):
to summertime activities to fly fishing. So really what we
do is when we get you as a guest, we
really spend time with you. We send you obviously a
confirmation email, but then we follow up with a live
agent that really sits down and customizes your itinerary. It
really depends on what you're into here. So we have
a variety from recreational activities. Uh, just to name a few,
we have jeep riding, we have a ropes course, adventure course. Obviously,
(26:54):
as I mentioned, fly fishing. We have a shooting academy
that we refer to as the Roden Range Club. Get
to go out and skiat shoot target practice. There's over
twenty six different actual five stands as they are called,
where you get target practice and for clay shooting. But
really then you can turn your mind to the artistic side.
We have a beautiful art tour. There's over fifty million
(27:17):
dollars worth of art displayed on the property. You have
the pino and paint class. I mean it really just yeah,
it goes on and on. You know, if you're into
the arts, you can go that fascination. If you're into recreation,
we have the outdoor activities. Then we really have beautiful
spa amenities as well too, and I consider that an
activity as well too. Reactation.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
It's a necessary one. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Absolutely, there's over forty treatment rooms and what we call
the Woodland Spa. Again, we have technicians that have been
with us and really life savers as they are called affectionately,
that really take that time to curate your full SPA
tenporary from hot Stone Massages to actually have a wing
called the Holistic Center, which focuses on Western medicine. We
(28:00):
have this beautiful doctor on property called doctor Lynn. He
does acupuncture, to reiki, to resoxology.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
So really which I'll find one with fascinating That is amazing. Yeah,
you don't find that every resort, and that's.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
What we'll see. That that affinity for someone to come
in and once they learn about those programs, planning that
second visit, you know, to really say okay, I went
this visit with the kids, and you know, we went
you know, miniature golfing, and then we went real golfing,
and then we went on the rope score. So then
now I want to come back with my spouse and
really unwind and take advantage of our spot programming.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah, and what better group of people to have had
in this week than the group of travel advisors who
are going to carry this message throughout the country literally,
because we were there from all over California, Colorado, and
I even talked to which is sad, but I talked
to some of the other preferred vendors that we were
(28:58):
meeting with at your property, and many of them, Chris,
had never heard of NEMA colon before. You have a
whole new crop of clients that are really dropping seed
across the United States and throughout for nemic colon now,
so I think that's wonderful. This is a property that
needs to be seen, needs to be experienced. You all
(29:20):
were so gracious and even allowed us as travel advisors
to take advantage of some of the activities. As you said,
we had the sip and paint kind of thing, which
was amazing. I actually brought my painting home because I
could tell what it was, which was a first for
me because I'm not really sure when I've ever put
paint on canvas before that you could really ever tell
(29:42):
what it was. But that was a great instructor.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah, it is wonderful to see those instructors. I've taken
that class several times with my wife, and you know,
to see something you create and really just get yourself
outside of your own box. Oh no, especially on vacation.
You know it. You know I do command you guys
as travel advisors. You have one of the hardest jobs
in the industry that you know, you're creating memories for
(30:08):
your for your families. That's exactly real client, it's their family.
And to let yourself underwine with something as simple as
a panalt and paint that you wouldn't do you're a
normal nine to five everyday routine. It is really nice
to let your hair down here at the resort, and
we really truly try to create that with our bevy
of activities that says whatever you're into, and you know what,
maybe you never tried fly fishing and you've seen it
(30:29):
on TV. It's we whisk you away and within a
real ten minutes time you are standing in our in
one of our rivers and the surrounding areas. Let you know,
doing up a line and being there with the structure
and catching your first trout. It's something amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
And I don't know, Chris, if you've got kids or not.
I do. And I'm going to have a bit of
a reality check with folks here right now. There are
so many activities at Nemicole and that our wishes can
come true with our kids when we get them on property,
and that is that they disconnect. There's so much fun
going on around them, so many things to do that
(31:06):
there's no need nor desire to have that phone planted
in your hand all the time except to take pictures,
you know that pictures that capture.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
So I don't make sure of myself, but I've I
have a ton of nieces and nephews that have visited
me up here with Uncle Chris and Nevigal and it
is just something to be seen. And that's what we
really and I'm glad you said the mysteria of trying
to provide that platform for them to escape. And one
of the things that really warms my heart is I
see my nieces come up here and they're already grabbing
(31:39):
their aunt and my sister and grabbing them and saying,
let's go do this. You know, they've already seen this
fateral and they're ready to rock and roll and go
to our to our animal zoos sanctuary, and to go
just to these wonderful places, to to interact, to go painting,
to go to go on the ropes course. I mean
again anything you can imagine that they're already into.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah, and you glossed over that really fast. But I
think it's really cool that Nimma Colan has a animal
sanctuary there. I personally was able to see lions and
tigers and bears oma, but I also saw many other
(32:20):
animals who looked quite happy, quite content, and it was
just delightful to be able to be on property. Even
as cool as it was to walk around and see
how lovely that fits so well into the landscape of
Nimma Colan.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
It is something that is truly a sight to be held.
And as I mentioned earlier, as our owner and president,
Maggie loves her associates and loves her guests, I do
feel that she loves these animals even more. To be
honest with you, Miss Harry. She dotes on these animals.
We have a full time zoologist here on property. The
(32:56):
food bill I can't share the number with you a monthly.
These are all rescue animals that Maggie has gone out
personally rescued, if you will, that have come here and
to decide to live their life here at the mccollin.
They get top of the NOZ medical care as well
as feeding grooming to the highest standards. And really it's
something that I don't know will continue that program forever.
(33:18):
You know, obviously times have changed and so on and
so forth, but it's something that she's made a commitment
to these animals for the rest of their natural lives
that we will stay with them and honor them and
have them here at the property as part of our family.
But it's really great to see, you know, the kids
and the adults really kind of roam and see the
beautiful sanctuary and enclosure that it just it takes your
(33:39):
breath away, and something that I think we'll do in perpetuity,
maybe a little bit more with you know, kind of
indigenous animals here at the property, but for the time being,
it's it's it's definitely worth coming up here for to
see these animals in a completely different setting, but also
pampered and cared for like no other.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
What other activities do you have their specifically focused on children.
Speaker 4 (34:04):
So we actually have.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
A whole building if you will. I'm sure that you
know you guys were were toward the property and able
to see, but it's actually on our second floor of
our shopping center. We have we have obviously shopping I
forgot to mentioned, as well as a beautiful activity created.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Out there credit card.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Absolutely, but we actually do have a kids club that
we call down there. It's a beautiful arcade facility. Again
all complimentary for the children as well as the kids
pooled down there. We offer babysitting services and a kids
club that will actually you know, pick up your children,
spend all day with them if if you guys want
to get out for the minute or vice versa. You
know that age that varies an age from obviously babysitting
(34:47):
services to full blown kids club throughout the day. So
they have their own building. We have what's called the
Hardy Girls Gym which is now almost a laser tag
facility and Ninja course. Uh that's a wonderful activity for
the kids. As well. So really we can take your
children throughout the property and the safety and confines of
our compound of twenty two hundred acres, and we have
(35:09):
no limit on the amount of activities we could do
with them for three to four days. Really show them
the showcase the whole property.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Now, thanks the good Lord. I did not get there,
but I know you all also have a casino on
property as well.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Correct, Yes, we do. We have the casino at Nemic
Colum owned and operated by us here. It is open
to the public, so it is a regional casino if
you will. Are shuttles that run NonStop throughout the property
and take you from activity to activity and accommodations throughout
the property. We'll also bring it down to the casino
at mic Colum. We have over five hundred slot machines there,
(35:45):
table games as well in the state of Pennsylvania, so
we're legalized there. So if you want to try your
hand at luck, that's open to about three am on
the weekends and twelve am twelve twelve am midnight on
the weekdays.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Okay, I think we've done a really good job here
of establishing that NEMA Colan has activities to go on
for days, days and days. But I know something else
that's very unique about your property, and that is that
you have played host to some real A lister celebrities
(36:18):
in the entertainment business. What are they doing at Nemicole
and Chris and who might we see there in twenty
twenty five?
