THREE DAYS LATER

Three days after we opened our doors, we are still pinching ourselves. Friday night was a fantastic night--I don't even know what time we put our heads down, but it was well past 2:00 a.m.--full of stories, and memories recounted; it's a night that Pete and I will remember for a long time.

Amazing how much history is in this town; how many individuals recall the different generations of previous owners of The National Hotel, and the many famous people who frequented this establishment. For instance, I learned last night that Jimmy Stewart--yes, the Hollywood Jimmy Stewart--used to be a client, because he had a relative who lived in this area. This was told to me by someone who has been in the area for decades, Alan Runfeldt, owner of Excelsiorpress.org, and who tells me that if I dig hard enough, I'll find verbal historical evidence on other "greats" who've stopped by. Chris Poh, editor-in-chief of American Public House Review, and one of our very first guests at The National Hotel on Tuesday, shared that

Annie Oakley was one such guest, because she had a relative in Pennsylvania, and Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show crew would also stop in...can you imagine?!

I also met someone a couple of nights ago, who shared that when Claiborne Cary owned this establisment in the 1970s, it was frequented by the likes of Mike Douglas, (the talk show host), Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, and of course, Claiborne's sister, the actress Cloris Leachman.

These Broadway and media stars would arrive from NYC and set up musical evenings that would wow the clients, while creating an atmosphere of warmth and comfort for Claiborne's guests. I did find actual evidence of some of this in the New York Times--I had to research it!

So many other stories...and all told with enthusiasm, a verbal legacy to be left to the next generation at The National Hotel. It's such a privilege to be able to hear these stories, to find evidence of the truth and the folklore, and to hopefully continue to share these wonderful stories with all of you.

Three days later, and we're into the weekend...we're so lucky to be a part of this town. Thank you to those of you who dropped by just to say "hi," to those of you who joined us for a drink, to those of you who shared a meal with us, and to those of you who made the time to book a night or two with us already. And thank you to our dear friends who have greeted us with flowers, with warm wishes, and with beautiful cards. Among them, our fabulous interior designer, Kristine Marinelli, Gary Walia, co-owner of the critically-acclaimed NYC restaurant, Tamarind, and Jim & Kathy Mathews. Their flowers now decorate The National Hotel Bar, our lobby area, and even our private breakfast room. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you to all of you for helping us make The National Hotel, your place.

What an unbelievable night! We had our official, unofficial, quiet (yet loud according to our local Frenchtown friends) opening tonight. And boy did our staff "run" to make everything work!

Wow. We are just finishing up and are just so exhilarated, so fantastically overjoyed by the warmth, the encouraging words, the "I'll back for sure" statements, that we just can't wait until tomorrow. And, our place was PACKED! From top to bottom--from just checking-in a guest into

our guest suites--we have been blessed with meeting new people, old friends, future contacts, and a brand new circle of acquaintances.

My biggest accomplishment: Seeing that our clients enjoyed the upstairs Restaurant and Bar, and the downstairs Rathskeller Pub. You have no idea how much it means to us to know that our establishment is a place that can make you feel welcome, at ease, comfortable, and yet catered to, whether you are enjoying a beer at "The Rat" while watching a game on the flat screen TV, or enjoying the quieter ambiance of the main floor Bar.

We had guests upstairs, then taking their drink downstairs to chat with some friends, and then back again to continue their conversation with other guests. OK, here goes my favorite word for 2009: AMAZING. We asked everyone who joined us tonight to be absolutely brutally honest about any glitches they may have seen, any items that weren't "quite right," and without exception, we apparently hit the mark. We are so happy that our friends, neighbors, friends-to-be, have come out to support our establishment and to make The National Hotel their new hang-out.

You should have been at The Rat! It was literally a kissing-fest down at The Rat, with one guest seeing another friend or neighbor and reaching out to him/her to give a big hug and a welcome cheer. What a night.

Let's have more. If you joined us tonight and would like to share your comments of the night, please do so and post your feedback. We are so happy to be a part of the Frenchtown community.

See you tomorrow!

So Halloween is over...but the festivities continue.

We had an amazing night yesterday, tasting the wonderful, flavorful, often exotic dishes that our executive chef, Ron Rittenhouse, created. We were joined by our family and a few friends who heard whisperings of the tasting--not one person walked away with even 1 criticism. The whole idea, was to get those who knew us best to give us their honest opinions. We asked them to be absolutely brutal. But either they love us so much that they just saw through any hiccups we may have had, or in fact, more likely, they truly and honestly had an amazing evening.

I met Ron's mother and his wife. Both are just lovely--intellectually stimulating conversation, & attractive to boot! Today, after a long day of visiting with vendors and accounts in NYC, I had the pleasant surprise of finding a thank you note from Ron's wife:

I'm blown away. I know, I know, you're probably saying, "That's your executive chef's wife; how can she not like it?" Truth be told, after meeting her, I just know that she has integrity. She is the kind of person who wouldn't pay you a compliment just to make you "feel good." And honestly, I can say the same about my mother.

