Turning Bad into Good

My investment group recently took back a hotel in Branson Missouri after foreclosing on the note we held against the asset, which we now operate in close collaboration with the onsite team in the wake of years of mismanagement and broken promises by the former operator.

There has been widespread positive response to our active efforts to turn things around there, which included rebranding it as The Retro Hotel, leaning into its roots, upgrading and adding amenities to provide an improved visitor experience. 

Our efforts are starting to garner national attention, as we were recently notified that The Retro was nominated by the USA Today to compete for their title as one of the Top Ten Roadside Hotels in the country. Voting runs through May 8, and readers can vote once a day at the following link: https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/retro-hotel-branson-missouri/

The Retro is currently running in 11th place out of 20 contenders, which puts us just outside the running to get a badge as one of the USA Today Readership’s Top Ten so I am reaching out to our readership back here at home to see if any of you can help by placing your vote.  

This month our investment group was also awarded the full and substantial judgment we sought in a year-long case filed in Federal Court against the former owner/operator of the hotel for numerous counts of fraud and unfair business practices. 

The judgment follows the debtor for 10 years, is not protected by bankruptcy, and accrues interest at the rate of 10 percent annually. And we can renew it at the end of the 10 years, to keep alive the possibility of our investors receiving a large windfall at some point in the future, even after the fund has wrapped up its other activities. 

As with any judgment, there is no guarantee of ever seeing a dime of it due to the slippery nature of the perpetrator’s practices, so our primary focus remains on bringing the 55-room hotel back to profitability and add value to sell it for enough money to recover the accrued investment with the potential of added profits for our investors—regardless of whether we are able to collect on the default judgment. If nothing else, it’s reassuring to know that we were able to set the record straight so that others can be warned of his practices.

Along the way since regaining control of the hotel, we have acquired a taste for the ins and outs of the hospitality business and are enjoying the process of overseeing the renovation and rebranding of this formerly neglected spot into a fun destination with an authentic Mid-Century Modern motif.

In the short run, we are looking to promote it any way we can, which includes collecting enough votes to put The Retro in the running for a very cool award, so spread the word, vote early and vote often! 

Again, that link is  https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/retro-hotel-branson-missouri/ . And if we can manage to make the list it would be another happy chapter in our ongoing saga of turning something bad into something good.