Speaker 3 (36:27):
What we do pride ourselves on here at Nemicol and
that is one above beyond his confidentiality, we really you know,
we allow an artist or a celebrity to come here
and I want to say be noticed, but also be unnoticed.
You know, we've had a variety to your employee, we
have a hall of fame, if you will, of guest
celebrities I've performed here from the likes of you know,
(36:50):
celebrities that I have left us. Maggie, our owner, was
a huge fan of Robert Williams, Yes, to you know,
Dwayne Newton, to Robin Leech. We've had Neil Diamond here
to the current Ray the son who's our VP of
brand Strategy, pj Uh he's a huge Lady Gaga fan,
Lionel Ritchie. I mean you name it that they've performed here,
(37:12):
whether it be for a private event for a group
or the family. But then also can't I can't list
every celebrity that comes here just on a regular basis.
And really, you know what's interesting is that you'll bump
into I saw the other day ja Jenna Kramer was
up here. Then I bumped into one of the Jonas brothers,
And you know, the celebrities come up there with their families.
(37:33):
Quarterbacks of the NFL teams come up here with their families.
Obviously the Steelers are in close proximity, but I saw
Alex Smith, the the the quarterback of the Washington Generals
come by, and it's just interesting that, you know, you
see these people and obviously the nave drop and ruined
their confidentiality, but you know, it is this beautiful mixture
(37:54):
that you could be sitting at the dinner with your
family or with your spouse, and you'll be a celebrity
there and I'll be totally innocuous. There's another guest at dinner.
There's no gushing, there's no autograph. I mean, I've seen
them take I've seen them take photos with guests. But really,
you know, with only two hundred and seventy keys and
this vastness of twenty two hundred acres yes, they're also
(38:15):
just regular guests going with the kids and going with
their families and you're having it. It's almost it's the
coolest bumping mystery. To be honest with you, you bump into
celebrities here and you wouldn't even realize them.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah, and I think it's fabulous, you know, to have
that sort of pedigree that you have a property that
attracts that kind of celebrity type of client. But what
that says to me is it's for everybody. I mean,
the average guest can feel and will be treated exactly
(38:46):
like those celebrities at Nemical And that's what you do.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
And I want to while a wild, a wild story
is some of the Steelers. Obviously we're close practically at Pittsburgh.
Troy Palamalo, who the famous dealer with this great, great hair,
he was, He was great here of our spa. He
was sitting at the hot tub of our spa and
our owner and founder, mister Joe Hardy was sitting in
there in the hot tub with them. They struck up
(39:13):
a conversation and you know, just as two regular guests,
and Troy goes, well, what do you do? He goes, Actually,
I own this place and if that does a testament
of just I get everyone utilizing the spa. And then
now our current you know, uh, head of the head
of the table, Miss Maggie, she uses the spot. She
talks with guests, and so does PJ. He did a son,
(39:35):
so you know again that celebrity can interact with the
owner to an everyday guest, which is really unique.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
It is it is. And as the vice president of
sales and marketing for Nemicole and Chris, what are do
you think? This is kind of a two part question.
What do you think are some of the most misunderstood
perceptions of Nemicle and And the second part of the question
is what do you wish potential customers were more aware
(39:59):
of about your magnificent property.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
Sure? Absolutely, well, the first part of the question, I
would say the biggest misconception is our location. You know
it's interesting that again you guys as travel advisors and
the audience out there obviously you know you get these
requests just as I do when I use my virtue
as a travel agent and I call up and we're
going abroad, whether it's domestic or international, and well how
(40:24):
far is the hotel and can we get everything done
and so on and so forth. We are located I would say,
ninety minutes from the Pittsburgh Airport, which is the major
airport here. We do have a private airship on the
property and other local private airstrips as well closer to
the property. But you know, that's the biggest misconception is
that we do get a little bit of misnomer and
a little bit of that connotation that when I land,
(40:45):
how far is the property away? We don't realize that
every day in our life, you know, we commute, whether
it's to work or whether it's the grocery store, and
realistically that hour commute, if you will, when you're on
vacation is a lot less. So we here at the McCullen.
When you booked your agent, we arrange you know, private
round trip transfers. I can't say that it's done legally,
(41:05):
but we do offer refreshments of a certain of a
certain kind in the car if you wanted to indulge
in that. But really, your nemicol experience starts from the
Pittsburgh Airport. And that's why the biggest misconception is that
I think sometimes we're cast with you know, how far
is it from the airport? Can we get there on time?
I have a family, so on and so forth. I
really did. If there's one thing that we could you know, abate,
(41:28):
I'd say, we're not that far away. It is not
as as I'm sure you've traveled and Christa's traveled around there.
We're not, you know, three hours away. It's not this
destination on the other side of the island that you
have to take a trolley to. You're going down a
major highway. You're within that events. Oh yeah. And the
the second part of your question, one of the what
(41:49):
was it that Nemacolin can What would I like to
highlight about it?
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Yes? What do you wish customers were more aware of?
Speaker 3 (41:58):
A that who? And the one thing I think that
customers need to be more aware of is that once
you get here, really everything is thought of for you.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
It is.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
It is something that I've never seen in my hotel
travels or employment times, is that with this butler process
and all of our keys being butler service, you do
have someone with you twenty four hours a day. And
even though we're over two hundred and seventy keys, we
really feel like a fifteen to twenty room, beautiful private sanctuary.
(42:29):
And that's one of those things that I think we
should highlight of memical and is that and I'm sure
you experience the firsthand, is that you have your guy
or girl that we do have female butlers as well.
And once you have your butler your set, you have
the ability to text them, you have the ability to
call them at any time and want them or one
of the staff will also be there for every attentive needs,
which really is something unique that you get sometimes luxury
(42:51):
private islands, but you get the feeling here domestically.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Yeah, and those butlers are so non obtrusive, because you know,
mine was there for me when I needed them. But
they weren't obtrusive at all. And really with the way
in which they approached me when I came and the
many conversations that I had with him was like having
a friend with me while I was there, and that
(43:15):
relationship started immediately. I did not have a moment where
I felt like, well I have to get to know you.
That was just a relaxed relationship right out of the box.
Speaker 3 (43:28):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (43:28):
Absolutely, yes, So it was. It was a great benefit really,
and I know a lot of clients sometimes are hesitant
about having a butler. Don't at Nemicola. Don't put them
in the center of your activities. Whatever you need them
to do. You'll be glad that you did that, and
you'll be happier for it.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
You would be surprised with Sarry that how many times
are I said that repeat percentage of the forty guests
that returned actually requests their butler, and they've formed this bond,
if you will, And whether it's Tim or Tommy or Jerry,
they actually requested that I'd love to read book. I
want to stay in the Grand Lodge or the chateau,
and I need, you know, Paul to be my butler.
(44:12):
And it's just great. And our butlers really go above
and beyond, and it's nice that they're recognized. And they
have a great time with it too, because then they yeah, yeah,
I can't tell you how many Demicole butlers have attended
guest weddings to hear how about that?
Speaker 1 (44:28):
Yeah, I'd invite mine to something special I was doing there,
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Now, for the benefit of our listeners today, I want
to add that you can actually book this place. This
is not just a fantasy that we're talking about. This
is a reality. You can actually stay book at Nemacolan
and you can do that with the Wishing Wheel. And
in addition to all of the great amenities that Chris
has highlighted force here today that I've talked about already
(44:58):
included in your re because Neimicolon is one of our
Virtuoso Partner resorts, you're also going to receive some special
amenities only through a Virtuoso Advisor, and the Wishing Well
is your contact for anything Virtuoso for twenty twenty five, Chris.
(45:19):
They get an upgrade on arrival. That's of course subject
to availability. But one thing that I love is that
daily full breakfast from up to two guests per bedroom,
served in the restaurant and via inroom dining. That's a
real bonus one hundred dollars equivalent resort or hotel credit
(45:39):
to be utilized during your stay. That's real money. That's
one hundred dollars. That's real money. You can spend that
on property. You get early check in, late checkout, subject
of course also to availability and complementary WiFi. That's the
one time the kids will thank you for taking them
to mccolon in the onset is when you tell them
(46:02):
they have free WiFi when they get there. You and
I both know they're not going to need it.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
And Chris, finally, I want you to tell our guests
about maybe your favorite event or moment at Nima Coolan
that really stands out to you. If it's more than one,
share that with us. We're anxious to hear from somebody
who's on property every day. I think guests really resonate
(46:31):
with things like that when they hear that, So I
want you to share those with us.
