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Non-Profit considers take over of Doyle hotel.

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    • max.patch wrote:

      PaulMags wrote:

      Dumb question...

      Is it possible to moth-ball the rest of the hotel and just keep the restaurant and bar open? Seems the bar/restaurant is semi-profitable at least. The lodging just seems to drain what little profit is made from the bar.

      Just one idea. As I said, may or may not be realistic.
      not a dumb question cuz i've thot the same thing. :)
      just speculating, since i don't have access to the financial records, but since they obviously don't spend money on maids cleaning up the place, or a maintenance man taking care of stuff (man - that guy would be busy!), or a front desk clerk (when i was there we just paid the bartender) i bet that most of $25 they get per room has no offsetting expenses (other than some water and electricity) and should be almost all gross profit.
      That is what I was thinking almost pure profit on the rooms. I debated if I should sleep in my hiking clothes or my night/town clothes.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • max.patch wrote:

      it's a lifetime of memories.
      I'd prefer not to trade the rest of my life for a night/"lifetime" of memories. With the stupidity of people today in general, and what seems to be a growing idiocy among hikers (although it seems like the idiots are less likely to make it as far as PA), all it would take would be some dumbass to decide to use their camp stove in their room...
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee

    • Grinder wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      it's a lifetime of memories.
      I'd prefer not to trade the rest of my life for a night/"lifetime" of memories. With the stupidity of people today in general, and what seems to be a growing idiocy among hikers (although it seems like the idiots are less likely to make it as far as PA), all it would take would be some dumbass to decide to use their camp stove in their room...
      amen!

    • mental note wrote:

      PaulMags wrote:

      Dumb question...

      Is it possible to moth-ball the rest of the hotel and just keep the restaurant and bar open? Seems the bar/restaurant is semi-profitable at least. The lodging just seems to drain what little profit is made from the bar.

      Just one idea. As I said, may or may not be realistic.
      honestly I have no idea, I don't recall off hand having ever seen that done before, but I don't see why not as long as there aren't safety issues...put a new roof on the thing, dry in the sides and lock the doors leading up.
      ...and, renovate one room or two rooms and send some ghost stories Up the flag pole, now ya got a whole nother market share that's somewhat huge and world wide. And if they don't do it already, make a deal with some micro breweries and start selling local PA beers, the water from the Susquehanna has produced some fine beers over the years. hire an up coming local executive Chef and revamp the menu...ya gotta spend money to make money...or, put the key in the door and walk away, declare bankruptcy and start a new after a few years...it's the American way! One door closes another one opens.

      One final thought. There's rustic and there's dalapadated if it has to be the later, it better be clean, nothin' wrong with some boards outta place, cracks in the plaster, but it better be clean, no excuse for filth. All people want is some good food a good time, some pictures and a good story to tell when they get home...give em that and your golden.

      The post was edited 5 times, last by Socks ().

    • if any part of the structure could be considered a fire hazard, I don't see just the bar being open. I saw a similar thing down on the coast. Flop house motel. All wood. I think it had a small bar in it. It caught fire. Burned down and bodies were found. Then the city said there code violations. .. But it was too late for for the victims.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • JimBlue wrote:

      if any part of the structure could be considered a fire hazard, I don't see just the bar being open. I saw a similar thing down on the coast. Flop house motel. All wood. I think it had a small bar in it. It caught fire. Burned down and bodies were found. Then the city said there code violations. .. But it was too late for for the victims.
      I have family members who were part owners of a resturant. They got in at a time when it was under new management...long story short, the place burned to the ground. Wouldn't be surprised if investors found, construction begins, insurence in place...and a mysterious fire solved all, it happens!

      Footnote:
      the chef and his brother were arrested for arson.

    • the doyle is not a tinderbox waiting to erupt in a ball of fire.

      just becasue it's filthy, no airconditioning, holes in the walls, broken toilets, leaky plumbing, etc etc etc doesn't make it a fire hazard. i'm sure if there were fire safety issues the fire dept woulda had the place shut down years ago.

      like grinder said, ANYTIME you stay in a hotel/motel 5 star resort/flophouse or whatever ya check out the fire exit first thing just in case.
      2,000 miler

    • max.patch wrote:

      the doyle is not a tinderbox waiting to erupt in a ball of fire.

      just becasue it's filthy, no airconditioning, holes in the walls, broken toilets, leaky plumbing, etc etc etc doesn't make it a fire hazard. i'm sure if there were fire safety issues the fire dept woulda had the place shut down years ago.

      like grinder said, ANYTIME you stay in a hotel/motel 5 star resort/flophouse or whatever ya check out the fire exit first thing just in case.
      your absolutely right, they also have to pass health code inspections...regularly. Being in construction I can say what looks like a dalapadated place to most, always looks pretty correctable to me, if there's a good foundation, anything can be fix, just a matter of money...and time, generally 2 more weeks :D

    • JimBlue wrote:

      Then the city said there code violations. .. But it was too late for for the victims.
      Sadly that's how a lot of codes or code changes come about. Many areas don't have sufficient prevention/inspection staff, if any, to inspect everything in their district. It's sad.
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee

    • max.patch wrote:

      the doyle is not a tinderbox waiting to erupt in a ball of fire.

      just becasue it's filthy, no airconditioning, holes in the walls, broken toilets, leaky plumbing, etc etc etc doesn't make it a fire hazard. i'm sure if there were fire safety issues the fire dept woulda had the place shut down years ago.
      Not necessarily a tinderbox waiting to erupt, but I've seen a couple of things (in videos) that made me cringe electricity wise, and from an egress standpoint it's a deathtrap, period.

