This was on Peoria Dad's blog recently, but it didn't get much response. I have given it a lot of thought, and have decided Peoria really needs the following:
A Whole Food's Store. I'm not a granola head, but there are some organic items I prefer. Naturally Yours is too small, expensive, and often the fruits and veggies are not fresh and organic meat and deli items are only sold frozen there. Schnucks and Krogers have organic sections, but they too are overpriced and very limited. This is essentially an untapped market. Whole Foods would do well here.
Krispy Kreme. I have nothing against Lester's - their donuts are fine. Lester's coffee on the other hand... Ronnoco. Yuck! I like Krispy Kreme for it's entertainment value. I can read the entire Sunday New York Times, sip a good cup of Joe, while the kids joyfully watch donuts made start-to-finish. Say what you will about Krispy Kreme, letting the consumer view the making of the product was a brilliant concept. Plus, sometimes they give you a hot freshly made donut -right off the conveyor belt- free of charge while you stand in line.
El Pollo Loco. I visited Southern California and these were all over the place. El Pollo is a fast food chain that serves marinated, broasted chicken (much better than the grocery store variety) with sides of freshly made tortillas, spanish rice, corn, etc. Fast, delicious, not too fattening.
Noodles and Company. I first discovered this establishment in Denver. Noodles and Company is a pseudo fast food place (no drive thru) that serves a variety of nouveau pasta dishes. Wisconsin mac n cheese, Asian Stir Fry, beef stroganoff, pad Thai, pesto and penne pasta, are some of many dishes on the menu. I think Bloomington just got one. Might move there instead of Dunlap.
Someone be a dear and call Donald Trump.
Tuesday, November 8
Anyone have a razor blade I could borrow?
They are at it yet again. The Water Company Buy-Out topic just won't friggin die. Could someone please end my misery?
I'm going to go bang my head against a brick wall know.
I'm going to go bang my head against a brick wall know.
A new name for a troubled hotel?
It took batting of eyelashes. It took a few big lies. It took some major creativity, but I finally got into the Grandview Hotel without giving my identity away. I think. Someone I know knows someone who knows someone who knows a cousin of someone who knows a guy who has a girlfriend who has a friend who lives there. What can I say? Peoria is a small town.
I have been in the Grandview before, over a year ago, shortly after the shooting. It was a dump. A scary dump. I saw guests who were clearly altered-- which is politically correct for stoned out of their goards. Anyone could get in day or the middle of the night as doors all over the place were unlocked. It smelled like a decaying animal.
These days the Grandview isn't particularly scary, except for the fact it is mostly empty. The creepiness that exists is one that permeates any vacated structure. Think of a parking garage after dark, that queasy feeling that anyone could jump out, slit your throat and you would not be found for hours. There is security in the form of video cameras, which seemed to be real and working. I didn't want to call attention to myself so I didn't stop and stare.
It doesn't smell like decaying road kill anymore. In the lobby the smell of air freshener is so overwhelming I suspect it might be toxic. I noticed that both bathrooms in the lobby had faded "Out of Order" signs slapped on their doors. One can buy used coffee maker at the manager's desk for a mere $5.00. Carpets and furniture are stained. The hallway walls show neglect and wear, but are no longer greasy. The ceilings sport some scary looking water damage. That said, I can't say I haven't been in worse. I have paid to have the privilege of staying in worse. The Grandview isn't foul these days. I would place it in the "crappy/dingy" category. With slightly more effort, it may even be able to move up to "shabby". It has been cleaned, but the grime is so old, crusted and fermented that it can't be fully removed. Things must be replaced. Carpet. Bedding. Stained toilets. Dry wall. Cigarette stained/burned furniture.
Would I want the Grandview Hotel in my neighborhood? No. Any budget hotel, including a well run hotel with no crime, is not going to help residential neighborhood property values. I wouldn't want to live next door to it for the same reasons I wouldn't want to live next to an aging Motel 6 or a brand new Marriott, but those aren't the same drastic and dire reasons I wouldn't want to live next door to the "old" Grandview Hotel. Under former owner Kris Jain's reign, the Hotel served as a den of crime and drugs. Reading old police reports, I can't blame neighbors for being livid.
What next for the Grandview? New owner, Chase Ingersoll has taken over, boot kicked the druggies, the former owner Jain allegedly one of them, out. He has had the property cleaned to the best of his ability. Now the fun begins. Will Jain battle for possession of his property? Will neighbors get the place closed permanently? Will Chase successfully win his legal battle to thwart the City's impending court ordered closure? Will Ingersoll decide the property is more trouble than its worth and sell/give it back to Jain? Does Ingersoll have the capital to paint, repair, replace everything it will take to bring upscale guests to that location?
Speaking of the location, what the hell? How did a hotel ever come to be located in the back of a strip mall with very limited visibility? It is difficult to believe the place was ever "upscale" but the neighbors nearby swear at one time it was. According to the phone book, the Grandview Hotel is now The Prospect Inn. Eh. It's a decent enough name I guess, but confusing since it isn't on Propsect Road. I think we can do better.
My idea for Chase: Turn this into a reality TV show. Call MTV and ask them to film "Real World Peoria" at the Hotel. Overindulged teenage brats could paint and paper for free, or maybe in exchange for room and board. Maybe they could turn it into a hostel. America needs more hostels. Clean safe places for international students/travelers to stay.