Speaker 3 (46:35):
Sure, absolutely yeah. And I actually do live on property
here with my wife. I get to live in this
wonderful paradise every day, and it's something would be to
be said. I really the maturation of this property. I
joined here in twenty twenty, right as that pandemic started,
and I saw this hotel go through such not only
(46:55):
a renovation physically, but a really imaturation to this beautiful
new model that is Nemacolin. And really, you know, the
culmination of that was what was our Summer Solstice party
as we call it now, that's that's in the archives,
which was June twenty twenty four, just last year, and
we had to say, you know it was an extravagant,
over the top party. But what I really took from
(47:17):
that is was the bonding of our associates and to
see them kind of take this monumental moment in our
thirty seven year history, coming on forty years old here
as an entity, to really bond and get ready for
that week with something I've never seen before, everyone working
hand in hand. Obviously, we had the star started event
with you know, Jimmy Fallon hosting and Michael Blublay performing
(47:40):
at Linel Ritchie and then Lady Gaga came in, and
you know, we had celebrity guests John McEnroe and kind
of my Megan Fox, these golfers. We had friend couples
and so on and so for the stars and celebrities,
and you know, our leisure guestbook our members. We have
a membership delegation here that you guys should become a
member of this as almost like a country club. Members booked, hotel,
(48:02):
guest booked. And it was just great to see what
I would call just a wonderful party of past guests,
new guests. But more importantly, I saw our associates really
revel in that moment of being proud of the hotel.
They're proud every day and they come to work every
day with a smile on our face. But to see
them this hotel, to see them smile at this hotel
(48:24):
is sending into as you mentioned earlier, this new arrival
within the world. It was a best kept secret. We
still do like our secretness up here. We don't want
it to be overrun, which I love that. My boss
is like, sell it, but don't But my boss ms
mag you says, sell it, but I don't want it
to be too crowded. So it is right now in
this beautiful balance of you know, where we're profitable, everything's
(48:48):
going well. We treat our guests like gold. But also
you don't feel overstimulated. You know, there's nothing worse than
when you pay a beautiful hotel rate and you expect
this level of service and you can't wave down server
and you can't get into the restaurant where we have
this beautiful bounds. Now, I think that was culminated with
the Summersaulice just was my favorite moment so far in
my career here. But really I think Skuy's a limit
(49:10):
for the hotel just to grow in a beautiful natural
rate of growth. And not be overcome. So that's what
the future holds for forty years is it's just around
the corner. In twenty twenty seven will be our four
eighth anniversary. So but Steria, it's going to be a
wonderful future here.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
I think you're exactly right. And it was interesting what
you said about your final thoughts and how you pointed
to again the staff, because that's really your treasure, that's
your gold piece there at NEMA Colin it is. Believe
me when I tell you, folks that are joining us
this wonderful Saturday morning, you will not find service like
(49:48):
this at too many places. And in my career, I've
been an agent for forty five years, owner of an
agency for fifteen, Chris, this is something most unusual. I
can actually point to a specific moment in your property.
I was walking down the hallway and I actually really
(50:10):
just had something on my mind about work and something
that I needed to take care of. But I must
have had sort of an inquisitive look on my face,
and at least two staff members approached me and said,
you look like you're looking for something. Can I help you?
That to me was a shining moment for that staff person,
(50:33):
and I really had to think that this is something
that they're trained to do, is to just notice. They
open their eyes, they notice, and they respond, and that's
the human connection. Yes, the property is beautiful, Yes the
activities are amazing. Yes the food is wonderful. But the
(50:54):
human connection cannot be substituted. It can't can't be replicated,
and it can't be aid into something that is different.
It is what makes an experience, especially when you travel. Chris,
I'm going to give you a couple of extra minutes
here to wind up with your final thoughts for us.
Speaker 3 (51:16):
Absolutely, I appreciate that, and obviously I take that sments
a heart, that that is what our associates all are about.
And you know, as I always say, you guys have
this this tough job of you know, finding these properties
and making the memories for your clients. You know, where
one of the last owned and operated hotels that's still
doing hospitality. That's why I think the differentiation is as
(51:38):
my my final thought is that you know, as you
mentioned the staff, and we call them associates here, there's
no it's not a management company, right, there's not this
intermediary that said, there's no task force director of SMB.
There's no there's no you know, task force salesperson. These
are people that live each sleep and breathing this cammunity,
(52:00):
that live on property. And that's our biggest distinguationing factor. Right,
it's count. Then you count these hotels on your hand,
you know throughout the US, whether it's exactly you know,
the breakers, the breakers broad you know kind of our
competition that are that are there that say hey, this
is us. It's not Maria. It's not nothing negative about
branded hotels, but it is something that's more personal, for
(52:24):
an importance for an owner that owns and operates it.
And that's really the distinguishing factor for us.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
And I don't think there's a whole lot more I
could do or you could do to let people know
that we really love the property. We want to sell
this property. We want to make sure that people experience
this property. You need this in your life. And if
you're listening to us this morning, Chris, thank you so
very much for joining me on a lifeless ordinary. This
(52:51):
has been my honor, my privilege, my pleasure to host
you here today. And if you are interested in a
magical expert at Nemacolon in Farmington, Pennsylvania, The Mouse that Roared.
You can give the wishing Well a call. We are
so easy to find. We're located at two forty three
nef Avenue in the Valley Center in Harsonburg, Virginia. You
(53:13):
can call us We're at five four oh nine oh
eight two three three three, or you can look us
up on the web. We are at the Wishingwell dot viz.
Speaker 2 (53:24):
This has been a life Less Ordinary, the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
are available on the iHeartRadio Act And we'll see again
(53:44):
next Saturday morning at ten for a Life Less Ordinary
from the wishing Well
This is a Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It's a travel show and podcasts from your friends at
the wishing Well two forty three f avenue in Harsimmerg
and online at the wishing Well dot this. The wishing
Well is your ultimate luxury concierge, travel agency and a
Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show and podcast hosted by
Terry Dean, bringing her over forty years of experience in
the travel industry to help guide you to great experiences
(00:23):
in your travel, whether it be around the block, around
the country, or around the world.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Let's bring in Terry Dean. Say hello, Chris, how are
you this wonderful Saturday morning?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
You know what, I wish we weren't getting so much rain,
but I'm glad that it's the weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
We needed it, right, I mean, things were really dry
and there was fire threats, and so I'm really happy
that we're having a little bit of rain. Wasn't too bad.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And getting ready for I guess it's next weekend Eastern Rondo.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Right. It is, went fast, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'm glad because I haven't had any meat on Fridays,
so I'm ready to have.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
A nice arts are you n Yeah? Okay, doing the
Linton Fast. Okay, Well, some people give up chocolate. You
gave up me.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Oh well, we have to give up meat every Friday
during what and I gave up coffee creamer.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Oh man, I've been drinking black coffee. Oh I would
just pass.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Actually, I've been drinking very very little coffee over the
past few weeks.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Well, we're going to have a great show today. I
am so so excited. We're going to forego today only
for our listeners who usually expect a certain format. We're
going to forego our news and we're going to forego
our sales because we're going to devote our entire show
to a particular property today and there's great reason for that.
(01:47):
I do apologize for this impromptu arrangement, but I'm not
going to make any apologies today for that, and you're
going to soon know why. As you well know, we
began a new series in luxury travel topics, and we
started that last week. Last week's show focused on small towns,
big luxury. We had a bunch of fun exploring places
(02:10):
like Sedona, Carmel by the Sea in Monterey, California, plus
Bar Harbor, Maine, all of favorites, you know, just favorite
little towns. What we discovered is that the common thread
running through those highlighted towns really was anything but common.
