Oh Joy! Motel back in the family

The Joy Motel, which was known as Camp Joy when it was constructed by Ray and Chloe Freeman in 1929, was only the second motel built Eureka Springs at the time. It had the first swimming pool in town and still has the largest. Recently the Joy came back into the family again when it was purchased by Tim Freeman, 36, great-grandson of the original owners.

Freeman, who has built a successful career in hotel management since graduating from Eureka Springs High School, is renaming the hotel the Wanderoo Lodge and targeting it towards outdoor adventure guests.

“There is a new crowd coming to Eureka Springs that wants to kayak and canoe, hike around lakes and mountains, then go downtown and drink at the bars at the end of the day,” Freeman, who purchased the Joy Motel August 25, said. “It is completely different from the country music crowd that was here when I was growing up. People my age and younger are looking for an authentic experience, something that takes them back to nature and is really fun for young people to do.”

Targeting a niche audience of active outdoor recreation enthusiasts has been tried in Colorado. And the location on US 62 has some advantages being next door to the Eureka Zip line office, on one of the city’s off-street hiking/biking trails and close to the community center which is intended to become the hub for all city trails.

And there is that large saltwater pool.

“My earliest memories of the Joy are probably the swimming pool,” Freeman said. “I learned to swim there with my cousins. The pool has a neat history. It used to be open not just to guests, but to the public for a fee.”

Freeman learned the hospitality industry at an early age. He recalls his grandfather and great-uncle would be in the office, and his grandmother and great-aunt would be cleaning rooms. He would hang out with his grandmother while she was cleaning.

“Meeting the guests and getting to tell them about Eureka Springs was neat,” Freeman said. “I loved doing that.”

Both his great-grandfather and his grandfather, Charles Freeman, were mayors of Eureka Springs. His great grandparents lived in a large historical house on the grounds that was built around 1910. Since his great-grandmother died in 1983, it has been used for storage.

“That’s a real shame because it’s a neat house,” Freeman said. “We’re going to fix it up and use it again. We intend to take the house and make it a public gathering space for our guests and anyone from the community who wants to come. We are going to remodel it, add a bar and maybe some food service, as well. There will be games people can play. We want to be the central location for anyone who wants to experience the outdoors. We plan to have outdoor packages where you can do the zip line, float the river, rent bicycles with us, or go on a bicycle tour with a local vendor.”

Although he grew up in the business, he never initially intended a career in hospitality.

“They didn’t even have a hospitality program at University of Arkansas at the time, although they do now,” Freeman said. “After high school, I moved to Fayetteville and started working the front desk at a hotel in Springdale. And I just stayed in hotels. I wound up being in general management, then worked for a hotel management company in Fayetteville, and then went to work for a franchiser, IHG. They franchise Holiday Inns and several other brands. I was a consultant for about thirty-five hotels in Arkansas, Missouri and Mississippi. Then I started my own company, United Hotel Management, five years ago. I do mostly revenue management, which is to say I set the rates for hotels and work with the computer system to make sure we have the right rates at the right times.”

In his years of hotel work, he lived in Little Rock and Kansas City, Mo., where he is currently headquartered. But since his parents still live in Eureka Springs, he has come back a good bit.

After his grandparents died, his dad, Clarke Freeman, his Uncle Burton Freeman, and his Aunt Julia Bingham inherited the hotel. They sold it in 2003. Then it went through about four different owners. In recent years, the motel has declined and needs remodeling.

Then Freeman saw it was for sale.

“I never owned a hotel myself,” he said. “So, when the opportunity came up to bring the hotel back into the family and convert it to a new, unique concept never tried in Eureka Springs before, I thought, ‘Why not give it a try?’ I just want to give the property a new lease on life.”

The iconic Joy Motel office sign in middle of the property will be left in place. Work has already begun on cleaning up and restoring the outside of the 38-room motel. They’re starting by completely renovating ten rooms and three cabins. In the future, he hopes to build a climbing wall, as well.

“It will be a completely new guest experience from what the Joy Motel had,” Freeman said. “There will be no long-term rentals or extended stays, although we will give small discounts for weekly stays. The motel has been listed 35^th out of thirty-five properties in Eureka Springs on Trip Advisor. That’s one of the reasons the name has to change. In my opinion, it is the neatest property in town. But for us to relaunch it, it has to have a completely new look, feel and name.”