September 23, 2025 • 24 mins
Boutique Hotel Entrepreneurs
Quit your job, move to the mountains, and become a hotel entrepreneur—easy, right? Martin Torres and Joe DiThomas actually did it, leaving NYC careers behind to run Graham & Co. a 20-room boutique hotel in the Catskills.
This episode delves into the nuances of the hospitality industry, offering valuable career insights and showcasing the real success factors that come with being a hotel entrepreneur. From creating unforgettable guest experiences to navigating financial challenges like $30K flood insurance bills, they share essential job advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Whether you’re plotting your own career pivot, or need job insights from the hospitality industry—this episode gives you in and out of building a hotel that’s so much more than a place to crash.
Graham & Co. website: https://www.thegrahamandco.com/
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Music credit: Kate Pierson & Monica Nation
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
We've had people come that are from the same block in
Brooklyn and they come and meeteach other here at the fire pit
and they leave as friends.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hi, welcome back to how Much Can I Make.
I'm your host, merav Uzeri.
Today we're going to chat withMartin and Joe, the duo behind
Grumman Corporation, which is a20-room boutique hotel in the
Catskills, a getaway destinationfor travelers near and far.
So let's find out what it takesto turn a dream of running a
(00:38):
boutique hotel into a reality.
Hi, thank you very much foryour time and agreeing to do it.
I totally appreciate it.
So, first of all, before we getto the name and all of that,
how did it come about that youmoved from New York City to the
Catskill?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
We had a house in Woodstock for 25 years.
Yeah, 25 years.
So, and we loved it.
And slowly but surely, you knowwe would spend a weekend, we
would come here once a month,then you come here once every
other week, and then you comehere every weekend, and then you
come as much as you possiblycan.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Before you know it, you don't ever want to leave
here?
Speaker 1 (01:20):
That's right, yes.
And then your life becomes muchricher here than it does in the
city.
To leave here, that's right,yes.
And then your life becomes muchricher here than it does in the
city.
And then, plus, we were both injobs that you know.
We had to be in the cityDemanded.
I was in advertising, joe wasin real estate, and we didn't
want to be in those businessesanymore, so it made sense to be
here.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
So how did it come about that you bought a motel, a
hotel actually?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Good question.
Well, we actually had an offerin um on another, property in
down the road here it was goingto be like a business center.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
We work, yeah we work center kind of.
You know, we were kind of setup and we were going to do it in
the old phoenicia pharmacy, butthe long tentacles of new york
city come all the way up here,oh yes and if you, if you want
to change the water usage of abuilding and it it was a
pharmacy, which a pharmacyselling postcards and everyday
goods doesn't use much water.
(02:10):
To a coffee bar during the dayand a bar bar at night, that's a
lot of water, and so dealingwith the city of New York became
overwhelming, and so we justcouldn't do it anymore.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
We had to go through five different agencies for
approval on the water.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
And New York City had anything to do with it.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
They had everything to do with it.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
They had everything to do with it because they own a
lot of the water rights, thelittle stream that's across the
street.
Before you do anything, youhave to get in touch with the
city of New York, because it allfeeds into the reservoir and
New York City has all feeds intothe reservoir and New York City
has a say in how the water uphere is used, if you can believe
it.
And that became too problematicand while we were trying to buy
(02:53):
that, we met the people thatown the Graham Co and they said
well, you?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
know we want this.
It was by accident, by the way.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Oh really, you just drove by and saw it, so we
walked over here from town andwe wanted to.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
We knew it was here.
We wanted to tell them what ourplans were.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And then they said well, you know, we're thinking
of selling our this place.
Do you know anyone who mightwant it?
And suddenly our plan b becamemuch more clearer.
Yeah, that's, that is true,right, right yes, so the plan B
became the plan A and we had todrop the idea of buying the
Phoenicia Pharmacy.
(03:29):
And then we shifted gears andwe bought the hotel.
That was fortuitous, because Idon't think our idea for the
pharmacy and bar and coffee barand all that would have made it
through the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
It used to be the Cobblestone Motel.
Yes, it through the pandemic.
It used to be the.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Cobblestone Motel.
Yes, it was yes.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And then it was the Graham Corporation, by the way.
Did they do the renovation?
The Graham Corporation?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
They did a lot of the renovation, so it was a team of
four creatives.
They did the initial redesignof many of the rooms.
They named it also because Iknow you're going to probably
ask me about the name.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I will, because why did?
You keep them in.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Well, because?
Well, I'll tell you that.
I'll tell you why.
Because they had a greatfollowing.
When we bought the place and itwas already well established
and, coming from my advertisingbackground, I recognized how
well branded this place was andI knew that it was a great thing
.
And the Gram Co is somethingthat can be rebranded and used
(04:29):
in a lot of different things.
So I knew it was a great brandto have and when we bought it, I
was insistent that we own thebrand as well.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Did they charge you more because you wanted it was?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
part of the sale.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Oh, okay, it was part of the sale.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
If you go into the rooms, the blankets and all our
body washes and shampoos they'reall well-branded and I could
see this from the very beginningand I knew what a great thing
it was.
So they did a lot of theinitial work, but then we bought
it and we kept going.
You know, the wifi here was notgood and you need-Fi.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
It was all scotch tape together in the ceiling.
Believe me, it's a $4,000 job.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I'm not quoting, but yeah, so it wasn't your dream to
have a boutique hotel right?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Not at all no.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
When you presented with this Grand Corporation
opportunity, did you have asecond thought or you jumped?