      As for the fire department shutting the place down, I don't know what they have in Duncannon or whatever county it's part of, but many small town (especially volunteer) departments don't have any code enforcement branch at all, and many county prevention resources are undermanned for the amount of facilities they'd need to inspect, so annual inspections aren't necessarily even conducted. And of course in many places (again, strictly generalizing and not disparaging my Duncannon area brethren), things get "overlooked" because the inspector and the owner are friends, went to school together, in-laws, have kids on the same baseball team, etc. I know where I live in NC, the city has a three person prevention staff. Adequate but could be better. The county has a one man staff. No, actually I think two. Mostly what they deal with is making sure new construction meets standards, and investigating fires.
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee

    • I wonder what would happen of a big-hearted hiker wins the lottery and decides to invest in the Doyle and gets it all fixed up with a first class renovation. Would it loose all of its "rustic" atmosphere that made it appealing to AT hikers? Would fixing it also ruin it?
      BTW, I've never been there so this is just from a pack sniffer's perspective.
      Another BTW, no I did not win the lottery, in case you were wondering.

    • odd man out wrote:

      I wonder what would happen of a big-hearted hiker wins the lottery and decides to invest in the Doyle and gets it all fixed up with a first class renovation. Would it loose all of its "rustic" atmosphere that made it appealing to AT hikers? Would fixing it also ruin it?
      BTW, I've never been there so this is just from a pack sniffer's perspective.
      Another BTW, no I did not win the lottery, in case you were wondering.
      I think that hiker would lose that money. The Doyle is one large rat hole to throw your money into. Ten million wouldn't even touch it, I do this sort of stuff for a living.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • odd man out wrote:

      I wonder what would happen of a big-hearted hiker wins the lottery and decides to invest in the Doyle and gets it all fixed up with a first class renovation. Would it loose all of its "rustic" atmosphere that made it appealing to AT hikers? Would fixing it also ruin it?
      BTW, I've never been there so this is just from a pack sniffer's perspective.
      Another BTW, no I did not win the lottery, in case you were wondering.
      don't know if you knew this when you posted, but jim doyle won the irish lottery and used the money to buy the hotel which he then renamed the doyle hotel.
      2,000 miler

    • max.patch wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      I wonder what would happen of a big-hearted hiker wins the lottery and decides to invest in the Doyle and gets it all fixed up with a first class renovation. Would it loose all of its "rustic" atmosphere that made it appealing to AT hikers? Would fixing it also ruin it?
      BTW, I've never been there so this is just from a pack sniffer's perspective.
      Another BTW, no I did not win the lottery, in case you were wondering.
      don't know if you knew this when you posted, but jim doyle won the irish lottery and used the money to buy the hotel which he then renamed the doyle hotel.
      Did not know that. We often play the "if you won the lottery...." game at home. We assume we are talking several hundred million after tax Powerball kind of winnings, so the money to completely renovate the Doyle is July's interest payment. Losing the money is irrelevant. It allows us to ponder pointless question. That's the fun.

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      I wonder what would happen of a big-hearted hiker wins the lottery and decides to invest in the Doyle and gets it all fixed up with a first class renovation. Would it loose all of its "rustic" atmosphere that made it appealing to AT hikers? Would fixing it also ruin it?
      BTW, I've never been there so this is just from a pack sniffer's perspective.
      Another BTW, no I did not win the lottery, in case you were wondering.
      I think that hiker would lose that money. The Doyle is one large rat hole to throw your money into. Ten million wouldn't even touch it, I do this sort of stuff for a living.
      Do I understand that right?
      A 10 with 6 zeros after it wouldn't do a proper renovation of the Doyle?
      Really? And I thought new helicopters were expensive!

    • montana mac wrote:

      I stayed there in 09 on my hike. Yeah it wasn't a Hilton but it was better then some of the hostels. It seems like 28 out of 29 people like it.

      29 Reviews from our TripAdvisor Community
      on a 1-5 scale; 19 five stars, 9 four stars, and 1 one star.

      note to self; do not use TripAdvisor when researching hotels.
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • max.patch wrote:

      JimBlue wrote:

      How old is the Doyle ? Wood buildings dry out over time.
      the original doyle was built in 1770, but in 1903 it -- oops -- burned to the ground.
      the doyle was rebuilt in 1905.

      now whats the odds the same building is gonna burn down twice? :)
      The hotel I work at has burned down twice
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123

    • mental note wrote:

      Rasty wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      JimBlue wrote:

      How old is the Doyle ? Wood buildings dry out over time.
      the original doyle was built in 1770, but in 1903 it -- oops -- burned to the ground.the doyle was rebuilt in 1905.
      now whats the odds the same building is gonna burn down twice? :)
      The hotel I work at has burned down twice
      sounds suspect 8) I'd put someone on it.
      Both fires after the wooden structures were compromised by major hurricanes. The third structure is a concrete fortress.
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123