And as a matter of fact, the luxury we uncovered
(02:31):
was the stuff that dreams are made of. And I
love that. But this week I had the privilege of
spending three glorious days in the small town of Farmington, Pennsylvania,
in a resort of splendor that should be described as
the Mouse That Roared, and that actually is the name
(02:54):
of today's show. And I was there for the purpose
of attending one of our virtuoso on Tour meeting which
are held periodically at some of the finest and most
unique luxury properties around the world. Now, for those of
you who have never heard of Farmington, Pennsylvania, get out
your crayon and write that down, because it should be
(03:15):
added to your must see places this year. We love
that you all join us here on a lifeless ordinary
every week. But today you're in for a real treat,
to be sure. Now, in just a minute, I'm going
to be welcoming our guest on today's show. But before
I do, Chris Carmichael, I want to ask you what Farmington, Pennsylvania.
(03:39):
The reality TV show The Bachelor and eighty four lumber
all have in common. And actually, I'll tell you what.
Let's bring our guest out of hiding for a moment
and I'm going to ask him what those three things
have in common.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, miss, answer is all three of those wonderful institutions
an organization sharing common the most magical playground called the
Nemicolan Resort, Dingdingding.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You are correct. But before you injure yourself trying to
figure out all the things that we know and love
about this wonderful property, let me welcome our guests on
today to a lifeless ordinary. I'm pleased and extremely honored
to have Christopher Baron, vice president of Sales and Marketing
(04:35):
of Vanima Colin, as our very very special guest and
luxury resort representative for today's episode. Chris. We began a
new luxury travel series last week entitled In the Smallest
of Places. Farmington, Pennsylvania might be considered a small East
Coast town. I think that's probably accurate. But if you will,
please talk to our audience about the biggest success story
(04:59):
in small town America destination that is simply called NEMA Coolan.
So how did it begin?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Absolutely well, thank you so much for having me on
on a life less ordinary mysteria. Mister Chris, pleasures be
speaking with you. It all started really as a dream
for the owner and founder of the resort Versus, Joseph A.
Hardy the Third. It's a beautiful story of family, pride
and really innovation for the past thirty seven years here
(05:29):
in the small town of Farmington, Pennsylvania. It's one a
story of perseverance, you know, I want to say fortitude
and really the outlook of the next trends in the
travel industry is really what drives Nemicolan as a resort.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, I agree. Yeah, And I've been in the travel
industry for over forty five years, Chris, and I've learned
that service and success of the delivery of service is
measured by the most important people that receive it. That's
the guests now, I as well as an additional fifty
other virtuoso professionals that joined me at Nemacolon this week, which,
(06:10):
by the way, thank you. We were all blown away
by the attention to service and detail that we all
individually and even collectively received at your property. I want
to know what is the secret sauce for your property?
In delivering that so consistently, Tom after Tom after Tom.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Absolutely, and it was our pleasure having you this week.
We really we cherish those these shows, if you will.
That absolutely allows us to showcase our wonderful resort to
a whole new audience. It is something truly that to
be seen to be believed. And I believe what really
sets our hotel apart is the authenticity of our associates
(06:55):
are now president CEO, Maggie Hardy, who is the daughter
of Joseph A the third, carries on that brand promise
and really what I do love about coming into work
every day, and I think that allows us to deliver
the brand promise is she quotes quite frequently that she
has two bosses, the guests and the associates. And I
really do believe that that mission statement, if you will,
(07:17):
sets us above all of our competition that are owned
by various private equity firms and the corporate type ownerships.
You have a family that owns this hotel and I
really believe that that is the part.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I think it does too. And I think you know,
anytime you have a knitted family together in a lot
of businesses, I think something good is going to come
out of that. There's a lot of tiers and levels
of accommodation at Nima Coolan available to guests who want
(07:49):
to stay there. You've got couples coming in, families, multi
generational travelers, even specialty groups. So I want you, if
you will talk to our audience about the diverse accommodations
that are offered at Nemicolin and if you will, Chris,
the differences as well as the similarities of these well
(08:10):
appointed accommodations, and dear lord, can we please talk about
the butler service too, that crazy good.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You know, guidelines are often thrown around that we have
something for everyone, and here I really do believe that
we do. There is five different types of accommodations, if
you will, there's three collective hotel options for our guests.
That is the wonderful French inspired chateau, which is that
iconic moment as you're kind of driving through the Laurel
(08:43):
Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania. It's this big iconic building modeled
after the French hotel the Ritz and actually in Paris
that you know, our owner went on to travel one
time said yes, I'd like one of those in southwestern Pennsylvania.
So we built one of those that is one hundred
and twenty four key, These beautiful double vaulted ceilings really
(09:03):
just a great soaking tub involved all the appointments there
and as you mentioned, full butler service were all one
hundred and twenty four of those keys. The next hotel
accommodation we have is what we lect to call the
Grand Lodge, that is comprised of fifty six keys and
really to your point, designed for multi generational travel. Both
of these buildings went over a complete renovation just over
(09:25):
the past three years to the tune of over five
hundred million dollars. You'll see different marble in each one
of those bathrooms and toilet areas, and really that the
Grand Lodge is designed to have connecting rooms. Those fifty
six keys, they all connect in some form or another.
We've seen guests take entire floors if they want connecting
(09:45):
rooms or just have a family of travelers on a floor.
Then the third lodging option from a hotel standpoint is
called Falling Rock. Falling Rock is comprised of forty two
individual suites, again with full butler service. It is a
Frank Lloyd Wright inspired hotel, very much into the earth Tones.
It is on our campus but away from those two
(10:06):
main buildings, and it is our adults only offering, so
it's sixteen years plus that are allowed in that building.
It has its own restaurant, its own pool facilities, locker
rooms where we offer massages and bring the spall them
in two. So those are the three hotel offerings. But
then as you mentioned too, you know generational travel and
sometimes independent travel. You really want that home away from home.
(10:27):
So then we also offer two other distinct accommodations. One
is our private homes and estates. Those are individual freestanding
houses located throughout our twenty two hundred acres here. They
range in the average of four to five bedrooms. Up
to it, we have a large estate called arted Estates
which sleeps twenty two people. We see a lot of
(10:49):
great family retreats there. But then also we've seen a
board of directors to take that entire estate. And really,
you know, there's two Jacuzi's there, there's a billiard's room,
there's a gym. It really is a fully self contained
mansion the state, if you will. And then our final
offering is what we like to call the homes, and
those comprised of forty townhouses. They're really great units. We
(11:10):
see a lot for family travel. They do have in
room in room dining kitchenettes, fully decked out kitchens with
fishes and all everything you can to create your meals
at home. They oversee our beautiful annual annual sessionary sanctuary
as well, have a little deck off the back. And
(11:31):
those are two bedrooms and two and a half bass
so there's two individual sleeping combinations, both with on suites
a downstairs living room with a half bath too. So
really it's kind of that townhouse almost apartment type accommodation
where we see two or three filmies get together and
get several townhouses together and really have their own space.
You get to be right next door to your neighbor,
(11:52):
join them on the back deck for a nice nightcap
if you will.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, it's a beautiful, massive property. And it was so
funny before you and I went on air. I was
kind of talking to the folks here in the studio
today and I said, you know, I kind of likened
this experience and my reaction to coming up on property
a bit like when I flew into Las Vegas for
the first time. It's like you're in the plane, there's nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing,
(12:19):
and then you go, wow, what is that? And that's
the reason that's kind of the reaction I had when
I came up to Nema Colin because you all occupy
how many acres there, Chris.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Over twenty two hundred acres. You know, it all started
with the original lodge purchasing nineteen eighty seven, which was
a hunting of fishing lodge up here, you know, beautiful
fishing and hunting trails throughout the property. But then little
by little she started added acreage through that. So just
so we'd like to say, there's ten acres on what
there's two hundred and seventy keys on the property, if
(12:54):
you will, So there's there's just under ten acres per
key here.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah. And the other thing that I really want to
soak in to our listening audience today is that level
of service. I know, I ask you what your secret
sauce was, But from the moment I pulled up on property,
I was greeted with a level of professionalism that I
(13:18):
haven't seen at a major luxury department store in many,
many years. I was somebody to them, even though they
didn't know my name, I was somebody important on that property,
and they had no idea who I was affiliated with
or associated with at that moment. They just knew they
(13:41):
had a job to do and they did it to
utter perfection. The other thing that impressed me so much, Chris,
was the number of years that I hear your average
employee stays with you talk to me about that.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Yeah, absolutely, and I was wonderful to hear that feedback.
