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MELCHIORRI: All around America,
there are hotels that are hurting.
They're understaffed, mismanaged,
and in desperate need of a face-lift.
That's where I come in.
When hotels are in trouble, they call me.
We're here in scenic Grand Lake, Colorado,
at the Western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Can I help raise the occupancy at this family-run motel
before they're crushed under an avalanche of debt?
Did you make money last year?
We've never turned a profit.
So, you like it?
No, it's horrendous.
Oops.
Ah!
In there.
So, why don't we provide maid service?
Hmm. That's a tough one.
Have you run a hotel before?
Are you kidding me?
You know, I had such high hopes for this hotel.
That this town isn't full is making me angry.
The rooms suck. They're terrible.
There's no reason to come back to the hotel.
I'm Anthony Melchiorri,
and after 20 years in the hotel business,
there's no problem I can't fix.
I've turned around
some of the most famous properties in America,
from boutique hotels to big-city landmarks.
I'm on a mission,
and I won't stop
until every hotel you check in to is perfect.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
Today, I'm headed to Grand Lake, Colorado,
a small town of about 450 people
and Colorado's largest natural lake.
At a prime location right on the lakefront
sits the 16-room Western Riviera Motel,
a property that peaks during the warm months
but struggles in the harsh winter.
Owners Mike and Jackie Tompkins
purchased the motel back in 2000,
but Mike didn't stop there.
He and Jackie kept on buying real estate,
and they now own additional cabins, condos,
and an event center in town.
Because of Mike's disability,
the owners can't oversee the property during the slow season.
With the snow, I have a hard time getting around.
So a lot of times I'll leave for long periods of time
in the winter.
With a short busy season,
unfortunately the cash flow is not expanding with their hotel.
I wish we had this endless pot
where you could make it what your dream is.
But every penny that we make has to go right back into it
just to keep things going.
It's my job to help Mike and Jackie
turn the Western Riviera into a viable business
before their finances snowball out of control.
Hang on. I didn't expect this.
I'm pulling into Grand Lake's village.
This really feels like you're in a completely different universe.
It's amazing.
I mean, every street is covered with snow.
There's no plowing. I see a lot of snowmobiles.
This is amazing.
And there's the Western Riviera right there,
right next to the most stunning mountain lake.
The lake is frozen over. It's like a winter wonderland.
I'm looking forward to this.
Hey, guys.
Hey. How's it going?
I'm doing good. I'm Anthony.
Nice to meet you.
MEG: Hi. I'm Meg.
Hi, Meg. I'm in town to help a hotel.
I'm a hotel expert.
This is not a ski town. This is a snowmobile town.
This is just a snowmobile town.
The town keeps the streets nice and snow-packed
so we can drive snowmobiles to and from restaurants and lodges
and then back out to the trail system to go have some fun.
I am really, really tempted to get on a snowmobile, but I don't have time.
I have to get to the hotel.
Kaz, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, Meg.
Nice to meet you.
Okay. Maybe I'll see you around town.
All right.
Maybe I'll snowmobile a little bit.
Yeah, let's do that.
Thanks, man.
[ Engine turns over ]
That is really cool!
I've heard of ski towns,
but I've never heard of a snowmobile town.
This lake is frozen over.
It is absolutely gorgeous.
I am just stunned by the beauty of this area.
One of the best locations I've ever seen from a hotel.
But they're losing money.
Why?
Now I finally get to see the hotel.
The outside looks fine.
It feels part of the town. It really doesn't upset me.
If there were these grand hotels right next to it,
I would say it's out of place,
but it seems like it belongs here.
Their paint looks clean. The outside looks clean.
The brick looks fine.
There's a little screw hook,
which typically I would be upset about,
but this feels like a welcome sign
that should have a screw hook.
Feels like everything should be made by hand.
So far, so good.
Why do they need me?
Ah, that's why they need me.
Vacancy.
Hi, Anthony. I'm Anne.
Nice to meet you.
So, I'll tell you, I'm looking at the lobby.
I walk in. It seems to be very nice.
What is this here? Weddings? You have weddings?
Yes, we have a venue where we actually have weddings.
Do you ever have a winter wedding?
Not as often. We rock in the summertime.
But once the snow hits, it gets a little quiet.
I would think here in the winter
this would be a great place to come in the winter, too.
It can be challenging
because it's a 2 1/2-hour drive from Denver
Right.
So there has to be a reason why you're here.
Everything I've seen so far is reason enough
to justify the challenging drive.
But I wonder if that's really what's stopping guests
from staying here in the winter.
