Upstater

Did you happen to catch the Catskill Mountain Lodge in Palenville on Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible Monday night? The show, hosted by Anthony Melchiorri, has spent the last four seasons making over hotels on the brink of closing, and the Lodge on Route 32A got their shot at a second chance when the show paid them a visit back in February. Owners Al and Kathy Guart had been operating the hotel and restaurant without front desk assistance or maintenance (aside from their son), and aspects began to suffer from lack of attention, such as their game room and an “activity” room that looked more like an long-neglected storage room than a place to hang out. Melchiorri investigated the hotel, hired a designer to redo the game room and one guest room, brought in Chef  Giovanni “Gianni” Scappin  from Cucina in Woodstock to tweak the hotel restaurant’s menu, and suggested that they spend some coin turning the Lodge into an all-inclusive family resort in the summer but to keep it closed during the winter. He also admonished the owner for harshly responding to negative reviews written online about the hotel.

After all was said and done (we won’t even go into what happened when Melchiorri visited their restaurant), the Guarts were left with a snazzy, fun game room, one nicely-renovated guest room (pictures below), and a plan for how to proceed. Some local businesses got in on the action, as well, including Giarrusso Contracting in Westerlo, who did the renovating, and Abbe Aronson from Abbe Does It, who put together the game room activities. We wish the Guart’s the best of luck, and we looking forward to checking back in during the summer to see how it’s going.

Guest Room Before

Guest Room After

Activity Room Before

Activity Room After

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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