This is it this is it.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Martin jumped.
I have second thoughts abouteverything.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I absolutely knew this is what we had to do.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Did you try doing Airbnb in your Woodstock house
before?
Yeah, we did.
Yeah, it was very successful.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, we had very big demand.
Well, you know what happened inWoodstock though.
Right, yes, they outlawed it.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So what would you say is the difference between
running a motel, besides themany rooms that you have here,
versus an Airbnb With an?
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Airbnb probably.
You work really hard and youput time into it and you make it
nice and wonderful, but yougenerally leave when the guests
show up, you set it and go.
Yes, you set it and you leaveWith a hotel.
We're here when the guests arehere.
We try and entertain the guests.
We want to make sure we provideexperiences for them that are
memorable.
(06:09):
Yeah, I want to ask you aboutthe experiences For the big
weekends.
Memorial Day, fourth of July,labor Day we start off with a
beer and wine reception, andsometimes we have a DJ during
the weekend.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Sometimes we have a cocktail hour.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Sometimes we have a cocktail.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Is this just for your guests or is it also for the
locals?
No, it's just for the guests,okay.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Because if you're asking them to, if you have a
three-night minimum and you'reasking them to stay three nights
, that's a big ask on your partof them, so you want to make
sure that they are happy whenthey leave.
That's super important and so Isay that I think that's the
hospitality part is the bigdifference, and also being
staffed properly.
I mean, we are so lucky to havesome amazing staff working for
(06:51):
us and we always get good marksonline for our friendliness and
like just being like helpful andthings like that.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
How?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
many people in total do you have working here?
I'd say about 10.
Wow, yeah.
People in total do you haveworking here?
I'd say about 10.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Wow, yeah, that's in the super busy season.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
It goes down to about half of that.
Sure yeah In spring and I haveto say we've got a great team
right now.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They're fantastic now .
Yeah, we have a lot of veryenthusiastic people here now.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
A good friend of ours .
His name is Steve.
He's really good withaesthetics and he always brings
new ideas like oh, what if weput some lights in the back of
the pool?
Or what if we put, like thesign and we put it sideways?
And he's always looking to makethe hotel look better.
I can handle the guests andmake them feel like they're
(07:40):
going home happy.
Joe's got an eye on everything.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Steve has the aesthetics, natalie's got all
the booking and all of thatshe's got that so down this
summer was, went well because wewere all operating like a great
team.
I can't really believe thesummer's over already.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I want to go back to the experiences.
If you can tell me because Iwas surprised to read about it
and I think it's fantastic Ifyou can tell me what kind of
experiences you offer here.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I think, going back to your other question, what's
the difference between an Airbnband running a hotel?
I think that's the main thingis that the game has gotten
elevated because people don't,you know, this used to be in the
cobblestone and days, and westayed here.
Then we stayed here in 97 andwe saw what it was like it was,
you know it was just a place tostay.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
It was very small town and but now people expect
way more.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
They want to come and they want to make memorable
experiences, and that's that'sthe great part is that at our
fire pit, people come togetherthere and they make friends,
they meet new people, that theyand it's very interesting like
we've had people come that arefrom the same block in Brooklyn
and they come and meet eachother here at the fire pit and
(08:57):
they leave as friends wow, andthey leave as friends and Wow,
that's so nice.
And they go back to the city andthey're friends.
So that's the main thing isthat you can't just provide a
room anymore.
It has to be, and as far as thetypes of experience that we
have, we do things that we'renot quite in the wellness space
fully.
But recently we partnered withWendy Dima and she's an amazing
(09:21):
masseuse and licensed massagetherapist.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
But you also have the sound bath.
Yes, that's right.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
What is that?
So a guy his name is John Minxand he comes and he sets up
bells and chimes, drums and allsorts of bells and he just kind
of plays them.
You lay there and you're kindof washed and the reason they
call it a bath is because you'rewashed over by the sound and
then it just kind of it buildsto a crescendo and then you come
(09:47):
out of that and you're in adifferent space when did you
start with the experiences?
as soon as you bought the placethey kind of seeped in right,
they just we, one by one, we addI think you kind of have to
like stay on top of some trendsand see what people are doing in
the hospitality space.
I would see that, and it's bigon Airbnb now too.
You can add experiences thereas well.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I read that you want to have no cell phone, no TVs.
So, first of all, what do theguests say about it?
They come here and there's nocell service.
Really.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
There is internet and there is Wi-Fi, so they're not
stranded here.
They can get on their iPads.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
You know, I think people might actually really
like that.
You know some people.
One of the last places.
There's no cell service, that'strue, but also no TVs, and I
don't think.
What I've always said is likeyou don't come to the Catskills
to watch TV, you've got to beoutside.
We're about nature and gettingoutside the original owners.
(10:51):
They didn't have TVs and we sawno reason to put TVs in the
room.
We have one TV in the den inour community space, in case you
want to.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Watch the news or whatever.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
No, if you want to watch a movie with friends.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Would you say it's hard work to run a boutique
hotel.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yes, it's hard work and you don't know what kind of
work it's going to be, becauseyou know, like in March, a pipe
breaks over one of the rooms andthere's water pouring into one
of the rooms, and that's yourjob for the next?
Yes, that's your job for thenext week or two to get that
taken care of and renovate theone room and it's not always
(11:25):
glamorous.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I know Discovery Plus I think it was that did a show
about Grauman Corporation.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Was it when you were the owner or the previous owner?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
It was us.