Do you have anybody here right now?
There are a few guests.
And why are they here?
Well, this week is our winter carnival festival.
Okay.
We also are kind of like the capital of snowmobiling.
A lot of people cross-country ski.
So there is a reason to be here.
You just got to be a hard-core outdoor enthusiast.
Hotels catering to niche markets
have a smaller pool to draw from,
which could be a reason the motel is struggling.
So, let's get you into your room so you can get settled.
Okay.
Review a bit of our policy.
"Maid service is not provided at cabins or condos,
only in the motel."
So, why don't we provide maid service?
Hmm. That's a tough one.
Do I have to pay for the hotel room?
Then check on my room.
Motels are supposed to make you feel at home
when you're checking into a room.
But it doesn't mean you're supposed to clean it yourself.
When I get here, I should have full service,
because I'm in the middle of nowhere.
That is true.
Starting to *** me off, Anne.
All right, let's see what the room looks like.
It has two queen-size beds
and goes for $95 a night in the winter.
But wait a second.
This is not the furniture
I would want overlooking that lake.
This doesn't look like it belongs.
It's disgusting.
Don't like that at all.
Look. That's not cool.
I had such high hopes for this hotel.
Not so much now.
Okay.
And look what we have here.
This room could be Any Town U.S.A.
This is the furniture I had in the United States Air Force
in the dorm room.
There's no comfortable chair. There's nothing cozy.
It doesn't match some place that's right on the lake
that reminds me of ice fishing and snowmobiling.
If you're going to be outside all day doing winter activities,
you're gonna want to come back and spend time in the room.
So it has to feel cozy.
So, I don't like the bedspread at all.
Here we go with these blankets, these military-surplus blankets.
It's clean. Is that blue?
Is that white?
This lamp shade...
is literally the cheapest lamp shade
you can buy in the hotel business.
And staring me in the face -- terms and conditions.
Right in my face.
I can't even really see how I look.
Pretty good.
There's a way to inform me of policies and procedures
without pushing it in my face.
This isn't it.
Now, this is the fanciest bathroom I've seen
since 1957.
There's nothing special about this.
It's old. Look at this down here.
Right at the bottom, there's dirty grout.
I hate dirty grout.
So, you have an old TV.
You're in a destination hotel. You want a nice TV.
You want a flat-screen TV. And look.
Instructions for the hotel Wi-Fi exactly where it belongs --
on the TV screen.
Plus, the damn TV's supposed to be in here.
This is called a TV console.
But they have it up here.
Look at this.
Oops.
If somebody would just move the TV off like I did,
they could clean on top of the bureau.
Look at that.
But seriously, this room needs a new TV anyway.
The scenery in this town alone
is worth the long drive to get here.
But that sorry room was bad enough to pass right on by.
I need to meet with the owners, Mike and Jackie Tompkins,
to find out how they've let things get this bad.
What a beautiful place, beautiful town.
When I drove up and saw that view,
it literally left me speechless.
Very rarely do I have nothing to say.
So how did you come to own the hotel and come to this town?
I first came here in '79.
I knew right then I'd end up living in Grand Lake.
So are you retired now or no?
No. I'm a patent attorney.
Okay, so you went to law school. You didn't go to hotel school.
I did not. No, no.
We'd never done anything with property management
or hotel.
We were walking down the boardwalk,
and what's hanging in the window that the motel is for sale.
I know. It's a sweet story.
But these stories always end the same way.
Have you ever made money on it?
In the 13 years we've owned the property,
we've never turned a profit.
Every penny we make, we pump back in, plus more.
Last year, you lost $50,000, $100,000, more than that?
It was more than $100,000.
You mind if I ask how much you paid for it?
Well, we purchased four different properties.
I say he has a real-estate addiction.
[ Chuckles ]
Okay.
Western Riviera Motel -- you own that.
How many other properties do you own in town?
The original property that we bought in '92.
16 rooms.
And then we have the Tree House, six large lakeside cabins,
and four small ones,
the Lake House in front of that, and then the event venue.
Correct.
And the courtyard cabins are 12 units.
Wow.
Since originally purchasing the motel,
the size of their property has grown by over 250%,
yet they're losing six figures a year.
I have never heard of a real-estate addiction before,
but Mike may very well be an addict.
So you live here now or...
Part of the year, mainly the summer months.
Who runs the place?
Lisa Jonas is our general manager.
Is she doing a good job?
Fantastic job, and I love --
Okay, that doesn't make sense.
You made no money last year,
but you love the job the general manager's doing.