We deeply appreciate it. You know, the the average tenure
of Nemical associate is just over I believe ten and
a half years. We really are embedded into this community here.
We are the largest employer in Fayette County, the county
that we reside in Pennsylvania, and really where Maggie always
believes in her two bosses being the guest and associates.
(14:19):
I say, the third pillar she believes this is training
and you know we fly. I can't tell you the
countless trainers. It's year round training. Everything is mandated from
a Forbes standard perspective, but also just a pure hospitality perspective.
One of the most endearing stories I like to tell
is that she doesn't really hands on. So when you know,
we opened up a new restaurant this past year called Gusto,
(14:41):
our Italian fair offering. She made sure every single one
of the fourteen hundred associates, down to your entry level roundskeeper,
you know, from the golf course eight in that restaurant.
So it really is something for me to see from
a hospitality perspective. And I've worked with some major organizations,
you know, the Hiltons and Marriottes of the world to
make sure that the groundskeeper that really is probably never
(15:04):
going to interact with the guests front facing experiences that
firsthand and eats in that restaurant is just a testament
to her dedication. And that's where I think really embodies everyone.
When the guests arrives, if they feel ownership, they feel
that they're coming to their home. We have a beautiful
fifty million dollar brand new housing facility. I really call
(15:25):
it a community. It's called Wisteria. She's invested, really, you know,
tons of not only you know, financial dollars, but into
the cultivation of a community here. So that groundskeeper that
you know, again, well, if the golf courses closed, he
might not interact with you, but he has a sense
that with Miss Terry arrives, he feels almost that that
(15:45):
ownership that they've come to his house and he wants
to and he'll he'll meet you and he'll say, you
gotta eat at Gusto. You gotta try to, you know,
the the bolonaise, it's amazing, you know, And that is
that's something that's not done at a lot of hotels.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Yeah, and that's very clear to me how the employees,
as you said, I love that word, they're invested in
the enjoyment of the guests. You know, it's not just
a job to them. This is something that they take
pride in. And you can tell I like to think
that because I saw this firsthand, that I can really
(16:18):
share with our audience that that level of dedication seems
to start from the top down. It's very much like
the philosophy that we have at the Virtuoso Network, and
that is that good starts at the top and it
trickles down to everybody who receives it. And when you
do it well, it is so powerful. And I also
(16:40):
love the fact that you were talking about another one
of my favorite things, which is Gusto. The food at
Nema Colin is second to none. Another one of the
things that definitely played into my personal overall enjoyment was
that culinary experience. The food around the property, Chris was amazing.
I had too much, but that's not really a complaint.
(17:02):
Probably more restraint required on my part in the future.
But it started for me in the French petisserie when
after four hours of traveling, I was just looking for
kind of a light bite and what I thought I
ordered was a grilled ham and cheese. What I received
was pure magic. It was called a crooked monsieur, which
(17:26):
is a very French version of a ham and cheese,
but with a fabulous French sauce, ham cheese and the
slightest mirror of Dijon mustard, perfectly grilled until it was
just oozing with delicious goodness. And I thought it couldn't
get any better than that. But then Thursday night, which
(17:47):
was our last evening on property, the chef and the
service team went all out, and I mean it was
an extravaganza. The four core score mate offering that we
all enjoy joyd would have made Gordon Ramsay and James
Beard weep with pride. I just know it now, mind you.
(18:07):
I was only on property for three days. So, Chris,
what other destinations of decadence and culinary delight can you
share with our audience that can be found on property
at Nemacullen. And if I'm not mistaken, I think you've
got even a new restaurant about to open pretty soon,
am I right?
Speaker 3 (18:28):
So we're currently renovating our five star, five diamond restaurant
called Latrek, which is our fabulous if you will tasting
kind of offering, you know, very that that special night,
whether it's with a significant someone else or you want
to treat yourself that renovation. That restaurant is currently going
on a renovation set to open up in two thousand
and six. But in addition a S two that twenty six,
(18:52):
as I'm losing twenty years here. In addition to Gusta,
which is our Italian fair offering, we have Faun and Fable,
Oqulius and the Peak, and all three of those restaurants
are what I would like to call destination restaurants. I'll
start with Faun and Fable, which is our kind of
b throw offering, very steakhouse driven, beautiful fay breakfast in
(19:14):
the morning for all of our guests on property. It's
a very decadent, over the top breakfast offering where you know,
not only do you have the you know, the standard
you know, egg station and omeleved station, but then it
delves into beautiful handmade French toast and as you said,
the pastry. We have a there's a twenty thousand square
foot pastry kitchen here on property that we get all
(19:36):
our pastries from fresh every day. I do sneak a
couple back there before they go out to the public.
As you said, super inslad here as well. But it's
a beautiful restaurant. It is considered our three meal on
property on the main campus. As we said, with the
Grand Lodge and the Chateau offering, we have Oculius, which
is our seafood Mediterranean inspired seafood fair over located in
(19:58):
the Falling Rock building. So that is beautiful. Chef Eduardo,
actually he's been with us for just over five years,
really brings in these beautiful coastal Mediterranean flavors. There's always
a fresh fish special. They fly to the fresh fish
and obviously being in Pennsylvania, we have to get a
lot of to be very good with our logistics. And
really i've seen him in any sort of instance, come
(20:21):
up with a beautiful special of what we get in
for the weekend really drives his menu, so it's nothing
reused or recirculated. It is fresh fish that daily. And
then we have the Peak which is kind of our
family all you can gather offering that's located in a
beautiful Peak facility which is our year round pool that's
heated as you mentioned earlier to eighty four degrees in
(20:42):
homage to our parent company eighty four lumber. So that
is more of your tacos, pizzas, small bites offering. We
have a beautiful several different chicken sandwich offerings up there
that's great for just kind of a family getaway or
a lighter bite. And obviously we do have twenty four
hours day rooms service which is curated by our chefs
and really, you know, if you just want to stay
(21:03):
in that wonderful room and not leave, we will bring
the meal toward to you.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
And I will say this about my experience, which was
very personal of course, at Nemacolin, is that there is
nothing that is standard fair there. Everything is over the top.
And when I say that, I don't mean portion size.
I mean though the portions are as well, But I
(21:30):
mean there's just such an attention to the detail of
even the culinary experience that people have. You refer to
the peak. I had the opportunity with our group to
go up to the peak and enjoy an evening there,
which was fantastic. And I sat and I thought to
myself because where we were up in the upper level,
(21:50):
you could look down over the family pool that was there,
and the hot tubs and all of the activities that
are outside, and I thought to myself, this would be
a fabulous place for a family reunion or again that
multi generational type of experience. It's perfect for that. I though,
(22:13):
loved the food. The chef's there or chef I don't
know who it is, but honestly, he is worth his
weight in gold if you ask me. And we all
know what gold is selling for right now. Chris, I
enjoy always talking about food. I've enjoyed talking about the
Nima coole and when we're going to take a break here,
(22:35):
but when we come back, you and I are going
to spend a little bit of time talking about something
that I also enjoyed on property, and that is the
many many activities that are available and things to do
when people arrive. So we're going to take a break
and we'll be back in just a minute.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
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(23:16):
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three three three. The wishing Well really does make dreams
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Speaker 2 (23:24):
Hey, welcome back to a Life less Ordinary, the Travel
Showing podcast from your friends at the wishing Well. You
can find them online at the wishing Well dot biz.
You can find them on f Avenue in Harrisonburg or
give him a call at five four oh nine oh
eight twenty three thirty three. Terry, I've been enjoying this
conversation with Christopher Baron, vice president of Sales and Marketing
at Nima Colan Uskeva. This is continuing the series that
(23:47):
we started last week, which is in the smallest of places,
and we continue that with the mouse that roared.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Absolutely, and I am so proud to have Chris bearing
with us today, vice President of Sales and Marketing at Nemicola.
