After 12 years, Symes owners are moving on

After 12 years of ownership by Leslie and Dan Smith, the historic Symes Hotel in Hot Springs is up for grabs on the real estate market.

Leslie Smith said she and her husband didn't want to sell the Symes, but decided they wanted a slower pace of life without the hectic responsibilities of hotel management.

“The reason is because this year I turned 60 and I'll be 61 in October,” Smith said.

Yet, Smith isn't looking to sell the hotel to just anybody.

“I want to see that I get the right person to buy it, it has to be someone who is hands-on, who wants to contribute to the community,” she said. “I don't want someone who's going to close the doors to the public or cater to one ethnic group or try to manage it from a distance.”

Smith, who believes she’s one of the largest employers in Hot Springs, also wants to make sure the new buyer will continue to employ her current employees.

“I have long-time valuable employees that have worked with us from the very beginning and want to see that they all have a place to work,” Smith added.

Rita Stapleton, the desk clerk at the hotel, regretted losing the Smiths.

“I don't really want them to sell it,” she said, “I like these owners and I like working for them, but, if I have to have a different boss I would surely like to have someone like them to work for because they have been really good with their workers.”

Like Smith, Stapleton hoped that the new owners will keep the current staff.

“If someone were to come in and let us go it would be devastating to a lot of us,” Stapleton said.

While the Smiths are interesting in selling, Smith said they’re willing to wait for the right time and the right buyer.

“With the kind of real estate market we have right now it could take several years to sell the hotel,” Smith said.

However, she knows that eventually her 1940s-themed hotel will sell and is ready to move on. She’s already purchased the 61-acre Wild Horse Ranch, five miles from Hot Springs. Smith said she bought the property about two years ago and hopes to renovate and improve it. So far, it’s been a long project.

“I've had it two years now and we're still cleaning it,” Smith said.

She said that after the hotel is sold she wants to devote here free time to remodeling and building at Wild Horse Ranch. Specifically, Smith wants to build a home there while keeping the historic cabin and turning the utility barn that's already on the property into a bunkhouse. She's also thinking about adding a few yurts, a swimming pool and a hot tub for the mineral pool that's there.

Smith said that she liked investing in property in and around Hot Springs because of the value in it.

“The rest of the world might be fussing around about the real estate costs and the sub-prime loans but you cannot go wrong in Hot Springs buying property because it's so undervalued,” Smith said.

When the Hotel is sold Smith doesn't want anyone to think that she'll be taking a break from contributing to Hot Springs. Smith is the president of the Hot Springs Chamber of commerce, a member of the city council, vice president of the Hot Springs Artist Society, serves on the town museum board and is a Sanders County Representative for glacier country.

“I'll still have all the passion for the town, whether or not the hotel sells,” Smith said.

The one thing Smith will miss the most when the hotel sells are the all of the different guests that visit.

“That's the best part of being in the hotel, you never know who's going to walk in the front door, we get people from all over the world,” Smith said. “We even have return guests who come back year after year and know our names.”

In fact, that was how Smith became familiar with the hotel; she started as a guest to the area and then never left.

“We just stumbled across it and we couldn't believe what a time vault it was,” Smith said. Originally from Granite Falls, Wash., Smith and her husband were in town using another mineral bath and looking at the different shops in the area when they found the hotel, then owned by Tom Maillet.

He gave them a tour of the facility and, after going back to Washington to think about it, they knew it was the right place for them.

“We said to ourselves we either have to do it or forget about it,” Smith said. “It was a big change, all of our relatives thought we had lost our minds.”

Twelve years later the Symes Hotel mineral pools are still filled with customers and the Smiths have added a new commercial kitchen to the hotel. Smith credits the success of the hotel to Hot Springs itself and the community support they've received through the years.

“I think our community embraces tourism as long as it doesn't ruin the authenticity of the town,” Smith said. “Hot Springs also has big infrastructure for a small town.” Smith pointed to the many local businesses, schools and convenient location to other towns and cities such as Missoula and Plains.

“We are a diamond in the rough we haven't been discovered yet really. We're in the middle of nowhere, but we could be an artistic hub,” she added.