I do.
Right now, we do have a few reservations, but...
It makes me nervous.
You have not done your job from a marketing perspective.
The good news is you have the number-one view I've ever seen.
The bad news is the rooms suck. They're terrible.
There's no reason to come back to the hotel.
It's your grandmother's bathroom.
It's worse than that. She had better taste.
No.
No, I have not.
We have been giving the space for free.
So congratulations. You're going out of business.
See you later.
Sometimes.
Put this on your head. Let's go.
Racers, on your mark.
Get set.
[ Gunshot, crowd cheering ]
MELCHIORRI: I'm in Grand Lake, Colorado, at the Western Riviera Motel,
where I'm trying to help the owners, Mike and Jackie,
turn a profit for the first time in 13 years.
Mike loves spending money on new properties,
but he's not spending money on his own rooms.
That needs to change.
So I want designer Blanche Garcia to renovate them
and help me channel Mike's spending
in a more helpful direction.
Welcome to...
Oh, the most boring room in the world.
It's not completely boring. There's a bear on the wall.
That's the most boring bear in the world.
No. It's horrendous.
What is this?
It's supposed to be a dresser, but it's old and it's ugly.
No, this is a TV console.
You want to try to put it in there?
No, 'cause I already dropped it once.
You dropped it?
Yeah. I don't want to talk about it.
So, you walked around the property.
Yeah.
Is this place insanely beautiful?
It's beauteous.
"It's beauteous"?
Then you come into this hotel room.
It's like a side-of-the-road motel.
There's nothing to it. In a hotel like this,
you're gonna spend more time in this room.
'Cause it's cold out.
There's no coffee maker. There's no luxurious bedding.
Carpeting's ugly.
You want to have an emotional connection to this room.
Get emotionally connected to the bathroom.
It's got this linoleum flooring in it that's really horrible.
Look at this shower curtain. It's really not good at all.
It's your grandmother's bathroom.
It's worse than that. She had better taste.
So, the good news is you only have to do one renovation,
but you can't recognize this room when we're done.
You give me one project, and this room will be glorious.
It'll be like Christmas in here.
I want you to make it great, because I want them to be able
to duplicate it for all the rooms.
Okay.
The owner is addicted to spending money.
He's bought half the town.
I want him to spend money on the rooms.
I will make sure that these rooms look right,
apropos for the area.
Okay.
If you change the TV, put the Wi-Fi codes back on the TV.
Good luck.
This is ridiculous.
MELCHIORRI: As I left Blanche to start on the room renovations,
I notice an employee shoveling snow in front of the motel.
Hi.
I'm Anthony.
Yes.
Char.
You work in maintenance?
No. Housekeeping.
So housekeeping does all the shoveling?
Mm-hmm.
Just to make sure I got this clear,
the property doesn't clean all its rooms,
but they have the housekeepers shoveling snow.
Okay. Got it.
So how long does that take you a day to shovel?
All three places... two to three hours.
Really?
So now I'm starting to understand why
they don't have housekeeping services for the guests.
No.
Ah, I see. So they trained you.
You have to shovel and clean rooms.
Most hotels you don't have to do that.
Yeah.
All right. Thank you very much.
Yep.
MELCHIORRI: So both the owners and housekeeper
have no hotel experience.
And it shows.
I need to speak to the G.M., Lisa.
She's the only one who's here all year 'round
and is in charge of the day-to-day operations
of the hotel.
Biggest reason I want to talk to you is housekeeping service.
You had somebody shoveling snow this morning.
She spends four hours a day shoveling snow.
I understand that we got to make sure people don't fall.
But she needs to be cleaning rooms.
Okay, that's the priority of a housekeeper.
How many housekeepers do you have?
With two housekeepers,
when you're only running 30%, 40% occupancy,
you can clean all the rooms.
Yeah, I would love to be able to provide that to guests.
You're the general manager. Figure it out.
Have you run a hotel before?
No, I have not.
Is there anyone working at this hotel that has hotel experience?
It's a good thing I'm an eternal optimist.
We need to figure out how to get all the rooms clean,
and we need to start making them a profit.
Yeah.
The man hasn't made a penny in 13 years.
So he's literally paying your payroll out of his own pocket.
Have you had a raise in the last two or three years?
No.
Well, if you want to have a job a year from now,
you better get on this.
Mike's real-estate addiction
has caused him to buy a lot of this town
despite the fact that he hasn't made a profit.
He's knee-deep at this point,
so I might as well take a look around the town myself
and see what he's got himself into.
Look at this. This is truly a storybook town.