Bed and breakfast in Europe means you sleep in a twin bed in a stranger's house and they poor you a bowl of bran in the morning. It is cool, but not quaint in the way Americans think of B & B's. Hostels are essentially dorms for foreigners - many of whom do not expect to sleep at the Ritz or even a Motel 6. They seek simple, clean, safe, cheap accommodations and are willing to sleep in a bunk bed. Some even have co-ed bathrooms. (You dry off and put on your robe before opening the shower stall curtain.) The Hilton in London was $700 per night when I was there 10 years ago. Lodging standards are different over there. In Europe they have hostels for adults over 50. My grandparents recently hostel hopped all over Europe and a great time. On their way back they stayed at a hostel in New York City.
IMHO: It wouldn't take a whole lot of capital to do this, and there is a market for it. Peoria is a way station for a lot folks on their way to Chicago and St. Louis, after all. The old Oliver's Restaurant attached to the Hotel could be turned into a dining hall. I'm telling you, it could work. You could even call it "Polly's Place." I won't sue.
I think I'm the only one.
I have been in the Grandview before, over a year ago, shortly after the shooting. It was a dump. A scary dump. I saw guests who were clearly altered-- which is politically correct for stoned out of their goards. Anyone could get in day or the middle of the night as doors all over the place were unlocked. It smelled like a decaying animal.
These days the Grandview isn't particularly scary, except for the fact it is mostly empty. The creepiness that exists is one that permeates any vacated structure. Think of a parking garage after dark, that queasy feeling that anyone could jump out, slit your throat and you would not be found for hours. There is security in the form of video cameras, which seemed to be real and working. I didn't want to call attention to myself so I didn't stop and stare.
It doesn't smell like decaying road kill anymore. In the lobby the smell of air freshener is so overwhelming I suspect it might be toxic. I noticed that both bathrooms in the lobby had faded "Out of Order" signs slapped on their doors. One can buy used coffee maker at the manager's desk for a mere $5.00. Carpets and furniture are stained. The hallway walls show neglect and wear, but are no longer greasy. The ceilings sport some scary looking water damage. That said, I can't say I haven't been in worse. I have paid to have the privilege of staying in worse. The Grandview isn't foul these days. I would place it in the "crappy/dingy" category. With slightly more effort, it may even be able to move up to "shabby". It has been cleaned, but the grime is so old, crusted and fermented that it can't be fully removed. Things must be replaced. Carpet. Bedding. Stained toilets. Dry wall. Cigarette stained/burned furniture.
Would I want the Grandview Hotel in my neighborhood? No. Any budget hotel, including a well run hotel with no crime, is not going to help residential neighborhood property values. I wouldn't want to live next door to it for the same reasons I wouldn't want to live next to an aging Motel 6 or a brand new Marriott, but those aren't the same drastic and dire reasons I wouldn't want to live next door to the "old" Grandview Hotel. Under former owner Kris Jain's reign, the Hotel served as a den of crime and drugs. Reading old police reports, I can't blame neighbors for being livid.
What next for the Grandview? New owner, Chase Ingersoll has taken over, boot kicked the druggies, the former owner Jain allegedly one of them, out. He has had the property cleaned to the best of his ability. Now the fun begins. Will Jain battle for possession of his property? Will neighbors get the place closed permanently? Will Chase successfully win his legal battle to thwart the City's impending court ordered closure? Will Ingersoll decide the property is more trouble than its worth and sell/give it back to Jain? Does Ingersoll have the capital to paint, repair, replace everything it will take to bring upscale guests to that location?
Speaking of the location, what the hell? How did a hotel ever come to be located in the back of a strip mall with very limited visibility? It is difficult to believe the place was ever "upscale" but the neighbors nearby swear at one time it was. According to the phone book, the Grandview Hotel is now The Prospect Inn. Eh. It's a decent enough name I guess, but confusing since it isn't on Propsect Road. I think we can do better.
My idea for Chase: Turn this into a reality TV show. Call MTV and ask them to film "Real World Peoria" at the Hotel. Overindulged teenage brats could paint and paper for free, or maybe in exchange for room and board. Maybe they could turn it into a hostel. America needs more hostels. Clean safe places for international students/travelers to stay.
Bed and breakfast in Europe means you sleep in a twin bed in a stranger's house and they poor you a bowl of bran in the morning. It is cool, but not quaint in the way Americans think of B & B's. Hostels are essentially dorms for foreigners - many of whom do not expect to sleep at the Ritz or even a Motel 6. They seek simple, clean, safe, cheap accommodations and are willing to sleep in a bunk bed. Some even have co-ed bathrooms. (You dry off and put on your robe before opening the shower stall curtain.) The Hilton in London was $700 per night when I was there 10 years ago. Lodging standards are different over there. In Europe they have hostels for adults over 50. My grandparents recently hostel hopped all over Europe and a great time. On their way back they stayed at a hostel in New York City.
IMHO: It wouldn't take a whole lot of capital to do this, and there is a market for it. Peoria is a way station for a lot folks on their way to Chicago and St. Louis, after all. The old Oliver's Restaurant attached to the Hotel could be turned into a dining hall. I'm telling you, it could work. You could even call it "Polly's Place." I won't sue.
I think I'm the only one.
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