The Canyon Hotel and RV Park and the Red Garter Bed and Bakery will be featured in an episode of the Travel Channel’s reality show “Hotel Impossible” later this year, according to the Williams News.
“Hotel Impossible’s” premise is hotels receive an extensive makeover by veteran hotel operator and hospitality expert Anthony Melchiorri and his team.
Melchiorri’s blunt and even tyrannical style might make it a rough. But Canyon Hotel owner Kevin Young sees a long-term benefit.
“So we said, we’ll just take the abuse for a few days,” he said. “Let them do whatever they want. But the end result is they’re going to spend money on our property.”
Another perk of going on the TV show is the free advertising.
“Any advertising, good or bad, ends up being good,” Young said. “So if these guys do a national show and somebody in Texas says ‘Oh. Lets go look at that place. They have little train cars.’ Or they have an RV. ‘Let’s try that place.’ That’s what we’re trying to get out of it.”
Melchiorri told the newspaper, in the Canyon Hotel’s case, he was fine-tuning an already-profitable operation. And the episode will add a twist:
Melchiorri said the episode that will feature the Canyon Motel and the Red Garter is about small towns that are keeping Route 66 alive.
“This town dies, that stretch of Route 66 dies,” he said. “People needed Route 66 to go from point A to point B. Now people choose Route 66 because of towns like Williams. So, it’s really important to represent towns like Williams on TV so people know that these towns, these hotels, these RV parks matter. You can sleep anywhere. Why not sleep in a landmark?”
John Holst, owner of the Red Garter, also saw a silver lining in subjecting himself to Melchiorri’s critical eye.
“Having someone come look at you not saying ‘oh what a wonderful place it is’ but maybe having a bit more insight as to things you can do to help improve your business,” Holst said. […]
“They said ‘what kind of help would you need.’ That’s part of what they do,” Holst said. “Really, they help in different ways. They were certainly good about the publicity end of things and helping us look at it from the outside.”
The Canyon Hotel’s claim to fame is it features caboose and railway cars converted into motel rooms.
The Red Garter is housed in a former saloon and bordello in a building that dates to 1897. And, according to a sidebar in the Williams News, the Grand Canyon Cafe is moving into that building.
(Image of the caboose cabin at the Canyon Motel by Wes Dickinson; Image of the Red Garter Bed and Bakery by Debbie R)
I loved stopping in WilliamShakespeare what a great little town.
The production crew was in Seligman filming on Crookton Road on the East end of town. They were using the 66 logo on the road for a backdrop as they were narrating.