It was us.
Yeah, you don't remember mefrom TV.
It was exciting.
Yeah, they were up.
They were filming up here forabout three or four days and
they had a couple of b-rollshots and they interviewed us
for that long and theyinterviewed our designer was
that like they gave you the bigboost.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Do you think a lot of people learned about you
because of that?
Not as much as you think it?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
think it's mostly word of mouth, wouldn't you?
Speaker 1 (12:05):
say it is, but it was helpful yeah it was helpful it
was definitely helpful, becausepeople came from further away,
maybe not have sought us out,and so I'd be here in reception
and somebody would be looking atme and I'd be like kind of
uncomfortable it's weird to berecognized.
Yes, I said oh yeah, well, Ididn't want to say anything, but
(12:27):
I recognize you from the TVshow.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
So when you bought it in 2018, correct 2018.
What was your vision for thelong term?
Speaker 1 (12:38):
It's funny because the one thing that is essential
to our vision, we still haven'tcompleted which is building a
new communal space.
That's a little bit morewinterized, because right now we
have the den, which is fine andit's a wonderful space, but
it's not really super winterized.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Do you have special experiences for kids, by the way
?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Well, actually no, but we were contracted with
somebody to design a coloringbook of the animals that you see
around the ground.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Murav.
That's the best thing aboutdoing this job is getting to do
special creative projects likethat.
We work with good friends ofours, camilia and Rene.
Camilia has created three StonyClove products for us and has
helped us with the design, andthat's very exciting.
We work with friends and we getto create our own things.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
That's right, tourism could be at odds with the town.
Do you ever run into a problemwith the town having a hotel
here?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
I wouldn't say a problem.
We've had a town meeting wherepeople were concerned about our
new building.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
But it's fair, it's a fair concern because we're
located in a neighborhood.
It's not like we're remote,like Urban Cowboy or something
else, they're just remote.
We're in a neighborhood, in atown.
So sure, it's a fair concern.
But I think generally everyoneis pretty supportive of us and
(14:09):
that's good.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Cool.
I want to get into the designfor a second, because it's a
beautiful blend of minimalistand rustic.
What kind of feeling you wouldlike the people to have or live
after they stay in here?
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Well, that's a great question because, like, there's
all sorts of places you can stay.
There's a place that was upmore north from here and the
rooms are like, decorated indifferent themes and but that's
not our style, that's not whatwe wanted.
I aspire to live like the roomsare like, decorated in
different themes and but that'snot our style, that's not what
we wanted.
I aspire to live like.
Our rooms are especially thebungalow.
It's minimal, it's got justexactly what you need and you
(14:45):
feel clean and when you're inthere, you you feel relaxed.
It just kind of like, you justkind of exhale.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
It's not cluttered I was just gonna say that, yes,
now do you think of doingcorporate know, like companies
bringing all of their employeesor some of their employees?
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Sure, we do have those, you do, we do get those
yes.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Oh that's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
But it takes a special kind of company to come
here, because we're not supercorporate.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Not corporate at all.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So yeah, so we've had some quirky companies come and
there are a few.
And that's really the mainreason why we're building the
new lodges, because we want tohave the infrastructure to host
more corporate retreats.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
What kind of skill or character trait does somebody
need to have in order to run aboutique hotel like this?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
You're asking good questions.
You have to be prettyindependent and be able to make.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You mean financially.
Well, that too.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
That doesn't hurt, but you have to be prepared to I
don't want to say, be the meanguy, but you have to be prepared
to be tough.
You have to be tough inbusiness and to say no to some
things.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
It's interesting, though, because you have to have
somebody, at least one personin the mix who likes people a
lot.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Which one of you is the one that likes me?
That would be you, okay.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
And then you have to have somebody who can lay down
the law, and we have somebodylike that too.
That's Natalie, our bookingmanager, I guess, because from
my corporate days in advertising, I'm if the client asks you for
something, you want to say yes,and I'm hardwired to say yes.
And sometimes it doesn't makesense to say yes or it's against
the policy to say yes, and Ineed somebody that can say no.
(16:26):
Is Joe the one that can say no.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I can say no.
I don't say no a lot, but I sayno when I need to.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
At some point, somebody does have to like
people.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Absolutely.
And if somebody wants to start,besides buying the real estate,
and how much money does oneneed to have to actually open?
You need marketing, you needmaintenance, you need employees.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Well, we just stepped into into the former owner's
shoes.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
The biggest expense is the staff.
That's the biggest expense.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
They're all on a payroll, or the freelancers.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Mostly on payroll Wow so that's expensive.
Yes, that's the big expense.
Wow.
And because we were novices atthe beginning, we staffed every
shift all the time, year round,and then we realized, well-.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
You don't need it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
We don't need that so we learned the the ebbs and
flows of the business, and now Idon't panic after thanksgiving
until christmas.
You know, I know that there'snot going to be anybody here, so
again, we did have to have abig loan our first year and the
bank gave you the loan yes, itwas kind of like a floater loan
kind of like.
(17:35):
It was kind of like a newbieloan.
It was kind of like a newbieloan.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
The bank wasn't concerned with the fact that you
never ran a hotel before.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
They were concerned.
They were extremely concerned,In fact.
That's why it took an entireyear to close the loan People
don't realize.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
It takes a long time to put together a commercial
real estate deal and I had.