I am so grateful for those of you who turn
in with us, tune in with us every week, and
we are opening the doors for you of one of
(24:16):
the most beautiful gems of luxury that one can find
on the East Coast today. And Chris, we've only shared
what I think is a thimbleful of the magic that
waits inside the gates of Nimic Colan. But as with
any great travel experience, activities like accommodations and services and
(24:37):
great culinary experiences are always a part of that. We
would probably need two extra hours to impart to our
audience to all of the things that there are to
do on property at nemic Coolon. But I'm going to
turn you loose and let you take us on an
activities tour if you will.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Absolutely I appreciate that and really agree with you. You know,
part of my job here as vice president the sales
market is actually our oversight of our website and social
media postings. And you know, I always I feel sometimes
I don't do an adequate job because everyone that actually
comes here says, boy, your website never does a justice,
and this is you have so much more to offer,
(25:18):
So I try, I try every day.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
The pH Yeah, you can't really create that kind of
magic though unless you see it. You must see this property.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
And it's actually interesting, mysterious is that you know about
we have about forty to forty five percent of our
guests are repeat However, during the time of during you know,
an a whole calendar year, about thirty percent of our
guests are first timers. And what's really interesting is that
I love that conversion. You know, we keep track of
these beautiful hospitality metrics of you know, getting new clients
(25:51):
and you know, once they come here, they tend to
come back again. For that exact question that you proposed
to me, the number of the share activities that we
have here, you know, of that thirty percent that comes
to the first time, they're generally celebrating you know, some
sort of significant you know, anniversary or life moment. And
what we try to do here is once you book
obviously through your Virtuosa agent and we and we kind
(26:11):
of we give you these great amenities and we and
we get you through a what's called our experience agent,
and our experience agent will take you through a lot
of our activities offering. It is no coincidence we have
over we have eighty four different activities property and they range.
They really range from season activities such as dog sledding,
(26:32):
to summertime activities to fly fishing. So really what we
do is when we get you as a guest, we
really spend time with you. We send you obviously a
confirmation email, but then we follow up with a live
agent that really sits down and customizes your itinerary. It
really depends on what you're into here. So we have
a variety from recreational activities. Uh, just to name a few,
we have jeep riding, we have a ropes course, adventure course. Obviously,
(26:54):
as I mentioned, fly fishing. We have a shooting academy
that we refer to as the Roden Range Club. Get
to go out and skiat shoot target practice. There's over
twenty six different actual five stands as they are called,
where you get target practice and for clay shooting. But
really then you can turn your mind to the artistic side.
We have a beautiful art tour. There's over fifty million
(27:17):
dollars worth of art displayed on the property. You have
the pino and paint class. I mean it really just yeah,
it goes on and on. You know, if you're into
the arts, you can go that fascination. If you're into recreation,
we have the outdoor activities. Then we really have beautiful
spa amenities as well too, and I consider that an
activity as well too. Reactation.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
It's a necessary one. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Absolutely, there's over forty treatment rooms and what we call
the Woodland Spa. Again, we have technicians that have been
with us and really life savers as they are called affectionately,
that really take that time to curate your full SPA
tenporary from hot Stone Massages to actually have a wing
called the Holistic Center, which focuses on Western medicine. We
(28:00):
have this beautiful doctor on property called doctor Lynn. He
does acupuncture, to reiki, to resoxology.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
So really which I'll find one with fascinating That is amazing. Yeah,
you don't find that every resort, and that's.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
What we'll see. That that affinity for someone to come
in and once they learn about those programs, planning that
second visit, you know, to really say okay, I went
this visit with the kids, and you know, we went
you know, miniature golfing, and then we went real golfing,
and then we went on the rope score. So then
now I want to come back with my spouse and
really unwind and take advantage of our spot programming.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah, and what better group of people to have had
in this week than the group of travel advisors who
are going to carry this message throughout the country literally,
because we were there from all over California, Colorado, and
I even talked to which is sad, but I talked
to some of the other preferred vendors that we were
(28:58):
meeting with at your property, and many of them, Chris,
had never heard of NEMA colon before. You have a
whole new crop of clients that are really dropping seed
across the United States and throughout for nemic colon now,
so I think that's wonderful. This is a property that
needs to be seen, needs to be experienced. You all
(29:20):
were so gracious and even allowed us as travel advisors
to take advantage of some of the activities. As you said,
we had the sip and paint kind of thing, which
was amazing. I actually brought my painting home because I
could tell what it was, which was a first for
me because I'm not really sure when I've ever put
paint on canvas before that you could really ever tell
(29:42):
what it was. But that was a great instructor.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah, it is wonderful to see those instructors. I've taken
that class several times with my wife, and you know,
to see something you create and really just get yourself
outside of your own box. Oh no, especially on vacation.
You know it. You know I do command you guys
as travel advisors. You have one of the hardest jobs
in the industry that you know, you're creating memories for
(30:08):
your for your families. That's exactly real client, it's their family.
And to let yourself underwine with something as simple as
a panalt and paint that you wouldn't do you're a
normal nine to five everyday routine. It is really nice
to let your hair down here at the resort, and
we really truly try to create that with our bevy
of activities that says whatever you're into, and you know what,
maybe you never tried fly fishing and you've seen it
(30:29):
on TV. It's we whisk you away and within a
real ten minutes time you are standing in our in
one of our rivers and the surrounding areas. Let you know,
doing up a line and being there with the structure
and catching your first trout. It's something amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
And I don't know, Chris, if you've got kids or not.
I do. And I'm going to have a bit of
a reality check with folks here right now. There are
so many activities at Nemicole and that our wishes can
come true with our kids when we get them on property,
and that is that they disconnect. There's so much fun
going on around them, so many things to do that
(31:06):
there's no need nor desire to have that phone planted
in your hand all the time except to take pictures,
you know that pictures that capture.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
So I don't make sure of myself, but I've I
have a ton of nieces and nephews that have visited
me up here with Uncle Chris and Nevigal and it
is just something to be seen. And that's what we
really and I'm glad you said the mysteria of trying
to provide that platform for them to escape. And one
of the things that really warms my heart is I
see my nieces come up here and they're already grabbing
(31:39):
their aunt and my sister and grabbing them and saying,
let's go do this. You know, they've already seen this
fateral and they're ready to rock and roll and go
to our to our animal zoos sanctuary, and to go
just to these wonderful places, to to interact, to go painting,
to go to go on the ropes course. I mean
again anything you can imagine that they're already into.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah, and you glossed over that really fast. But I
think it's really cool that Nimma Colan has a animal
sanctuary there. I personally was able to see lions and
tigers and bears oma, but I also saw many other
(32:20):
animals who looked quite happy, quite content, and it was
just delightful to be able to be on property. Even
as cool as it was to walk around and see
how lovely that fits so well into the landscape of
Nimma Colan.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
It is something that is truly a sight to be held.
And as I mentioned earlier, as our owner and president,
Maggie loves her associates and loves her guests, I do
feel that she loves these animals even more. To be
honest with you, Miss Harry. She dotes on these animals.
We have a full time zoologist here on property. The
(32:56):
food bill I can't share the number with you a monthly.
These are all rescue animals that Maggie has gone out
personally rescued, if you will, that have come here and
to decide to live their life here at the mccollin.
They get top of the NOZ medical care as well
as feeding grooming to the highest standards. And really it's
something that I don't know will continue that program forever.
(33:18):
You know, obviously times have changed and so on and
so forth, but it's something that she's made a commitment
to these animals for the rest of their natural lives
that we will stay with them and honor them and
have them here at the property as part of our family.
But it's really great to see, you know, the kids
and the adults really kind of roam and see the
beautiful sanctuary and enclosure that it just it takes your
(33:39):
breath away, and something that I think we'll do in perpetuity,
maybe a little bit more with you know, kind of
indigenous animals here at the property, but for the time being,
it's it's it's definitely worth coming up here for to
see these animals in a completely different setting, but also
pampered and cared for like no other.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
What other activities do you have their specifically focused on children.