It's beautiful. And right there is the lake.
Look at these beautiful little businesses.
It's all well-kept.
The problem is that during the winter,
there's nobody here to enjoy it.
I understand his obsession for wanting to buy real estate here.
But you have to make money.
Not only do they own the motel,
but they own lakeside cabins, condos, and an event center.
These right here are their lakeside cabins.
10 steps away from the lakeside rooms
is the Tree House.
I don't really think it's a tree house.
Hey, look, another spectacular view.
Just look at this.
So now a couple blocks away, he has more rooms.
So he really is buying up the whole town.
Now I'm at his courtyard rooms, which is Western Riviera Cabins.
This looks great, too.
But he's still not making money.
13 years not making money, but he's buying cabins.
Hi. Can I talk to you?
As I was walking, I spotted a couple of people
who turned out to be Grand Lake business owners
on their way to work.
We have a property here, Colorado Cabin Adventures.
Why is this area a good investment?
Why do people want to be here?
We came in the summer. We each have young kids.
The lake is awesome
because you have this gorgeous mountain right behind it.
So in the summer -- We got it in the summer.
What do we do in the winter to attract people?
You snowmobile. You go ice fishing.
You go skiing.
It's very peaceful, isn't it?
And the town -- How cute is this town?
MELCHIORRI: The town's great. But nobody's here.
Maybe because they don't know about it.
How does your business fare in the winter?
How do you do in the winter?
Well, this is -- This has kind of been our first winter.
We're not, um...
I mean, I don't think that we'll be at full capacity
like we will be in the summertime.
MELCHIORRI: The low winter occupancy
goes way beyond the Western Riviera Motel.
It sounds like the entire town
may be struggling through the lean snowy months.
Every town has a chamber of commerce established
to bring in new business and tourism.
I want to speak with local chamber president Lisa Jenkins
to find out what they've been doing
to bring in winter business.
The reason I'm here talking to you
is I want to help the Western Riviera.
13 years they haven't made a profit,
and that's because eight months a year,
they don't really have a lot of business.
I'd imagine that is true throughout the town.
Really, the town and the hotel are one.
And I want to figure out through you
how we can get more eyeballs on the town.
Most communities around us, like Winter Park,
has a half a million to $1 million
annual marketing budget.
Estes Park has a $1.2 million marketing budget.
Our total marketing budget for Grand Lake Chamber
is just under $60,000 a year.
What?!
I'm not kidding.
So we take that $60,000 and do the best that we can
to market our entire community.
This is much worse than I thought.
One local television and radio campaign in the Denver area
could cost tens of thousands of dollars,
and they only have 60 grand to market for the entire year.
So what have you been doing
to try to do something with that $60,000?
Most of that $60,000 is spent on our Website.
What's the one thing you would like to have
that maybe some other town is doing that you're not doing?
Branding for this town.
So tell me what this town's about in two sentences.
The most magical set-back-in-time place
you'll ever be
at the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.
That's your branding.
You don't need to wait for some fancy company.
All you got to do is get people here.
This place is magical. You said it.
Everyone tells us that they are coming back.
This place is magical.
The town's already branded. You just got to talk about it.
It's getting the word out there. There are things that we can do.
Holy [bleep]
I've never experienced anything like this in my life.
Hotels at the bottom of this mountain aren't full right now.
It's making me angry.
MELCHIORRI: I'm in the snowmobile capital of Colorado, Grand Lake,
where I'm working to get the Western Riviera Motel
back on the right track.
At first, I thought the owners' inexperience
was causing the hotel's low occupancy.
But I've discovered the entire town is struggling
to attract visitors in the long winter months.
As I work to figure out solutions,
I got an invitation to join the owner, Jackie,
at the annual Alice in Winterland themed carnival
taking place in town.
I heard you were looking for me.
Anthony, you need to take a little break
and head over to the winter carnival
starting here in Grand Lake.
We signed you up to be in the bed-sled race with us.
I'll go under one condition.
This head doesn't get a hat.
You will wear a hat.
Come on. I've seen you stick your hand in toilets!
Let's go.
MELCHIORRI: She's got me there.
I have no idea what a bed-sled race is,
but I'm in, even with the head gear.
The things I do to save hotels.
That's why we love you.
So, how does it work?
There's usually four pushers and one person on the bed.
That's correct.
I'll be right back.
Blanche!
What's on your head?
Sometimes.
What?
Okay, this is Blanche.
I usually don't let hotel owners
meet my designer before the reveal,
but I'm breaking the rules this time because...