I did work in real estate but Ihad never done a deal like this
where there's a lot of movingparts to put together.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
They gave us a floater lunch.
But then again you learn thebusiness.
You learn what it takes to howto cut down.
I again, we serve breakfast onthe weekends, yes, and I've
learned how to buy just enoughor just a tiny bit more than
we're going to need, because youknow we serve three different
types of breakfast.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
In the communal room.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
No we actually bring it to the room.
No seriously, wow, yes, so theycan pick from one of three
breakfasts, one of fourbreakfasts actually.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Because you supply breakfast and linens and all of
that you for breakfast.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Actually, because you supply breakfast and linens and
all of that.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
You have to pay sales tax also, right, oh yeah.
And then, since we've owned thehotel, hotel tax, hotel tax has
gone up.
Yes, two percent right from twopercent to four percent.
So yeah, so you pay occupancytax and then sales tax, and then
of course federal and stay andall of that, so you work for
everybody else basically.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
And what about insurance?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
You must have insurance after Kazo.
It's expensive.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
yes, yes and that was outrageously expensive because
we're located close in a floodzone.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Oh, yes, but it never got flooded.
This property right?
Speaker 1 (19:13):
No, not maybe up to the first door.
When we were closing the dealand they said, oh, by the way,
you need to get flood insurance.
And I was like what?
And they said it's going to be$30,000 a year, yes, and we were
too far into this to say that'stoo much.
So we were in it for that muchthe first year.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Wow, it's since come down, but also you saw that
there were no floods.
Are you still gonna keep theflood insurance?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Well, I think you can drop it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It's because the bank insists on it.
Ah yes, they're all in cahoots.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It's disgusting, yeah .
Speaker 2 (19:52):
What would you say is the biggest misconception about
owning a boutique hotel?
Speaker 1 (19:56):
That it's all glamorous.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Not that it's fun.
It is fun, but it's a differentkind of fun right.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Did you make friends with any of them?
Oh sure yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
I have to say some of the guests are really fantastic
, Really nice people.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I have to say 98% of our guests are fantastic.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yeah, they're really fabulous people.
I have to say, 98% of ourguests are fantastic.
Yeah, they're really fabulouspeople.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, they leave you good reviews.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah, they do that too, we're very lucky.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I mean, just like once or twice a year, we have
somebody that's problematic,which is next to nothing, and
then we have people that comeback every year and that's kind
of gratifying too, because wesee the same people every year.
We have one group that comesevery christmas and they spend
new year's here.
That's fantastic, yeah, it isyeah, and they really love this
place and for a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
This is their happy place, so that's the big reward
that is the reward.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah, what is the?
Biggest challenge not having aregular schedule.
Like it we're just, especiallyduring the summer, like when you
get on in May and you gothrough the end of August.
It's every day.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Yeah, it is a grind.
I'm always telling Martin heneeds to take some time off not
a lot of time off, but you needa mental break from the business
, right?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
You know that's the hard part.
The end of August comes around.
I'm exhausted.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I thought that you would say the biggest challenge
is the maintenance, the constantmaintenance, but you just take
this as part of your job, right?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, I just have to?
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yeah, it is part of the job.
It is a huge challenge noquestion I'm going to say this
is going to sound arrogant.
We only have to pay for it.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
No, that's what it is .
I can't actually do anything.
I mean, you learn things.
Oh, like the first time Ipatched a hole in the wall, like
just empty hole in the wall Iwas so happy with myself.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
He did a very passable job.
Why did you?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
look on YouTube how to do it.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Yes, it's amazing the things that you can learn on
YouTube.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I met a woman that her abusive husband left her
with the three boys, took thehouse.
Whatever she looked on YouTube,she built a house with her
three boys from YouTube, really,oh my God.
And they're going to make amovie about her with Nicole
Kidman, oh wow.
So do you have one incident orone guest that stuck with you
more than anybody else?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
I don't have a particular guest, but one thing
that I really love to see iswhen kids come here, especially
young, like teenagers or or likethat, and they're very jaded
and they're city kids, right,and they come here and they've
got, they're frowning andthey're just looking at their
phone and you know, and they'rejust like what is this place?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
you know?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
and then slowly over the weekend they start losing
that facade and then they justbecome kids again and they leave
here just like kids and happy.
When I get to see that withanybody like they come here in a
mood or they've got their armorup, and then you know we can
provide them a great experience.
And then they leave and they'rerelaxed and they're happy.
(22:53):
There could be nothing moregratifying than that.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
What is your dream for the hotels in the future, in
the next five, ten years?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
well, to get the building built, that would be,
and to get our liquor license,that would be.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
That's a big deal oh, you're trying to get a liquor
license.
Yeah, we'll try to get theliquor license.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
That would be good.
You need it.
You need to have hot foodavailable 20 well, all day and
all night.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
If you have liquor license.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
I think so.
I think you have to have hotfood available at all times
during your working hours, Ithink.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
That's the thing that's preventing us from having
a liquor license.
You have to serve hot food.
Certain people just get awaywith it by sticking a hot dog in
the back somewhere.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Or a small pizza oven .
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Yeah, we can try that , but again, I didn't want to do
it half-assed If this isn't thelevel of boutique hotel that we
are talking about.
We want to do it right and wewant to have a really nice cafe
that can serve something special.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
All right, then, on that note, thank you so much.
Thank you, I really appreciateit.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Thank you for having us.
