Christmas at Last Chance Lodge, page 5
“As soon as I saw it, I knew you’d want it. As for the renovation, George is putting up drywall today. We have all the new door locks on. In a week or two, we’ll be laying tile and carpeting. I think it’s going great.”
“I got to thinking, Bridgette, with all the renovations and everything, your lodge might be running in the red in a month or two. Now that you have the software installed, I can see your bookings. You had two people yesterday, and you don’t have anyone today. Are you going to still be afloat come spring? I thought I sent you up there to turn this thing around.”
“No, you sent me up here to get me away from Harold. Don’t worry, the Christmas Festival is just around the corner and we’re booked solid for six weeks. I have every intention of making money for you. It's going to be a little expensive at first. As soon as I have all the rooms renovated, the costs will go down dramatically.”
“You’re renovating the rooms?”
“Yes, now I told you that. Don’t act so surprised. George is all set to go for it when the lobby is done.”
“I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
Bridgette swallowed. She had relied on her boss’ famously bad memory to pull one over on him, but it wasn’t working. All or nothing. “Of course, you do. You were complaining about Harold and I was complaining about the outdated rooms.”
Philmore didn’t say anything for a minute or two. “Okay, I might remember something about that. I know Harold has been driving me nuts lately. Seven more weeks and he’s gone, not that I’m counting. I don’t remember what you said the cost would be.”
“I’ll solidify that with George. We’ll send you the bill.”
“All right. Remember, you’re up there to turn that lodge around. I would hate to lose it, especially since I seem to be putting more and more money into it.”
Bridgett wiped her forehead. “You’ve got it. No worries, it will all work out in the end.” I hope.
Bridgett walked out into the lobby. “I got the money to fix the rooms.”
“He was so resistant to the changes in the lobby. How on earth did you get him to let you change the rooms?”
“I may have told a little white lie, but it worked. We’ll get this place looking like a real hotel.”
“A little white lie, really?” Lillian stood there with her hand on her hip.
“Okay, it was a whopper and I’ll apologize for it one day when this all works out.”
“And if it doesn’t all work out?”
Bridgette shrugged. “He’ll never know.” She walked over to George. “Good news, the big boss has given me permission to update the rooms, too. I’m going to need that done in the next two weeks, also.”
George scanned the lobby and then looked back at her. “I’m going to have to hire more men.”
“Thanks.” She gave him a wink and a smile.
“Show me what you want done.”
She took him to the room at the end of the hall. The wood paneling had to go, along with the dated furniture. The headboards and mattresses were new and could be used with the new décor, so those could stay. The carpet wasn’t shag, but she wanted something brighter. As long as they were there, rip that out, too.
“I’ll start upstairs, so don’t rent out those rooms. I’m hoping to get the upstairs done by Thanksgiving, but the downstairs might have to wait until after Christmas.”
“Great.” She almost danced back to the front desk. “Lillian, what do people do in the summertime around here? I mean, the only time this lodge is full is during the Christmas Festival.”
“Well, there’s the boat ride, a scenic train ride, all sorts of trails around the mountains, an amusement park, and well, lots of stuff. Why?”
“I have an idea. What if we gave everyone that comes for the Christmas Festival a brochure of what goes on the rest of the year? We can even bundle vacation packages. Have a Stay and Play package with admission tickets and a room here.”
“Wow, that’s a great idea.”
“If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my office working on it.”
Making calls and arranging deals was something Bridgette excelled at. By noon, she already had the beginnings of a brochure. She had agreements with an 1872 steamship company for a dinner cruise and lodge stay. Similar arrangements were made with a scenic train tour and a fun park. She also had a list of trails and state parks in the region.
“Is there a printer here in town?” Bridgette asked as she came out of her office.
“Berlin.” Lillian had her head in the local paper. “Look at this.”
Bridgette came and looked over her shoulder. “Oh, it’s the official ribbon cutting for the new hotel.”
“No, if you look closely, the ribbon is taped together. It’s the reenactment of the official ribbon cutting. The investment group had already left by the time the reporter came.”
“Oh, that’s too funny. I almost feel sorry for the guy running it. He’s getting no support from that investment group.” Bridgette took a closer look at the paper. “I didn’t know that the town had its own newspaper.”
“It’s not considered a newspaper as there usually isn’t anything newsworthy in it. We call it the paper.” She turned it to page two. “Here check this out.”
“Linda’s Surprise Visit. Linda Godfry was baking in her kitchen when Pastor John knocked on her door…” Bridgette shook her head. “I just don’t see the New York Times covering a story like that.”
“The worst thing is, it’s a series. Every week the paper prints who Pastor John has visited that week. All the older parishioners are all home at ten on Tuesdays hoping it will be them who are graced with the good pastor’s presence.”
Bridgette let go a laugh. “I’m so glad I don’t go to church.”
Lillian gasped. “Don’t let any of the townspeople hear you say that. You have to go, but only on Christmas Day and Easter. You’re good for the rest of the year otherwise. It’s tradition; everyone in town shows up.”
