Larry Smith, owner of the historic Motel Safari in Tucumcari, New Mexico, for the past eight years, announced the handing over of the keys to its new proprietor, Rich Havlik.
The motel’s Facebook page commemorated the change:
Havlik, a longtime funeral director in Minnesota, also celebrated his new profession in a Facebook Reel:
Havlik said in an interview for the Eastern New Mexico News (my day job) that he began searching for a Route 66 motel to buy after the grind of extra workload and deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic caused him to reassess.
Havlik said he was already a Route 66 fan before the pandemic. In recent years, he considered buying the Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, Missouri; the Boots Court motel in Carthage, Missouri; the Historic Route 66 Motel in Tucumcari; and the Motel Safari. On work breaks, he even helped longtime Munger Moss owner Ramona Lehman run the property before her death.
Smith and Havlik initially couldn’t reach a financing arrangement for the Motel Safari. But Smith said he reconsidered after a hospital stay in December and the death in April of his beloved boxer dog and lobby mainstay, Sam.
Smith said he enjoyed his time as a motel owner, but he felt pangs to return to his home state of Tennessee two years ago. He credited Motel Safari’s previous owners, Richard and Gail Talley, for bringing up the property’s quality and reputation during their decade-long tenure.
“I’m turning it over to somebody who appreciates the business, the motel, the work that went into it. And there’s still plenty more to do,” Smith said.
Havlik said he didn’t plan many changes for the Motel Safari, but wants to add a feature that taps into one of his hobbies, geocaching.
“I am thinking about turning one of the rooms used for storage into a geocaching room … almost like an escape room type geocaching,” he explained.
“There’s really nothing much to change here,” he added. “Even with the Munger Moss, Ramona’s first question was, ‘If you got this place, what would you change?’ I wouldn’t change anything. You’ve got a great business, and you’ve got a great, great reputation going. If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.”
Chester Dohrer, an independent hotelier, designed and built Motel Safari in 1959.
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