Did you say anythinginteresting?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
You said a lot of interesting things Okay.
All right, thank you.
That's a wrap for today.
If you have a comment orquestion or would like us to
cover a certain job, please letus know.
Visit our website athowmuchcanimakeinfo.
We would love to hear from you.
And, on your way out, don'tforget to subscribe and share
(24:17):
this episode with anyone who iscurious about their next job.
See you next time.
We've had people come that are from the same block in
Brooklyn and they come and meeteach other here at the fire pit
and they leave as friends.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hi, welcome back to how Much Can I Make.
I'm your host, merav Uzeri.
Today we're going to chat withMartin and Joe, the duo behind
Grumman Corporation, which is a20-room boutique hotel in the
Catskills, a getaway destinationfor travelers near and far.
So let's find out what it takesto turn a dream of running a
(00:38):
boutique hotel into a reality.
Hi, thank you very much foryour time and agreeing to do it.
I totally appreciate it.
So, first of all, before we getto the name and all of that,
how did it come about that youmoved from New York City to the
Catskill?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
We had a house in Woodstock for 25 years.
Yeah, 25 years.
So, and we loved it.
And slowly but surely, you knowwe would spend a weekend, we
would come here once a month,then you come here once every
other week, and then you comehere every weekend, and then you
come as much as you possiblycan.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Before you know it, you don't ever want to leave
here?
Speaker 1 (01:20):
That's right, yes.
And then your life becomes muchricher here than it does in the
city.
To leave here, that's right,yes.
And then your life becomes muchricher here than it does in the
city.
And then, plus, we were both injobs that you know.
We had to be in the cityDemanded.
I was in advertising, joe wasin real estate, and we didn't
want to be in those businessesanymore, so it made sense to be
here.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
So how did it come about that you bought a motel, a
hotel actually?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Good question.
Well, we actually had an offerin um on another, property in
down the road here it was goingto be like a business center.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
We work, yeah we work center kind of.
You know, we were kind of setup and we were going to do it in
the old phoenicia pharmacy, butthe long tentacles of new york
city come all the way up here,oh yes and if you, if you want
to change the water usage of abuilding and it it was a
pharmacy, which a pharmacyselling postcards and everyday
goods doesn't use much water.
(02:10):
To a coffee bar during the dayand a bar bar at night, that's a
lot of water, and so dealingwith the city of New York became
overwhelming, and so we justcouldn't do it anymore.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
We had to go through five different agencies for
approval on the water.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
And New York City had anything to do with it.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
They had everything to do with it.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
They had everything to do with it because they own a
lot of the water rights, thelittle stream that's across the
street.
Before you do anything, youhave to get in touch with the
city of New York, because it allfeeds into the reservoir and
New York City has all feeds intothe reservoir and New York City
has a say in how the water uphere is used, if you can believe
it.
And that became too problematicand while we were trying to buy
(02:53):
that, we met the people thatown the Graham Co and they said
well, you?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
know we want this.
It was by accident, by the way.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Oh really, you just drove by and saw it, so we
walked over here from town andwe wanted to.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
We knew it was here.
We wanted to tell them what ourplans were.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And then they said well, you know, we're thinking
of selling our this place.
Do you know anyone who mightwant it?
And suddenly our plan b becamemuch more clearer.
Yeah, that's, that is true,right, right yes, so the plan B
became the plan A and we had todrop the idea of buying the
Phoenicia Pharmacy.
(03:29):
And then we shifted gears andwe bought the hotel.
That was fortuitous, because Idon't think our idea for the
pharmacy and bar and coffee barand all that would have made it
through the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
It used to be the Cobblestone Motel.
Yes, it through the pandemic.
It used to be the.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Cobblestone Motel.
Yes, it was yes.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And then it was the Graham Corporation, by the way.
Did they do the renovation?
The Graham Corporation?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
They did a lot of the renovation, so it was a team of
four creatives.
They did the initial redesignof many of the rooms.
They named it also because Iknow you're going to probably
ask me about the name.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I will, because why did?
You keep them in.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Well, because?
Well, I'll tell you that.
I'll tell you why.
Because they had a greatfollowing.
When we bought the place and itwas already well established
and, coming from my advertisingbackground, I recognized how
well branded this place was andI knew that it was a great thing
.
And the Gram Co is somethingthat can be rebranded and used
(04:29):
in a lot of different things.
So I knew it was a great brandto have and when we bought it, I
was insistent that we own thebrand as well.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Did they charge you more because you wanted it was?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
part of the sale.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Oh, okay, it was part of the sale.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
If you go into the rooms, the blankets and all our
body washes and shampoos they'reall well-branded and I could
see this from the very beginningand I knew what a great thing
it was.
So they did a lot of theinitial work, but then we bought
it and we kept going.
You know, the wifi here was notgood and you need-Fi.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
It was all scotch tape together in the ceiling.
Believe me, it's a $4,000 job.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I'm not quoting, but yeah, so it wasn't your dream to
have a boutique hotel right?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Not at all no.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
When you presented with this Grand Corporation
opportunity, did you have asecond thought or you jumped?
This is it this is it.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Martin jumped.
I have second thoughts abouteverything.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I absolutely knew this is what we had to do.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Did you try doing Airbnb in your Woodstock house
before?
Yeah, we did.
Yeah, it was very successful.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, we had very big demand.
Well, you know what happened inWoodstock though.