Blanche is not here for a design.
She's here for one reason -- to win the bed-sled race.
On my right, we have Down the Rabbit Hole.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And on my left, from out of town,
to grace us with their racing expertise,
the Hotel Impossible.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Everybody down? Everybody ready?
I didn't put this hat on for nothing.
Listen, you take me out of a renovation to wear a moose hat,
we better win.
Racers, on your mark.
Aah!
[ Gunshot, crowd cheering ]
Harder!
[ Cheers and applause ]
They better not have let us win.
Since Grand Lake is in the clouds at 8,300 feet,
I'm gonna blame the elevation for me sucking wind right now.
Yay.
I got to go back.
I got to go work, sir.
But you have to do the renovation in the hat.
Bye.
MELCHIORRI: Wow.
I can really see the creativity and passion
this town has
by seeing what they've done
with the Alice in Winterland Carnival.
If a town of 450 people can create an event like this,
there's got to be a way for them to successfully market it.
Now I'm gonna check in with my bed-sled copilot
and see how the renovations are coming.
Hola.
Anthony, this is Duane, owner of TDS Construction.
Hi. Nice to meet you, Anthony.
I mean, this is brand-new, right, this wall.
Right, this is brand-new tongue and groove,
and this is actually called Beetle Kill.
They secrete an enzyme that kills the tree,
unfortunately, but stains it blue.
I love that. I love the color.
I love the story behind the color.
And this ceiling is new, right?
DUANE: Yeah, we re-drywalled the ceiling.
We have new wood trim going around the whole room,
new carpeting going in,
a new flat-screen TV being mounted on the wall.
We have new sconces that have brighter bulbs in them.
If you're on a snowmobile,
is there anything that you need to hang up,
like, if you're a snowmobile person?
I have hooks going in.
And there's also some other things,
surprises that I'm bringing into the room
to spruce up the room that I'm not gonna tell you about.
Ah.
Left in the dark.
MELCHIORRI: Blanche has already given the room
some local flavor it desperately needed.
Now I'm gonna start working on
getting more guests to stay there during the winter.
I've brought in viral-marketing expert Joel Comm
to get a feel for the area and to market the town online.
So, Joel, I didn't bring you all the way out here
Right.
I brought you out here
because you're a New York Times best seller,
and you're a social media expert.
Yeah, that's right.
You know, social media
is the way to let the world know all about Grand Lake.
I can't wait to get out here and go snowmobiling
and check it out.
As you're going through this, enjoy it.
But also remember we're here to do a job,
and I've got the perfect guy for you to meet.
All right, brother. Let's go.
Hey, Steve. Good to see you.
I am Snowmobile Steve.
Snowmobile Steve's from Grand Adventures,
which is the outfit here
that takes care of people that want to go snowmobiling.
So potential snowmobilers, I'm gonna show you guys things
that you probably have never seen in your life.
Okay, so I'm excited. So let's go.
All right.
Ready to go? Oh, yeah!
This is amazing.
There are over 130 miles of trails
with some rising 11,000 feet.
I cannot believe how beautiful this is.
Holy [bleep]
Oh, yeah!
We are on top of the world.
Welcome to Colorado.
I've never, ever experienced anything like this in my life.
You guys are looking at the continental divide right here.
All the water on that side goes to the Mississippi, Atlantic.
This side goes to the Pacific.
All the water that runs on that side is Budweiser.
This side is Coors.
[ Laughs ]
You know what this is? This is profit.
This is revenue.
Now I'm gonna unleash you to tell the world about this,
because the hotels at the bottom of this mountain
aren't full right now.
It's criminal.
And we're gonna change it
so people are gonna be racing here
to do exactly what we did today.
So now I'm gonna get on my snowmobile
and just fly off this.
That would go really viral.
You know what my name is now? Snowmobile Anthony.
All right! Way to go.
Insane, guys. Absolutely insane.
Well, you know what I think we really should do?
I didn't ask what you should do.
What are you doing that this space is losing money?
You're in trouble because you're not working
with online travel agents.
My head is just swirling.
MELCHIORRI: I'm in Grand Lake, Colorado, where my task has grown
from helping the Western Riviera Motel
to helping the entire town.
I brought in an Internet expert
to help create a viral-marketing campaign
that will showcase the town's amazing features.
Now I'm meeting with the owner, Jackie, and her G.M., Lisa,
at the motel's event center,
a great amenity they should be using to bring in new revenue.
This is a beautiful space.
You got the views right in front of you.
JACKIE: Yes.