Bridgette nodded. “Okay, I don’t want to upset the town and its traditions.”
“Well, I’m leaving Baden Walla. I’ll see you next year.”
They turned to see the Cartwrights and the Hendricks carrying their suitcases out.
“Can I ask you a quick question?” Bridgette asked.
“You just did,” Mr. Cartwright laughed till he snorted, then laughed some more.
“Why do you come here at this time every year?”
“The annual craft festival in Berlin. The prices for all the hotels there in town go way up during the fair. Here they stay the same and we like this place better anyway. At least we hope you’ll have it all fixed up by the time we come back. We love sitting by the fireplace in the evenings, but…” He sighed. “Maybe next year.”
“The lobby will be finished in a few weeks. Come back for the Christmas Festival,” Bridgette said.
“Oh, and craftspeople come from miles around to display their work during the festival too,” Lillian added.
“Great, we’ll need two rooms.”
Lillian typed their reservations into the computer. “I have you here for the first two days of December. That’s when the craftspeople show up. You’re all set.”
“Great, see ya’ll in December, here in Baden Walla.” He snorted again on his way out the door.
After they left, Bridgette high fived Lillian. “We did it, great job. Now if we can talk all of our guests into coming back, we’ll double our profits.”
Lillian sighed. “But now we have to listen to that laugh again.”
“Well, just pretend it’s the sound of money when they come back in again. It’s going to take more than that to keep us afloat, but every little bit helps.”
“What happens if you fail? We’re spending a lot of money on the upgrades. There is a brand-new hotel across town that doesn’t need any upgrades. What are our chances? I mean, you have a job to go back to in Atlanta if this all goes south. Me, I’ve got nothing.”
“Don’t worry; it will work. People can now use credit cards to book rooms online. They don’t have to pay cash. Let’s check, just for the fun of it, how many people have rented rooms since we put up the web site?”
Lillian clicked up the reservations. Her eyes widened. “Wow, we have five reservations overnight, and only one is during the festival.”
“See, it's working already. I’ll contact the web designer. We’ll put our Stay and Play program online. That will help. We’ll get things rolling, you’ll see. Soon we’ll be the best place to stay in all of New Hampshire.”
“I love your optimism. It’s contagious.”
“Thank you.” Bridgette walked into her office and composed an email for the web designer.
Chapter 10
“The hotel is not meeting our revenue expectations.” James’s voice sounded cold to Bryce.
“No one knows we’re here. If you’d give me an advertising budget, I could increase the number of people staying here tenfold.”
“Our marketing department handles all the advertising; they do an outstanding job of it, too. They handle all of our businesses.”
“Yes, I’ve seen the ad. It’s wonderful, but they are advertising in the wrong market. They need to be advertising in the northeast, not in New York and especially not in the southern states. No one from Georgia or Tennessee wants to come up here and freeze to death for a Christmas Festival. They need to advertise to the people who already freezing to death and want some cheer in their lives.”
James cleared his throat. “I do what I do, and I hire people to do what they do. I expect the best out of myself and all my departments. They are experts in the field and I trust them. I need your revenue up to the fifteen percent profit level, the same profit level that I expect out of all my businesses or I will be forced to sell the hotel and put my capital into another venture. Do you understand?”
“Yes, James.”
“We listened to you about opening early to take advantage of the Christmas Festival. That cost us a lot of money and, so far, it isn’t bearing much fruit. Now you want to take over advertising. I just don’t see that happening. Do good and get busy.”
“Yes, James.” Bryce resisted the temptation to slam the phone down on his desk. He came out of the office and leaned against the front counter.
“That phone call didn’t go well, I can tell,” Lionel said. “Your face is red. It’s only red after the bad phone calls.”
“They’re spending thousands in ad dollars this weekend in Texas. Do Texans travel to New Hampshire for a Christmas Festival?”
“Let me check.” Lionel pulled up the reservations off the computer. “Nope, not one booking from Texas. Oh, but we have our first review.”
“Great, how many stars?”
“Um, two. It reads, “The place was fancy, like a mausoleum. The front desk clerk dressed like an undertaker. I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn’t gone to the other side. The room, luckily, didn’t have the same feel, but the mattress was hard, like a brick with slight padding.” Lionel looked over at Bryce, “You had to be on the front desk that day. I never look like a funeral director.”
“I’m going to tone down the suits. Maybe a sports coat?”
Lionel nodded.
“I wonder how the lodge across town is doing. I was supposed to leave them in the dust. James’ number crunchers said they would shut down in the first ninety days after we open. I guess the old manager is resistant to new technology. The lodge takes cash only and has no online presence and the décor is terrible.”
“Oh, things are changing over there. They now take credit cards and, here, I can show you their web site.” A few clicks later the Lovely Lucy Lodge page popped up.
“Wow.” Bryce read it. “That’s amazing. These people know what they’re doing. It’s so much better than ours. James’ webmaster put a shopping cart on ours. Who puts a shopping cart on a hotel web site? It’s not an online store, it’s a hotel.”
