Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Construction superintendent Ron Stefanich (left) and General Manager Ron Nelson check out the condition of the floors under the carpets and padding that are being replaced during the renovation of the Los Gatos Lodge.

Renovation begins at lodge

By Dale Bryant

Since he arrived at the Los Gatos Lodge in early January, General Manager Ron Nelson has had more than his share of surprises. A chandelier crashed to the floor in a banquet room; bathroom walls in guest rooms turned out, with a bit of probing, to be covered with mildew; the pad of an old meeting-room carpet was tenaciously glued to the floor, and even the weed scrapers the inventive carpet layers used couldn't get it all up.

Still, Nelson talks about the lodge the way someone head over heels in love might go on about the object of his affection. He can barely criticize her without immediately rushing to her defense.

"She's worn out," he'll say. Then quickly: "But she's a grand old gal."

When he first looked at the lodge, he told prospective buyers Keet Singh Nerhan and several other investors that it would take at least $1 million to get the property in shape. Their answer was music to his ears. "They told me if that's what it will take, fine."

Actually, Nelson says, it may take even more.

"I was here three weeks before escrow closed," he says. "I should have known more the depth of the problems." He says that if he were to do it all over again he wouldn't have opened the dining room for lunch and dinner as early as he did.

"There are too many surprises in the kitchen. The plumbing is shot; the electrical is shot. They aren't the kinds of problems that can be fixed; things really need to be replaced."

The difficulty in replacing anything and everything that needs replacing is another of the surprises the lodge springs on Nelson daily. Built in 1958, just about everything that went into its construction has become obsolete. On a walk through a unit that's being renovated, Nelson stops to stare at a mildew-covered bathroom wall; he shakes his head and says: "Ho boy!" Then he points to the toilet. "Wall-mount toilets. Nobody would put wall-mount toilets in a hotel."

Then he turns toward the tiny room, walks toward the sliding glass door and once again comes to the lodge's defense. "Every room has a patio; look at the landscaping. These rooms are small, but they have a wonderful feel because of the decks and gardens."

Nelson says the new owners are willing to spend whatever is necessary to upgrade and update the lodge because it is a unique property in Silicon Valley. It literally sits on the Highway 17 exit into east Los Gatos, making it convenient to visitors no matter where in the valley they are doing business.

What's more the spacious grounds, enhanced by mature trees, are more suggestive of an old-fashioned resort than a high-tech hotel. "Nobody today would take this much ground to build so few units," Nelson points out.

Its occupancy rate of 78 percent-80 percent attests to its popularity in spite of its poor condition. "One German guest who stays here frequently told me, 'The rooms are not so good, but I wouldn't stay anywhere else.' "

Nelson has targeted July 1 for completion of renovations, including the installation of heating and air-conditioning systems, overhaul of bathrooms and renovation and reburbishing of rooms and meeting facilities. In addition, rooms geared for the business traveler will be rewired and laid out with large desks for computers and other equipment business travelers have come to expect.

"We'll soon have teleconferencing from around the world," Nelson says. "We have to be able to provide access for some of the most sophisticated companies in the world."

So far as the long-term future of the lodge, Nelson agrees with the town, which, in 1990, suggested the lodge would make an ideal conference facility. Although the resolution passed by the Town Council at that time didn't go so far as to say that a proposal for a conference center would automatically be approved, it did provide development guidelines suggesting that a facility offering up to 300 rooms and up to 10,000 square feet of conference space would be a good use.

"This could be developed into a first-class conference center," Nelson says. "What we're hoping will happen is that over a period of time, we'll get a feel for how much demand there is, and that will help determine if that kind of expansion makes sense."

The lodge being the lodge, though, there are obstacles to developing it as a conference center. Half the rooms in the 130-room facility can accommodate only one bed. This, according to Nelson, was what finally stood in the way of the Oakland Raiders making Los Gatos home for its summer camp.

"They needed more double-double rooms than we could provide," Nelson says. "And, double-doubles are what people usually expect from conference centers."

Nelson had the misfortune to be the representative of the new owners at midnight on Jan. 25 when all lodge employees, who had been employed by American General Hospitality Co. of Dallas, joined the ranks of the unemployed. Some of those who made their emotional farewells in the lounge that night are back on the job: "Pretty much all the kitchen and banquet staff have returned, but the housekeeping staff is new."

He says some of those who had been on staff for many years considered coming back but changed their minds. "They realized it's a new venture and a new way of doing business, and they decided they'd rather not return after all."