Speaker 4 (34:04):
So we actually have.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
A whole building if you will. I'm sure that you
know you guys were were toward the property and able
to see, but it's actually on our second floor of
our shopping center. We have we have obviously shopping I
forgot to mentioned, as well as a beautiful activity created.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Out there credit card.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Absolutely, but we actually do have a kids club that
we call down there. It's a beautiful arcade facility. Again
all complimentary for the children as well as the kids
pooled down there. We offer babysitting services and a kids
club that will actually you know, pick up your children,
spend all day with them if if you guys want
to get out for the minute or vice versa. You
know that age that varies an age from obviously babysitting
(34:47):
services to full blown kids club throughout the day. So
they have their own building. We have what's called the
Hardy Girls Gym which is now almost a laser tag
facility and Ninja course. Uh that's a wonderful activity for
the kids. As well. So really we can take your
children throughout the property and the safety and confines of
our compound of twenty two hundred acres, and we have
(35:09):
no limit on the amount of activities we could do
with them for three to four days. Really show them
the showcase the whole property.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Now, thanks the good Lord. I did not get there,
but I know you all also have a casino on
property as well.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Correct, Yes, we do. We have the casino at Nemic
Colum owned and operated by us here. It is open
to the public, so it is a regional casino if
you will. Are shuttles that run NonStop throughout the property
and take you from activity to activity and accommodations throughout
the property. We'll also bring it down to the casino
at mic Colum. We have over five hundred slot machines there,
(35:45):
table games as well in the state of Pennsylvania, so
we're legalized there. So if you want to try your
hand at luck, that's open to about three am on
the weekends and twelve am twelve twelve am midnight on
the weekdays.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Okay, I think we've done a really good job here
of establishing that NEMA Colan has activities to go on
for days, days and days. But I know something else
that's very unique about your property, and that is that
you have played host to some real A lister celebrities
(36:18):
in the entertainment business. What are they doing at Nemicole
and Chris and who might we see there in twenty
twenty five?
Speaker 3 (36:27):
What we do pride ourselves on here at Nemicol and
that is one above beyond his confidentiality, we really you know,
we allow an artist or a celebrity to come here
and I want to say be noticed, but also be unnoticed.
You know, we've had a variety to your employee, we
have a hall of fame, if you will, of guest
celebrities I've performed here from the likes of you know,
(36:50):
celebrities that I have left us. Maggie, our owner, was
a huge fan of Robert Williams, Yes, to you know,
Dwayne Newton, to Robin Leech. We've had Neil Diamond here
to the current Ray the son who's our VP of
brand Strategy, pj Uh he's a huge Lady Gaga fan,
Lionel Ritchie. I mean you name it that they've performed here,
(37:12):
whether it be for a private event for a group
or the family. But then also can't I can't list
every celebrity that comes here just on a regular basis.
And really, you know what's interesting is that you'll bump
into I saw the other day ja Jenna Kramer was
up here. Then I bumped into one of the Jonas brothers,
And you know, the celebrities come up there with their families.
(37:33):
Quarterbacks of the NFL teams come up here with their families.
Obviously the Steelers are in close proximity, but I saw
Alex Smith, the the the quarterback of the Washington Generals
come by, and it's just interesting that, you know, you
see these people and obviously the nave drop and ruined
their confidentiality, but you know, it is this beautiful mixture
(37:54):
that you could be sitting at the dinner with your
family or with your spouse, and you'll be a celebrity
there and I'll be totally innocuous. There's another guest at dinner.
There's no gushing, there's no autograph. I mean, I've seen
them take I've seen them take photos with guests. But really,
you know, with only two hundred and seventy keys and
this vastness of twenty two hundred acres yes, they're also
(38:15):
just regular guests going with the kids and going with
their families and you're having it. It's almost it's the
coolest bumping mystery. To be honest with you, you bump into
celebrities here and you wouldn't even realize them.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah, and I think it's fabulous, you know, to have
that sort of pedigree that you have a property that
attracts that kind of celebrity type of client. But what
that says to me is it's for everybody. I mean,
the average guest can feel and will be treated exactly
(38:46):
like those celebrities at Nemical And that's what you do.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
And I want to while a wild, a wild story
is some of the Steelers. Obviously we're close practically at Pittsburgh.
Troy Palamalo, who the famous dealer with this great, great hair,
he was, He was great here of our spa. He
was sitting at the hot tub of our spa and
our owner and founder, mister Joe Hardy was sitting in
there in the hot tub with them. They struck up
(39:13):
a conversation and you know, just as two regular guests,
and Troy goes, well, what do you do? He goes, Actually,
I own this place and if that does a testament
of just I get everyone utilizing the spa. And then
now our current you know, uh, head of the head
of the table, Miss Maggie, she uses the spot. She
talks with guests, and so does PJ. He did a son,
(39:35):
so you know again that celebrity can interact with the
owner to an everyday guest, which is really unique.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
It is it is. And as the vice president of
sales and marketing for Nemicole and Chris, what are do
you think? This is kind of a two part question.
What do you think are some of the most misunderstood
perceptions of Nemicle and And the second part of the question
is what do you wish potential customers were more aware
(39:59):
of about your magnificent property.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
Sure? Absolutely, well, the first part of the question, I
would say the biggest misconception is our location. You know
it's interesting that again you guys as travel advisors and
the audience out there obviously you know you get these
requests just as I do when I use my virtue
as a travel agent and I call up and we're
going abroad, whether it's domestic or international, and well how
(40:24):
far is the hotel and can we get everything done
and so on and so forth. We are located I would say,
ninety minutes from the Pittsburgh Airport, which is the major
airport here. We do have a private airship on the
property and other local private airstrips as well closer to
the property. But you know, that's the biggest misconception is
that we do get a little bit of misnomer and
a little bit of that connotation that when I land,
(40:45):
how far is the property away? We don't realize that
every day in our life, you know, we commute, whether
it's to work or whether it's the grocery store, and
realistically that hour commute, if you will, when you're on
vacation is a lot less. So we here at the McCullen.
When you booked your agent, we arrange you know, private
round trip transfers. I can't say that it's done legally,
(41:05):
but we do offer refreshments of a certain of a
certain kind in the car if you wanted to indulge
in that. But really, your nemicol experience starts from the
Pittsburgh Airport. And that's why the biggest misconception is that
I think sometimes we're cast with you know, how far
is it from the airport? Can we get there on time?
I have a family, so on and so forth. I
really did. If there's one thing that we could you know, abate,
(41:28):
I'd say, we're not that far away. It is not
as as I'm sure you've traveled and Christa's traveled around there.
We're not, you know, three hours away. It's not this
destination on the other side of the island that you
have to take a trolley to. You're going down a
major highway. You're within that events. Oh yeah. And the
the second part of your question, one of the what
(41:49):
was it that Nemacolin can What would I like to
highlight about it?
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Yes? What do you wish customers were more aware of?
Speaker 3 (41:58):
A that who? And the one thing I think that
customers need to be more aware of is that once
you get here, really everything is thought of for you.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
It is.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
It is something that I've never seen in my hotel
travels or employment times, is that with this butler process
and all of our keys being butler service, you do
have someone with you twenty four hours a day. And
even though we're over two hundred and seventy keys, we
really feel like a fifteen to twenty room, beautiful private sanctuary.
(42:29):
And that's one of those things that I think we
should highlight of memical and is that and I'm sure
you experience the firsthand, is that you have your guy
or girl that we do have female butlers as well.
And once you have your butler your set, you have
the ability to text them, you have the ability to
call them at any time and want them or one
of the staff will also be there for every attentive needs,
which really is something unique that you get sometimes luxury
(42:51):
private islands, but you get the feeling here domestically.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Yeah, and those butlers are so non obtrusive, because you know,
mine was there for me when I needed them. But
they weren't obtrusive at all. And really with the way
in which they approached me when I came and the
many conversations that I had with him was like having
a friend with me while I was there, and that
(43:15):
relationship started immediately. I did not have a moment where
I felt like, well I have to get to know you.
That was just a relaxed relationship right out of the box.
