For the week of November 19 - 24, 2003

Hailey Hotel owners move to the tic of time

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By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Tuesday marked 21 years to the day after the owners of the Hailey Hotel opened for business in 1982. They said it has been a good run, but it is time to sell.

"Age has caught up with us," co-owner Don Hogan said.

He said that if the three owners had the energy, they would renovate the hotel again instead of selling.

Twilight on the Hailey Hotel begins a new era for the landmark business. The 70-year-old building has had four groups of owners and is ready for a next generation. Express photo by Matt Furber

Hogan and his wife Barbara own the hotel with Helcia Graf, the same woman who escaped a plane crash in the Puget Sound last spring when the Cessna aircraft she was flying in with her partner James Ray took an accidental nosedive.

"Thank God he knows how to fly," Graf said. She also said she had her feet on the instrument panel as she pulled on the copilot yoke to help Ray save the day.

The decision to sell the hotel is much less dramatic for Graf, who is the primary owner. Still, she said she would miss the fun she had with her friends owning the building that has served guests for 70 years.

"The hotel is just sitting there, waiting for somebody to take it over," Graf said.

The asking price is $1.5 million and includes the building and an empty lot next door to the State liquor store. There are three rooms that have been rented at a weekly or monthly rate for many years. There is a modern kitchen and a full apartment over the bar. The owners plan to give investors in the valley a chance at the property before it is listed on the national real estate market.

"We’ve met some fabulous people here from big entertainers to the neighbors," Hogan said. "The reason we’re going to sell is because we can’t get this watch to stop ticking."

In its first incarnation, the Hailey Hotel was used by Basque sheepherders who often came home at night throughout the mountain grazing season, Hogan said.

Hogan has acted as the manager of the hotel and bar over the years and said one of the big selling points is just the name.

"I have had people call from France to make a reservation," Hogan said.

But rooms don’t turn over quickly at the Hailey Hotel.

Hogan remembers when they first let a weekly rental guest stay for the weekend. He ended up staying six years.

"Living at the Hailey Hotel is like living in a mall," Hogan said. "You can walk to everything. What you’ve got here is what they call beach front property."

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.