Right, yes, they outlawed it.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So what would you say is the difference between
running a motel, besides themany rooms that you have here,
versus an Airbnb With an?
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Airbnb probably.
You work really hard and youput time into it and you make it
nice and wonderful, but yougenerally leave when the guests
show up, you set it and go.
Yes, you set it and you leaveWith a hotel.
We're here when the guests arehere.
We try and entertain the guests.
We want to make sure we provideexperiences for them that are
memorable.
(06:09):
Yeah, I want to ask you aboutthe experiences For the big
weekends.
Memorial Day, fourth of July,labor Day we start off with a
beer and wine reception, andsometimes we have a DJ during
the weekend.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Sometimes we have a cocktail hour.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Sometimes we have a cocktail.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Is this just for your guests or is it also for the
locals?
No, it's just for the guests,okay.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Because if you're asking them to, if you have a
three-night minimum and you'reasking them to stay three nights
, that's a big ask on your partof them, so you want to make
sure that they are happy whenthey leave.
That's super important and so Isay that I think that's the
hospitality part is the bigdifference, and also being
staffed properly.
I mean, we are so lucky to havesome amazing staff working for
(06:51):
us and we always get good marksonline for our friendliness and
like just being like helpful andthings like that.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
How?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
many people in total do you have working here?
I'd say about 10.
Wow, yeah.
People in total do you haveworking here?
I'd say about 10.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Wow, yeah, that's in the super busy season.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
It goes down to about half of that.
Sure yeah In spring and I haveto say we've got a great team
right now.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They're fantastic now .
Yeah, we have a lot of veryenthusiastic people here now.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
A good friend of ours .
His name is Steve.
He's really good withaesthetics and he always brings
new ideas like oh, what if weput some lights in the back of
the pool?
Or what if we put, like thesign and we put it sideways?
And he's always looking to makethe hotel look better.
I can handle the guests andmake them feel like they're
(07:40):
going home happy.
Joe's got an eye on everything.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Steve has the aesthetics, natalie's got all
the booking and all of thatshe's got that so down this
summer was, went well because wewere all operating like a great
team.
I can't really believe thesummer's over already.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I want to go back to the experiences.
If you can tell me because Iwas surprised to read about it
and I think it's fantastic Ifyou can tell me what kind of
experiences you offer here.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I think, going back to your other question, what's
the difference between an Airbnband running a hotel?
I think that's the main thingis that the game has gotten
elevated because people don't,you know, this used to be in the
cobblestone and days, and westayed here.
Then we stayed here in 97 andwe saw what it was like it was,
you know it was just a place tostay.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
It was very small town and but now people expect
way more.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
They want to come and they want to make memorable
experiences, and that's that'sthe great part is that at our
fire pit, people come togetherthere and they make friends,
they meet new people, that theyand it's very interesting like
we've had people come that arefrom the same block in Brooklyn
and they come and meet eachother here at the fire pit and
(08:57):
they leave as friends wow, andthey leave as friends and Wow,
that's so nice.
And they go back to the city andthey're friends.
So that's the main thing isthat you can't just provide a
room anymore.
It has to be, and as far as thetypes of experience that we
have, we do things that we'renot quite in the wellness space
fully.
But recently we partnered withWendy Dima and she's an amazing
(09:21):
masseuse and licensed massagetherapist.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
But you also have the sound bath.
Yes, that's right.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
What is that?
So a guy his name is John Minxand he comes and he sets up
bells and chimes, drums and allsorts of bells and he just kind
of plays them.
You lay there and you're kindof washed and the reason they
call it a bath is because you'rewashed over by the sound and
then it just kind of it buildsto a crescendo and then you come
(09:47):
out of that and you're in adifferent space when did you
start with the experiences?
as soon as you bought the placethey kind of seeped in right,
they just we, one by one, we addI think you kind of have to
like stay on top of some trendsand see what people are doing in
the hospitality space.
I would see that, and it's bigon Airbnb now too.
You can add experiences thereas well.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I read that you want to have no cell phone, no TVs.
So, first of all, what do theguests say about it?
They come here and there's nocell service.
Really.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
There is internet and there is Wi-Fi, so they're not
stranded here.
They can get on their iPads.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
You know, I think people might actually really
like that.
You know some people.
One of the last places.
There's no cell service, that'strue, but also no TVs, and I
don't think.
What I've always said is likeyou don't come to the Catskills
to watch TV, you've got to beoutside.
We're about nature and gettingoutside the original owners.
(10:51):
They didn't have TVs and we sawno reason to put TVs in the
room.
We have one TV in the den inour community space, in case you
want to.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Watch the news or whatever.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
No, if you want to watch a movie with friends.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Would you say it's hard work to run a boutique
hotel.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yes, it's hard work and you don't know what kind of
work it's going to be, becauseyou know, like in March, a pipe
breaks over one of the rooms andthere's water pouring into one
of the rooms, and that's yourjob for the next?
Yes, that's your job for thenext week or two to get that
taken care of and renovate theone room and it's not always
(11:25):
glamorous.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I know Discovery Plus I think it was that did a show
about Grauman Corporation.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Was it when you were the owner or the previous owner?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
It was us.
It was us.
Yeah, you don't remember mefrom TV.
It was exciting.
Yeah, they were up.
They were filming up here forabout three or four days and
they had a couple of b-rollshots and they interviewed us
for that long and theyinterviewed our designer was
that like they gave you the bigboost.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Do you think a lot of people learned about you
because of that?
