Just in time for the Columbia River Power Marathon, the Desert River Inn has re-opened its doors with new owners, new management and a new direction.
Nine months ago, on Dec. 28, 2012, the previous owners of the Umatilla hotel shocked the area with a Facebook announcement that Desert River Inn would shut down immediately. The owners cited financial concerns for the closure and let go about 30 employees.
One of the largest buildings in McNary then sat vacant for six months, until four partners began the process to purchase and reopen the facility. Now, the new owners – Hasu Mistry, owner of Umatilla Inn and Suites; Vijay Narain, realtor and owner of the Hermiston Best Western; hotel investor Paul Ajit Singh and Dr. Vimal Sharma – hope to turn the hotel into a destination location.
“We will be fixing this property up so this will be a jewel of Umatilla County. It’s going to require some time, and we will require the support of the community,” Mistry said Thursday. “We have to go through a lot of changes. There’s a lot of clean up and lot of remodel.”
Although the restaurant, bar and conference rooms remain closed, the hotel is open for guests. The soft re-opening allowed the new owners to honor reservations made in advance of the closure, including for participants in the Columbia River Power Marathon. The two-state run kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 21.
“Most of the guests, I believe, are with existing reservations. We’re honoring what they had before and also taking new reservations now,” Mistry said. “The marathon will be this weekend, and we’ll offer our services to them, all the services we can offer, just like they have been in the past.”
The partners are considering options for adding the Desert River Inn to a hotel chain or franchise, such as Best Western, while working with the city of Umatilla to improve the lighting, fire hydrants and driveways around the hotel.
“I believe if we can take care of it properly, (the hotel) will be quite helpful to the community, even just through the simple form of employment, and that’s what we need for this town – employment,” Mistry said.
When fully operational, Mistry said he expects the Desert River Inn will employ 10-15 people in the hotel and at least double that number in the restaurant.
The new owners are working closely with previous owners and managers to bring the Desert River Inn back to Umatilla.
“I think this hotel is extremely important to Umatilla County because we have a location where the golf course is there, the river is there, the view is there,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can to complete the process, but it’s going to take time. In order for our area to be a destination place, we all have to work together.”
The Desert River Inn is located at 705 Willamette Ave., next to Big River Golf Course, in the McNary neighborhood of Umatilla.