So the bride can literally arrive on boat,
come right off the boat, right into the venue.
What else you do here?
We do some family reunions.
Companies have come up, brought up their employees,
and they stay over at the motel.
Do you have competition on the lake with a venue like this?
This is the only one.
Some motels can make up to 50% or more of their revenue
just by hosting events.
The motel could use this space to finally get out of the red.
What are you doing to go after people
that get paid putting groups into spaces like this?
Well, you know what I think we really should do?
I didn't ask what you should do.
What are you doing?
Well, we have been doing a lot of community things
and giving the space for free.
So congratulations. You're going out of business.
See you later.
You will never make money here under these conditions.
We need to step it up.
MELCHIORRI: They're sitting on a gold mine, and they don't even know it.
As a matter of fact, neither does anybody else in the town.
And that has to change.
You have to target market.
You have to make sure that you're touching the person
that opens their check book to come here.
This is tragic that this space is losing money.
So I got to help you, and I got to figure it out.
All right.
It's not long
before I stumble on yet another potential marketing opportunity
that's only steps from the motel.
That is cool.
There's three guys ice fishing with three snowmobiles
literally a couple hundred yards away
from the front door of the hotel.
I wonder if they're guests.
Let me go ask Jackie.
Hey, Anthony.
Hey, I was just outside.
Are those people ice fishing your guests?
They're just people out there ice fishing this morning.
Now, do you have ice fishing packages, or no?
No, I do not.
So it wouldn't be, like, your guests out there
with a package you set up.
It's just random people.
I believe it's random people this morning.
So do you get a lot of that on the lake,
a lot of people ice fishing?
This time of year, we sure do.
So let's go out there, 'cause I don't just see fishermen.
I see some revenue.
So now we're on the lake.
I know you're gonna laugh at me,
but I've never been on a frozen lake before.
In Brooklyn, they don't have too many frozen lakes.
Hey. How you doing?
You mind if I come and bother you?
No problem.
Hi. Jim.
Nice to meet you.
Hi, Jim. Good to see you.
Good to see you.
Yeah.
So, how do you know Jim?
Jim owns Rocky Mountain Outfitters here in Grand Lake.
Oh, so you brought these two guys out here to fish?
Yeah, these are my clients for the day.
How's it going?
I've always wanted to ice fish once in my life.
Actually, it's on my bucket list.
Can I make a hole?
I got to make a hole so I can ice fish.
[ Engine whirring ]
Ah!
In there.
[ Laughs ]
I can now check this off my bucket list.
Right. Great.
In Grand Lake, Colorado, I caught a fish this big.
He's having a bad day.
You don't have to worry about ice, huh?
[ Laughter ]
He's still alive. Ooh. Sorry, buddy.
So, how many people would you say a year
come out here and ice fish?
We run two to three trips a week.
I guarantee you if I just worked with you,
you'd have two or three a day easy.
Two or three a week in a place like this is ridiculous.
It is.
Do you work with guests from her lodge?
We probably should.
Probably should?
This destination appeals to adventurous travelers.
So creating packages that take advantage of local attractions
is a must.
I think it's very important that you guys partner.
I don't know how your business is doing,
but her business needs your business to continue to survive.
Winters are tough, but if we have some sort of packaged deal,
it'll bring people to us.
You need to start doing that immediately.
We're going to.
It was a pleasure.
Have fun.
MELCHIORRI: I'm glad Jackie's going to make the most of this connection.
The motel and the town have to take advantage
of every single opportunity this place has to offer,
and ice-fishing packages is a good start.
Now I have one more idea I want to share with Mike and Jackie
that can make a big difference in the motel's bottom line.
You're in trouble simply because
you're not working with online travel agents.
You need it, especially in this area.
And also you want to use their packages,
because the online-travel-agent packages
are very good, and people like them.
Research indicates that 75% of travelers
visit an online travel agent before booking a hotel room.
So that means right now three of the four potential guests
don't even know the Western Riviera exists
when looking for a hotel room.
And another thing I noticed.
There's a Facebook page called "Snowmobiling."
Do you know how many "likes" they have?
650,000.
Wow.
There's 650,000 hard-core snowmobilers
that we have to tap into.
You have to tap into social media.
It is critical.
That's my challenge to you,
is to get on those Websites immediately.
Should I just start with the motel and then spread out?
Or would you jump all the way in?
Do everything.
Especially in the hotel business,
there's so many components to the hotel business,
do everything.
You know, I've learned so much today,
my head is just swirling.
My job is to, by the time I leave,
for you to feel you are controlling that steering wheel
and you can drive this ship.