Not as much as you think it?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
think it's mostly word of mouth, wouldn't you?
Speaker 1 (12:05):
say it is, but it was helpful yeah it was helpful it
was definitely helpful, becausepeople came from further away,
maybe not have sought us out,and so I'd be here in reception
and somebody would be looking atme and I'd be like kind of
uncomfortable it's weird to berecognized.
Yes, I said oh yeah, well, Ididn't want to say anything, but
(12:27):
I recognize you from the TVshow.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
So when you bought it in 2018, correct 2018.
What was your vision for thelong term?
Speaker 1 (12:38):
It's funny because the one thing that is essential
to our vision, we still haven'tcompleted which is building a
new communal space.
That's a little bit morewinterized, because right now we
have the den, which is fine andit's a wonderful space, but
it's not really super winterized.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Do you have special experiences for kids, by the way
?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Well, actually no, but we were contracted with
somebody to design a coloringbook of the animals that you see
around the ground.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Murav.
That's the best thing aboutdoing this job is getting to do
special creative projects likethat.
We work with good friends ofours, camilia and Rene.
Camilia has created three StonyClove products for us and has
helped us with the design, andthat's very exciting.
We work with friends and we getto create our own things.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
That's right, tourism could be at odds with the town.
Do you ever run into a problemwith the town having a hotel
here?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
I wouldn't say a problem.
We've had a town meeting wherepeople were concerned about our
new building.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
But it's fair, it's a fair concern because we're
located in a neighborhood.
It's not like we're remote,like Urban Cowboy or something
else, they're just remote.
We're in a neighborhood, in atown.
So sure, it's a fair concern.
But I think generally everyoneis pretty supportive of us and
(14:09):
that's good.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Cool.
I want to get into the designfor a second, because it's a
beautiful blend of minimalistand rustic.
What kind of feeling you wouldlike the people to have or live
after they stay in here?
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Well, that's a great question because, like, there's
all sorts of places you can stay.
There's a place that was upmore north from here and the
rooms are like, decorated indifferent themes and but that's
not our style, that's not whatwe wanted.
I aspire to live like the roomsare like, decorated in
different themes and but that'snot our style, that's not what
we wanted.
I aspire to live like.
Our rooms are especially thebungalow.
It's minimal, it's got justexactly what you need and you
(14:45):
feel clean and when you're inthere, you you feel relaxed.
It just kind of like, you justkind of exhale.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
It's not cluttered I was just gonna say that, yes,
now do you think of doingcorporate know, like companies
bringing all of their employeesor some of their employees?
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Sure, we do have those, you do, we do get those
yes.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Oh that's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
But it takes a special kind of company to come
here, because we're not supercorporate.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Not corporate at all.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So yeah, so we've had some quirky companies come and
there are a few.
And that's really the mainreason why we're building the
new lodges, because we want tohave the infrastructure to host
more corporate retreats.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
What kind of skill or character trait does somebody
need to have in order to run aboutique hotel like this?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
You're asking good questions.
You have to be prettyindependent and be able to make.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You mean financially.
Well, that too.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
That doesn't hurt, but you have to be prepared to I
don't want to say, be the meanguy, but you have to be prepared
to be tough.
You have to be tough inbusiness and to say no to some
things.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
It's interesting, though, because you have to have
somebody, at least one personin the mix who likes people a
lot.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Which one of you is the one that likes me?
That would be you, okay.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
And then you have to have somebody who can lay down
the law, and we have somebodylike that too.
That's Natalie, our bookingmanager, I guess, because from
my corporate days in advertising, I'm if the client asks you for
something, you want to say yes,and I'm hardwired to say yes.
And sometimes it doesn't makesense to say yes or it's against
the policy to say yes, and Ineed somebody that can say no.
(16:26):
Is Joe the one that can say no.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I can say no.
I don't say no a lot, but I sayno when I need to.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
At some point, somebody does have to like
people.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Absolutely.
And if somebody wants to start,besides buying the real estate,
and how much money does oneneed to have to actually open?
You need marketing, you needmaintenance, you need employees.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Well, we just stepped into into the former owner's
shoes.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
The biggest expense is the staff.
That's the biggest expense.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
They're all on a payroll, or the freelancers.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Mostly on payroll Wow so that's expensive.
Yes, that's the big expense.
Wow.
And because we were novices atthe beginning, we staffed every
shift all the time, year round,and then we realized, well-.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
You don't need it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
We don't need that so we learned the the ebbs and
flows of the business, and now Idon't panic after thanksgiving
until christmas.
You know, I know that there'snot going to be anybody here, so
again, we did have to have abig loan our first year and the
bank gave you the loan yes, itwas kind of like a floater loan
kind of like.
(17:35):
It was kind of like a newbieloan.
It was kind of like a newbieloan.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
The bank wasn't concerned with the fact that you
never ran a hotel before.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
They were concerned.
They were extremely concerned,In fact.
That's why it took an entireyear to close the loan People
don't realize.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
It takes a long time to put together a commercial
real estate deal and I had.
I did work in real estate but Ihad never done a deal like this
where there's a lot of movingparts to put together.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
They gave us a floater lunch.
But then again you learn thebusiness.
You learn what it takes to howto cut down.
I again, we serve breakfast onthe weekends, yes, and I've
learned how to buy just enoughor just a tiny bit more than
we're going to need, because youknow we serve three different
types of breakfast.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
In the communal room.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
No we actually bring it to the room.