Speaker 3 (43:28):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (43:28):
Absolutely, yes, So it was. It was a great benefit really,
and I know a lot of clients sometimes are hesitant
about having a butler. Don't at Nemicola. Don't put them
in the center of your activities. Whatever you need them
to do. You'll be glad that you did that, and
you'll be happier for it.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
You would be surprised with Sarry that how many times
are I said that repeat percentage of the forty guests
that returned actually requests their butler, and they've formed this bond,
if you will, And whether it's Tim or Tommy or Jerry,
they actually requested that I'd love to read book. I
want to stay in the Grand Lodge or the chateau,
and I need, you know, Paul to be my butler.
(44:12):
And it's just great. And our butlers really go above
and beyond, and it's nice that they're recognized. And they
have a great time with it too, because then they yeah, yeah,
I can't tell you how many Demicole butlers have attended
guest weddings to hear how about that?
Speaker 1 (44:28):
Yeah, I'd invite mine to something special I was doing there,
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Now, for the benefit of our listeners today, I want
to add that you can actually book this place. This
is not just a fantasy that we're talking about. This
is a reality. You can actually stay book at Nemacolan
and you can do that with the Wishing Wheel. And
in addition to all of the great amenities that Chris
has highlighted force here today that I've talked about already
(44:58):
included in your re because Neimicolon is one of our
Virtuoso Partner resorts, you're also going to receive some special
amenities only through a Virtuoso Advisor, and the Wishing Well
is your contact for anything Virtuoso for twenty twenty five, Chris.
(45:19):
They get an upgrade on arrival. That's of course subject
to availability. But one thing that I love is that
daily full breakfast from up to two guests per bedroom,
served in the restaurant and via inroom dining. That's a
real bonus one hundred dollars equivalent resort or hotel credit
(45:39):
to be utilized during your stay. That's real money. That's
one hundred dollars. That's real money. You can spend that
on property. You get early check in, late checkout, subject
of course also to availability and complementary WiFi. That's the
one time the kids will thank you for taking them
to mccolon in the onset is when you tell them
(46:02):
they have free WiFi when they get there. You and
I both know they're not going to need it.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
And Chris, finally, I want you to tell our guests
about maybe your favorite event or moment at Nima Coolan
that really stands out to you. If it's more than one,
share that with us. We're anxious to hear from somebody
who's on property every day. I think guests really resonate
(46:31):
with things like that when they hear that, So I
want you to share those with us.
Speaker 3 (46:35):
Sure, absolutely yeah. And I actually do live on property
here with my wife. I get to live in this
wonderful paradise every day, and it's something would be to
be said. I really the maturation of this property. I
joined here in twenty twenty, right as that pandemic started,
and I saw this hotel go through such not only
(46:55):
a renovation physically, but a really imaturation to this beautiful
new model that is Nemacolin. And really, you know, the
culmination of that was what was our Summer Solstice party
as we call it now, that's that's in the archives,
which was June twenty twenty four, just last year, and
we had to say, you know it was an extravagant,
over the top party. But what I really took from
(47:17):
that is was the bonding of our associates and to
see them kind of take this monumental moment in our
thirty seven year history, coming on forty years old here
as an entity, to really bond and get ready for
that week with something I've never seen before, everyone working
hand in hand. Obviously, we had the star started event
with you know, Jimmy Fallon hosting and Michael Blublay performing
(47:40):
at Linel Ritchie and then Lady Gaga came in, and
you know, we had celebrity guests John McEnroe and kind
of my Megan Fox, these golfers. We had friend couples
and so on and so for the stars and celebrities,
and you know, our leisure guestbook our members. We have
a membership delegation here that you guys should become a
member of this as almost like a country club. Members booked, hotel,
(48:02):
guest booked. And it was just great to see what
I would call just a wonderful party of past guests,
new guests. But more importantly, I saw our associates really
revel in that moment of being proud of the hotel.
They're proud every day and they come to work every
day with a smile on our face. But to see
them this hotel, to see them smile at this hotel
(48:24):
is sending into as you mentioned earlier, this new arrival
within the world. It was a best kept secret. We
still do like our secretness up here. We don't want
it to be overrun, which I love that. My boss
is like, sell it, but don't But my boss ms
mag you says, sell it, but I don't want it
to be too crowded. So it is right now in
this beautiful balance of you know, where we're profitable, everything's
(48:48):
going well. We treat our guests like gold. But also
you don't feel overstimulated. You know, there's nothing worse than
when you pay a beautiful hotel rate and you expect
this level of service and you can't wave down server
and you can't get into the restaurant where we have
this beautiful bounds. Now, I think that was culminated with
the Summersaulice just was my favorite moment so far in
my career here. But really I think Skuy's a limit
(49:10):
for the hotel just to grow in a beautiful natural
rate of growth. And not be overcome. So that's what
the future holds for forty years is it's just around
the corner. In twenty twenty seven will be our four
eighth anniversary. So but Steria, it's going to be a
wonderful future here.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
I think you're exactly right. And it was interesting what
you said about your final thoughts and how you pointed
to again the staff, because that's really your treasure, that's
your gold piece there at NEMA Colin it is. Believe
me when I tell you, folks that are joining us
this wonderful Saturday morning, you will not find service like
(49:48):
this at too many places. And in my career, I've
been an agent for forty five years, owner of an
agency for fifteen, Chris, this is something most unusual. I
can actually point to a specific moment in your property.
I was walking down the hallway and I actually really
(50:10):
just had something on my mind about work and something
that I needed to take care of. But I must
have had sort of an inquisitive look on my face,
and at least two staff members approached me and said,
you look like you're looking for something. Can I help you?
That to me was a shining moment for that staff person,
(50:33):
and I really had to think that this is something
that they're trained to do, is to just notice. They
open their eyes, they notice, and they respond, and that's
the human connection. Yes, the property is beautiful, Yes the
activities are amazing. Yes the food is wonderful. But the
(50:54):
human connection cannot be substituted. It can't can't be replicated,
and it can't be aid into something that is different.
It is what makes an experience, especially when you travel. Chris,
I'm going to give you a couple of extra minutes
here to wind up with your final thoughts for us.
Speaker 3 (51:16):
Absolutely, I appreciate that, and obviously I take that sments
a heart, that that is what our associates all are about.
And you know, as I always say, you guys have
this this tough job of you know, finding these properties
and making the memories for your clients. You know, where
one of the last owned and operated hotels that's still
doing hospitality. That's why I think the differentiation is as
(51:38):
my my final thought is that you know, as you
mentioned the staff, and we call them associates here, there's
no it's not a management company, right, there's not this
intermediary that said, there's no task force director of SMB.
There's no there's no you know, task force salesperson. These
are people that live each sleep and breathing this cammunity,
(52:00):
that live on property. And that's our biggest distinguationing factor. Right,
it's count. Then you count these hotels on your hand,
you know throughout the US, whether it's exactly you know,
the breakers, the breakers broad you know kind of our
competition that are that are there that say hey, this
is us. It's not Maria. It's not nothing negative about
branded hotels, but it is something that's more personal, for
(52:24):
an importance for an owner that owns and operates it.
And that's really the distinguishing factor for us.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
And I don't think there's a whole lot more I
could do or you could do to let people know
that we really love the property. We want to sell
this property. We want to make sure that people experience
this property. You need this in your life. And if
you're listening to us this morning, Chris, thank you so
very much for joining me on a lifeless ordinary. This
(52:51):
has been my honor, my privilege, my pleasure to host
you here today. And if you are interested in a
magical expert at Nemacolon in Farmington, Pennsylvania, The Mouse that Roared.
You can give the wishing Well a call. We are
so easy to find. We're located at two forty three
nef Avenue in the Valley Center in Harsonburg, Virginia. You
(53:13):
can call us We're at five four oh nine oh
eight two three three three, or you can look us
up on the web. We are at the Wishingwell dot viz.
Speaker 2 (53:24):
This has been a life Less Ordinary, the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
are available on the iHeartRadio Act And we'll see again
(53:44):
next Saturday morning at ten for a Life Less Ordinary
from the wishing Well
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