“They’re part of Claring Meadows Hotels and have hired a new hotshot manager to take over.”
“We’re doomed. Look at this Stay and Play section. That’s genius. No way I could do that on ours. James would never agree to something like that.”
“Well, hopefully, whoever buys this place will keep us on.”
Bryce shook his head. “You have a chance, but the new owners are going to want to bring in their own managers. I’m going back into the office to polish up my resume’.”
“Let’s not give up so soon. I hear the Lovely Lucy is booked up over the festival, we might pick up a lot of the overflow. That could buy us a few months.”
“How do you know so much about the competition?”
Lionel shrugged. “Small town.”
Bryce gave him a sideways glance. “Okay. I’m going to send an email to James. I’ll send him a link to the lodge’s web page. ‘See, this is what the competition is doing.’”
“Wait,” Lionel smiled. “We just got a booking out of Texas.” Then his shoulders slumped. “It’s for August.”
“We might be under new management by then. It’s better than nothing, I guess.” Sitting at his computer, he typed an email to James. To his surprise, James answered back right away.
“I have seven MIT graduates on my advertising team. They are the best in the business. Yet one man with a hospitality degree thinks he can do better than all of them. Bryce, we talked about this. We manage hundreds of businesses. Let the experts do what they do and you do what you do. You have to get the revenue up.”
Leaning back in his chair, Bryce muttered, “I’m doomed.” He stood back up and said to Lionel as he went out the front door, “Hold the fort. I’m going to get some coffee.”
“Yes, Sir.”
It was dead at the coffee shop for a Monday morning. The going to work rush had already faded. Bryce sat at a table near the front. Without a word, Don poured him a coffee and sat down across from him. “The usual, I presume.”
“Thanks. Has that girl come back in?”
Don shook his head, “No, it appears I’ve scared her away permanently. At least that’s something I do very well, scare the cute ones away.” He stood up when Lillian came in. “How can I help you?”
“Two coffees to go, one with one sugar and one cream and the other with two sugars and one cream.”
“Coming right up.” He poured the coffees and handed them to her. She paid and left.
Don came back and sat down across from Bryce.
“Who was that? She’s cute.” Bryce asked.
“Lillian, but she’s way too young for us. You don’t want to be accused of robbing the cradle.”
“I might.” He replied, “I don’t know if I can even handle a relationship right now. Things aren’t going well at the hotel.”
“That boss of yours needs to cut you some slack. It’s new and he isn’t doing a great job of advertising it.”
“’I have seven MIT graduates on my advertising team.’ I’m so sick of hearing how great his team is.”
“Yes, but it’s not a department store. It’s a hotel,” Don replied.
“Do you know they put a shopping cart on my web page? Have you ever seen a shopping cart on a hotel web page before?”
“No, but I don’t do much traveling since I bought the coffee shop.” Don put his hand on Bryce’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, if that doesn’t work out, you can always come to work for me.”
“Thanks for the offer. I’m hoping I won’t have to take you up on it.”
“How’s the apartment hunting going?”
“It’s now house hunting. The real estate agent sold my parent’s old home, so I have the cash to put down on something nice. If I can’t find a place soon, there’s a lot on the highway, just north of town. George says he can get it for a song and put me up a great house there in the spring.”
“Oh, how nice. Meanwhile, you just have to hope that the hotel isn’t full, so you won’t be put out on the street. Or worse yet, have to spend the night at my house.”
“No worries about the hotel being full and I’ve imposed on you enough. I do have a backup plan. I bought a blow-up mattress. I can lock the door to the office and sack out there those nights the hotel is fully booked.”
Don’s smile disappeared. “I love having you here, but why did you come back to this town? All those memories must be eating at you.”
“I have a brother somewhere who ran out the door that night and kept running. I’m hoping he’ll make his way back home someday. If he does come back to town, I want to be here so he can find me.”
“He was sixteen years old at the time. It’s a cruel world. Who even knows if he’s alive?”
“It may be a false hope, but it’s the only hope I have.”
Don nodded. Several customers walked through the door, so he had to get up and help them. Bryce finished his coffee and then drove back to the hotel.
When he entered, Lionel said, “James called. He sounded upset that you weren’t here. I asked if he wanted you to call him back, but he said he’d send you an email instead.”
“Lovely. I’ll be in my office.” He read the email when he sat down.
‘Perhaps if you spent more time in the office figuring out how to turn the hotel around and not so much time in coffee shops, you could increase revenue. Anyway, I’ve talked to some of the other partners and they agree with me, let the advertising section do their job.
James.’
Bryce stomped out. He said, “I’m going to go visit my mom,” on his way out the front door.
“Don’t forget about the Halloween party tomorrow.”
“I’ll be back way before then.”
Chapter 11
Bridgette stepped out of the lodge to a dusting of snow covering the sidewalks. She debated about driving the five blocks to the high school, but heard Sheriff Joe’s voice telling her, ‘don’t drive.’ So, she decided to walk.
