LODGING A BULLET
John Hough sprays off the sidewalk in front of the Roosevelt Inn in downtown Coeur d’Alene wearing a face mask sewn for him by an employee. John and his wife, Tina, recently received a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the ferderal government to keep their 16 employees paid during the pandemic.
JENNIFER PASSARO/Press
Roosevelt Inn gets loan, but success far from certain
In the past six weeks, Roosevelt Inn owners John and Tina Hough have processed $60,000 in refunds to customers canceling reservations and booked events due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The lodging industry is sucking wind,” John Hough said Monday. “We are dying on the vine.”
Relief for the inn’s 16 employees came Friday evening, as the business received a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan that they applied for in early March. The PPP enables the Houghs to pay their employees for 10 weeks. If they’re able to retain their employees — two kitchen staff, two gardeners, front desk staff, night desk staff, housekeepers, and themselves — their loan will be forgiven.
In the last week of February, the telephone began ringing at the inn as one guest after another called to cancel their room reservations. It hasn’t stopped ringing. The business lost every reservation for March and April. Nearly all May reservations and many June reservations have also been canceled.
The guests who stay at the historic bed and breakfast in downtown Coeur d’Alene are predominantly non-essential travelers seeking a romantic getaway or a reflective weekend within walking distance of the lake.
“We get a few business travelers, but many of them have been deemed non-essential as well,” Hough said.
The inn attracts couples from Spokane, road bicyclists from across the country, and plenty of international travelers looking for a unique way to explore the Inland Northwest. The Houghs have owned the inn for 25 years. John attended elementary school in the beautiful brick building surrounded by towering ponderosa pines when the Inn was a school house.
The Houghs haven’t seen a fallout in the lodging industry like this since 9/11.
“People just didn’t travel. They were terrified to travel,” Hough said. “We went from a boom business to bankruptcy in three months.”
After the 9/11 attacks brought travel to a halt, the Houghs qualified for a federal loan to get them through the winter months. They were able to pay it back by the following September. They’re afraid travelers will not return as quickly this time.
On Feb. 25, the Houghs applied for a U.S. Small Business Administration Emergency Injury Disaster Loan. They’re still waiting to be approved for the loan and are using lines of credit to pay their utility bills and cover other expenses. According to the SBA website, the federal agency is unable to accept new applications for the assistance program because there’s no money.
The Houghs are keeping busy though — painting, caulking, and tending to the large gardens surrounding the inn. They’ve shampooed the carpets and washed the curtains in the 14 guest rooms.
“We’re so bored we’re moving furniture,” Hough said with a laugh.
He might not admit it, but Hough is scared. In a town that relies on tourism, if the summer months don’t provide their usual burst of economic activity, the winter months will be darker than usual.
“We save up all summer for what we refer to as ‘the war chest’ to carry us through the slow months — November, January, and March. Those are the months that are terrifying for most of the small businesses in this area,” Hough said.
The Houghs lost all six weddings scheduled at the Roosevelt Inn between February and April. They’ve already had two large wedding reservations cancel for July as couples fear putting family and friends at risk.
“But they just want a refund,” Hough said. “They don’t want to move their deposits to next summer. It’s just killing us.”