The Smrkovski sisters Rina, 31, and Vanda, 26 took over operation of the Main Street mainstay after closing on the property Aug. 29.
During an interview with the sisters last week, their enthusiasm for their venture could be described as infectious, their ideas plentiful. One can easily get caught up in the energy they exude as they speak in tandem, either finishing each others’ sentences or elaborating upon the thought just expressed by the other. The listener follows the volley with the back and forth motion of watching a tennis game.
An art gallery in the dining room “Even the hallways because they’re so wide,” Vanda said – bingo dinners, documentary showings, tea parties for children, Victorian dinners where people can dress up “This is the perfect place for that,” Vanda said, due to the hotel’s Victorian 1888 roots.
The sisters also see wedding receptions, holiday dinners and classes held at the Calumet, or retreats for students who study history or geology or agriculture. One day, the Calumet may boast a rooftop garden and caf
The Smrkovskis expectations are high and they’re banking on the popularity of boutique hotels as well as alliances with local businesses to help them achieve their goals. A prom retreat package, for example, could be bundled with local salon services. And the site of their one-day picnic/watercolor retreat would be to Pipestone National Monument.
“We’re not going to do it alone; we’re going to do it with local businesses,” Vanda said.
“That way, the community will benefit as well,” Rina said.
“It’s endless, the potential,” Vanda added.
No fewer than 12 future retreat packages are listed on their temporary website, from a Debutant Charity Ball weekend to a Cultural Education weekend to a Wellness retreat.
“This will be slow progress; there’s a lot to be done,” Rina said.
Aesthetic changes are underway. The sisters spent Labor Day weekend priming the dining room walls they’re thinking a slate blue with gold trim for the new colors. They’ve pulled back the heavy drapes in the Lounge and fixed the deteriorated window wells and last week, debuted daily breakfast and Sunday brunch.
Vanda has been living at the Inn since Aug. 5. Rina is living in Pocahontas, Iowa with her 99-year-old grandmother during the week, spending weekends at the inn to help with the renovations.
Living in a hotel is not new for the Minneapolis natives who grew up in an 18-unit apartment building their parents owned. Rina, who had an interest in real estate, wanted to get back into that and the sisters’ parents wanted a hotel. Rina’s online search eventually yielded the Calumet Inn almost a year ago.
Though the hotel is capitalized by family, the sisters are responsible for operations. Their mother, Rattana, moved down from Minneapolis last week to help out and will also live at the hotel.
The way Vanda sees it, success is made up of two elements.
“Smart marketing and holding people accountable,” she said.
“And we will be very strict with high standards,” Rina added. “(Lack of) cleanliness (during past practices) was one of the biggest complaints.”
Sacrifice may be a third element Vanda said the sisters won’t take a paycheck for two years while they’re implementing their ideas.
Neither of the sisters has experience running a hotel. Vanda took her liberal arts degree from the University of Minnesota, went to Mexico, headed east to Thailand where she taught for three years before setting off with her backpack around Asia, Europe and northern Africa.
Rina, a sociology graduate, has some experience working in the hospitality industry.
“We have managers,” Vanda said.
They also have loyal employees, all whom the sisters retained, promoting four to management positions and hiring a couple more to help staff breakfast and brunch. The total workforce is 23 employees, Vanda said.
“The title of the building may belong to our family, but the memories and the soul already belong to the people of Pipestone,” Vanda said.
Mission accomplished’
Steve Klinkhammer, former owner of the Calumet Inn and then receiver of the business, said he’s pleased with the new owners and considers his role complete.
“I went in there with the attitude of getting it up and running again and finding a new owner,” Klinkhammer said. “Mission accomplished.”
The property went into foreclosure under the ownership of Shani Christopher and Todd Griepentrop in January 2010 and was picked up by the bank that held the mortgage, Security State Bank of Fergus Falls. Klinkhammer managed the property for the bank. He thanked the community and the hotel’s employees and managers who were committed to the historic hotel.
“When I went down there three years ago, it was very sad to see it run down in the building and the business,” Klinkhammer said. “Through the help of the bank and my family and the community, we got it back to where it should be and the new owners will bring it even further along.”
“The world needs to know about Pipestone the unique geology, the sacred lands, the frontier history, the ghost walks, the Civil War Days,” Vanda said. “There’s rolling prairieland, quartzite cliffs over bubbling creeks, old-world architecture it brings out the poet and artist in all of us. It’s like living in a watercolor painting.”
“We want Pipestone to be a magnet destination for the Midwest,” Rina said.
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