You have one group in the middle of winter
that you sell your event space to,
you can go three weeks with almost no business.
MELCHIORRI: I'm in Colorado,
where I'm trying to help the Western Riviera Motel
increase occupancy by trying to figure out
how to get business here in the winter.
The motel has an amazing event space,
but they're just not marketing it well,
which means they're missing out on some much-needed income.
So I want the owner, Jackie, and G.M., Lisa,
to meet someone I've brought in
to help with marketing the hotel's great event space.
Good morning.
I want to introduce you to somebody
that will help you book groups,
Lisa Barham from Hotel Resources.
BARHAM: Hello there. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
What I do is work with hotels like yourselves
and help you bring new business into your area.
From just getting people to know about the hotel,
where do you think you are, 1 to 10?
She's a 10.
I have about 100 employees.
Been doing this about 20 years.
And we specialize in teaching hoteliers
how to go out and build your revenue.
This is exactly what we've needed --
not just Western Riviera.
It's bigger than Western Riviera.
It's about this town, this beautiful gem
in the Rockies that nobody knows about.
I came from a little town this size.
And I love little towns, 'cause little towns like this
is what makes the personality of the state.
You've got an amazing complex here.
Now, you do a lot of weddings.
We know you're really good in the summer.
Let's fill the winter months.
And there's all sorts of snowmobile associations
you need to be listed on
so when groups are looking, they're like, "Oh, wow.
Grand Lake. I haven't thought of that."
This knowledge would be leverage for us
to have those better conversations
so that we're not missing out on profit.
You have one group in the middle of winter
that you sell your event space to
that takes up all your rooms for that one week,
you can go three weeks with almost no business.
This is gonna take us to a whole nother place
that we've been trying to figure out
but haven't gotten there.
Well, we're not gonna stop until we get you some new business.
You're gonna get six months of service from us.
That's thousands and thousands of dollars worth of services.
Great.
I'll do whatever I need to do.
Gonna help you get that center saved.
You've got my commitment on it.
I could jump across and kiss you both right now, I'm so excited.
Now kiss her.
[ Chuckles ]
Mwah!
I love it.
So I'm gonna work and leave you guys to talk.
But you did good, boss.
Thank you.
[ Chuckles ]
With Lisa working with the motel
to drive more traffic to their beautiful event space
and my Internet expert Joel Comm
finding ways to market the town online,
we're covering all the bases.
While Blanche and her crew
continue to work on the renovations,
the G.M., Lisa, finally has the housekeeping staff
focused on what they should be doing --
cleaning rooms for their guests instead of shoveling snow.
Now I'm headed to the lobby to speak with Jackie and Mike,
who said they have something to show me.
Hopefully this doesn't involve funny hats.
I'm nervous. I feel like I'm being set up.
[ Chuckles ]
What do you have to show me?
You know how you challenged us
to get on the online booking sites?
Uh-huh.
We have something to show you.
Oh, so you're one of the owners that actually listen to me.
That's what you're here for, to help us.
"Western Riviera Lakeside Lodging and Events."
And your picture's there, your rooms are there,
and what I like
is that 4.7 out of 5 people recommend your hotel.
What people don't understand
is having those great reviews really increases your revenue.
I'm happy to see that Jackie isn't wasting any time
implementing my suggestions for the motel.
It's a sign they mean business.
And that's encouraging.
I have one critique.
What's wrong with that?
Oh, winter.
That's a summer picture.
It should be a winter photo.
If you're in winter, you put a winter picture in there.
Big percentage of business
comes from online travel agents directly to your Website.
People can find you, see what you're about,
and then call you or go on your Website and book you.
So they're free advertising.
Absolutely. You have to be there.
Okay.
Hi.
I love the carpet.
Anthony, this is Ted from Grand Valley Flooring America.
Ted, how are you?
They're putting in the carpeting this morning.
Yeah, I know.
I just saw you pull up, and I was getting nervous,
'cause I didn't realize the carpet wasn't in yet.
We had to wait for everything to get put in
so there wasn't dust and things like that.
So can I see the carpet?
sure.
Yeah.
It is.
And then the carpeting goes into the bathroom.
I like it. I like this color.
I love the tiles. I love the color.
I notice one thing, 'cause I'm a detail guy.
You kept the drape.
Yeah.
The room is starting to look like
a beautiful Colorado lakefront hotel
instead of a roadside motel.
It's starting to feel like it should
when you come to visit this town.
My biggest concern this morning --
It's like 8:00 now. 12:00 we're revealing this.