No seriously, wow, yes, so theycan pick from one of three
breakfasts, one of fourbreakfasts actually.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Because you supply breakfast and linens and all of
that you for breakfast.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Actually, because you supply breakfast and linens and
all of that.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
You have to pay sales tax also, right, oh yeah.
And then, since we've owned thehotel, hotel tax, hotel tax has
gone up.
Yes, two percent right from twopercent to four percent.
So yeah, so you pay occupancytax and then sales tax, and then
of course federal and stay andall of that, so you work for
everybody else basically.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
And what about insurance?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
You must have insurance after Kazo.
It's expensive.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
yes, yes and that was outrageously expensive because
we're located close in a floodzone.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Oh, yes, but it never got flooded.
This property right?
Speaker 1 (19:13):
No, not maybe up to the first door.
When we were closing the dealand they said, oh, by the way,
you need to get flood insurance.
And I was like what?
And they said it's going to be$30,000 a year, yes, and we were
too far into this to say that'stoo much.
So we were in it for that muchthe first year.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Wow, it's since come down, but also you saw that
there were no floods.
Are you still gonna keep theflood insurance?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Well, I think you can drop it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It's because the bank insists on it.
Ah yes, they're all in cahoots.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It's disgusting, yeah .
Speaker 2 (19:52):
What would you say is the biggest misconception about
owning a boutique hotel?
Speaker 1 (19:56):
That it's all glamorous.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Not that it's fun.
It is fun, but it's a differentkind of fun right.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Did you make friends with any of them?
Oh sure yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
I have to say some of the guests are really fantastic
, Really nice people.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I have to say 98% of our guests are fantastic.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yeah, they're really fabulous people.
I have to say, 98% of ourguests are fantastic.
Yeah, they're really fabulouspeople.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, they leave you good reviews.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah, they do that too, we're very lucky.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I mean, just like once or twice a year, we have
somebody that's problematic,which is next to nothing, and
then we have people that comeback every year and that's kind
of gratifying too, because wesee the same people every year.
We have one group that comesevery christmas and they spend
new year's here.
That's fantastic, yeah, it isyeah, and they really love this
place and for a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
This is their happy place, so that's the big reward
that is the reward.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah, what is the?
Biggest challenge not having aregular schedule.
Like it we're just, especiallyduring the summer, like when you
get on in May and you gothrough the end of August.
It's every day.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Yeah, it is a grind.
I'm always telling Martin heneeds to take some time off not
a lot of time off, but you needa mental break from the business
, right?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
You know that's the hard part.
The end of August comes around.
I'm exhausted.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I thought that you would say the biggest challenge
is the maintenance, the constantmaintenance, but you just take
this as part of your job, right?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, I just have to?
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yeah, it is part of the job.
It is a huge challenge noquestion I'm going to say this
is going to sound arrogant.
We only have to pay for it.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
No, that's what it is .
I can't actually do anything.
I mean, you learn things.
Oh, like the first time Ipatched a hole in the wall, like
just empty hole in the wall Iwas so happy with myself.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
He did a very passable job.
Why did you?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
look on YouTube how to do it.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Yes, it's amazing the things that you can learn on
YouTube.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I met a woman that her abusive husband left her
with the three boys, took thehouse.
Whatever she looked on YouTube,she built a house with her
three boys from YouTube, really,oh my God.
And they're going to make amovie about her with Nicole
Kidman, oh wow.
So do you have one incident orone guest that stuck with you
more than anybody else?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
I don't have a particular guest, but one thing
that I really love to see iswhen kids come here, especially
young, like teenagers or or likethat, and they're very jaded
and they're city kids, right,and they come here and they've
got, they're frowning andthey're just looking at their
phone and you know, and they'rejust like what is this place?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
you know?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
and then slowly over the weekend they start losing
that facade and then they justbecome kids again and they leave
here just like kids and happy.
When I get to see that withanybody like they come here in a
mood or they've got their armorup, and then you know we can
provide them a great experience.
And then they leave and they'rerelaxed and they're happy.
(22:53):
There could be nothing moregratifying than that.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
What is your dream for the hotels in the future, in
the next five, ten years?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
well, to get the building built, that would be,
and to get our liquor license,that would be.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
That's a big deal oh, you're trying to get a liquor
license.
Yeah, we'll try to get theliquor license.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
That would be good.
You need it.
You need to have hot foodavailable 20 well, all day and
all night.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
If you have liquor license.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
I think so.
I think you have to have hotfood available at all times
during your working hours, Ithink.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
That's the thing that's preventing us from having
a liquor license.
You have to serve hot food.
Certain people just get awaywith it by sticking a hot dog in
the back somewhere.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Or a small pizza oven .
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Yeah, we can try that , but again, I didn't want to do
it half-assed If this isn't thelevel of boutique hotel that we
are talking about.
We want to do it right and wewant to have a really nice cafe
that can serve something special.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
All right, then, on that note, thank you so much.
Thank you, I really appreciateit.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Thank you for having us.
Did you say anythinginteresting?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
You said a lot of interesting things Okay.
All right, thank you.
That's a wrap for today.
If you have a comment orquestion or would like us to
cover a certain job, please letus know.
Visit our website athowmuchcanimakeinfo.
We would love to hear from you.
And, on your way out, don'tforget to subscribe and share
(24:17):
this episode with anyone who iscurious about their next job.
See you next time.
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