It is.
It's in the other room, and it's waiting --
Is there anything that's not here?
No, we actually unpacked all the boxes.
We ironed the sheets. Everything is ready.
Okay. 12:00.
12:00. I got this.
All right, here we go. You excited?
I'm ready.
Let's see it!
Let's go.
Wow. I think this is awesome.
Our guests deserve this.
MELCHIORRI: It's my last day at the Western Riviera Motel
in beautiful Grand Lake, Colorado.
When I first arrived, the motel's rooms had no character
and didn't even offer basic services like housekeeping.
But those days are done.
Now it's time to show Mike and Jackie the new room.
All right, here we go. You excited?
Are you ready?
Let's see it!
Let's go.
Wow.
Look at this.
This is amazing.
Unbelievable.
I think this is awesome.
This is just incredible.
It really gives you that Rocky Mountain feel.
It's beautiful.
This is a miner's lamp on an antler.
I love the hooks for your coats right by the door.
You take everything off. You put it here.
You take your gloves, your hat off, you put it here.
If you have snow shoes, you put it here.
And everything stays near the door.
Go check out the bathroom.
Wow.
Wow!
Look at this -- this tile and -- This is unbelievable.
Blanche is a genius.
MELCHIORRI: You see, this is where you should be spending your money.
Our guests deserve this.
You just said it. "Our guests deserve this."
I couldn't agree more.
So now allow me to bring in my bed-sled partner
and brilliant designer, Blanche Garcia.
So, Blanche...
Hi.
Hey, Blanche.
Do you like it?
This is Duane.
He's the owner of TDS Construction.
Thank you, Duane.
I couldn't have done it without him and his team.
Thank you.
GARCIA: American Hotel Register made sure
that you had coffee machines for every room in this building.
MIKE: Excellent.
They also made sure that you had your warm fleece blankets
for all of the beds, 'cause you were missing that.
And a lot of the product in the room is from the community.
The labor's from the community.
We use all local contractors.
We've lost a bid on different projects because of that,
but that's just the way it is.
I want to keep it here.
You know what? I may marry you now.
[ Laughs ]
[ Laughs ]
Duane and I put together a plan
of basically all of the things that we selected,
where we bought everything,
and the different elevations for the room.
Thank you so much.
I don't think I can talk.
I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude.
I'm sure our guests are gonna just love it.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
This isn't the end of the road.
I have one more thing I want to talk to you about,
so I need you to meet me at the event center.
All right. We'll be there.
See you there.
MELCHIORRI: With Mike and Jackie's help,
I've managed to bring Grand Lake town leaders and business owners
together in their beautiful event center,
the perfect setting for Joel and I to reveal our last surprise.
Hello.
Hey, Anthony. How you doing?
I'm Judy Burke. I'm the mayor of Grand Lake, Colorado.
Nice to meet you.
This is Joel Comm, who's a friend of mine.
Joel Comm is a New York Times best seller,
Five, yeah.
...about Internet marketing.
Now, you've heard a little bit about viral videos,
the type of videos online that people just can't help
but pass around and share with their friends.
What we want to do is put together a strategy
that uses Internet marketing
and gives you a blueprint for creating a video
that could potentially go viral and put you guys on the map.
After being here and finding what a great community it is
and how many things there are to do here,
you have the story already.
We need to tell that story to the rest of the world.
So the mayor, what do you think?
I think it sounds like a wonderful plan,
and what we do need to do is be very creative,
because there are a lot of things you can do
that you don't have to spend a ton of money on.
With the budget that you have,
this is gonna take a small fraction,
so much smaller
than what your typical marketing efforts would consume,
and that's really exciting.
Going viral, you can't say it will or won't.
But once you make the video with his help,
he will show you how to get the most interest
and have the best chance of getting it viral.
With a creative viral-marketing plan,
the town could be exposed to thousands,
maybe even millions of new visitors.
And by doing it online,
it can be effective even on their smaller budget.
To do things like this for people like you
is all we ask for.
And the townspeople -- I haven't met one person in this town
that hasn't opened their hearts.
This is such a special place.
By working together, you could all put Grand Lake on the map,
not just in the summer, but 365 days a year.
So to Grand Lake. Thank you very much.
Thank you for having us.
When I first arrived at Grand Lake,
I found a hotel that could not turn a profit in 13 years.
If the business leaders follow the plan,
if Mike and Jackie follow the plan,
a lot more people will be coming to this town,
and they will find out what I know.
Grand Lake is the greatest winter destination
you can come to.