My mom has what we call in Spanish "No tiene pelos en la lengua" which translated literally means "She has no hairs on her tongue." The actual meaning is that she doesn't mince words; she's very honest and direct. I love that about her. And having gone through numerous restaurant, bar and nightclub openings of our family with her, I know my mom will tell it "like it is." She left me a beautiful message this morning on my voicemail confirming how much she had enjoyed the night. She not only complimented Ron, but also the decorating we'd done--thanks Kristine Marinelli (a.k.a. KM Interior Design)--and the upbeat, exuberant staff we had hired. Each and every one of our staff who has joined The National Hotel has shown us how committed they are to rejuvenating the business, to making sure Frenchtown is "front and center," and to maintaining a high-level of quality that will surely be enjoyed by our guests.

Hey, that's not to say that we won't make mistakes along the way...but honestly, you have ALL shown us that you love this building, the history behind this building, so much, that any little bumps along the way, are well worth having as long as we reach our destination.

So let's lift our glasses to this grand old building, its history, its secrets, its quirks. Let's be a part of the next lines that need to be written and recorded as it now breathes and welcomes the new and the old back on its premises. Cheers!

And don't forget, that if you have a story to share, you are always welcome to post a comment. I hope to meet each and every one of you who have taken the time to read this blog. Can't wait until tomorrow...wait...it's 12:45 a.m...already tomorrow...where are you?

ALMOST THERE

It looks like it'll be just a few more days...literally...we plan on opening our doors on Tuesday, November 3rd. Odd day of the week to open, right? Friday or Saturday would make more sense, but in fact, we've been waiting so long for this day, and we have so many people who really want to see the building ablaze with lights, flavorful scents permeating the Restaurant, and good conversation emanating from the gathering rooms, that we decided to open early in the week.

The good news is that we will open the ENTIRE building, from guest suites, to Restaurant, to Bar, to the Rathskeller Pub (a.k.a. The Rat). No Phase 2, no more waiting.

Let us know if you'd like to drop by and share in

this "soft" opening. You can reach us at 908.996.3200. Our website should be up by next Tuesday to match the brick-and-mortar opening with a virtual opening:

www.thenationalhotelnj.com. Visit it on Tuesday...

MUSICIANS IN THE HOUSE

Another day, another story. But this one is not a story about being brought down by the day's workload or about having a bad day at work. It's a typical day at The National Hotel. Often, it starts after we wind down for dinner.

I had just finished putting my girls to bed a little bit ago, and as I went through my emails, pending files, and numerous lists of "things-to-do," I came across an email that made me realize that I had to stop and blog.

It was a long Monday. Really. Pete worked tirelessly to get the building looking its best today.

We ripped up the carpeting on the stairs and put down new carpeting--check out the pumpkin pine floors and the beautiful new carpeting we put down, matching the building's overall theme--

finished some last-minute touches, had the rooms cleaned (again),

and so on and so on...

Then I got an email from a musician who is interested in showcasing his work on our premises--thanks to the email he received from a friend who had stopped by The National Hotel over the weekend, and to whom I had had the pleasure of showing the property. She said to me that she would spread the word and keep our name out in the artist community in case anyone was interested in performing here, but the truth is, that so many people are well-intentioned, but short on time (come on now, you know you've run out of time at least once to respond to an email or a request for information in a timely manner...), and I only met her and her companion on this one occasion, that I am just floored, just absolutely amazed at how many genuine, wonderful, and helpful people I've met since Pete and I purchased The National Hotel. I keep using the word "amazing," but truly, I'm running out of adjectives to describe the awe I feel each night I put my head down on my pillow.

Thank you to my old friends, and thank you to all my new friends. You are AMAZING!

If you happen to know anyone who is interested in performing here, or are yourself an artist, please comment here so that I may reach out to you in the near future. Thanks in advance!

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER

Another week and each day I say to myself: "I need to share this or that on our blog." There's always one thing that stands out each day, from an issue that we are struggling with --and often, its very simple solution--to major challenges that require brainstorming and strategic approaches. Thank goodness for our friends, our Frenchtown neighbors, and our families, who always turn up at all the right moments with words of encouragement, sage advice, and plain old sweat equity. The Rat is just about ready!

I had the most amazing day yesterday, being visited by a new friend who found me after reading about us after reading a press story about the removal of the wooden boards off the front of the building at the beginning of our journey with The National Hotel. She made the time to travel to Frenchtown to meet us!!!

She brought her daughter and as we gave her a tour of The National Hotel, she said that following this blog had given her a glimpse of how we were bringing back the beauty of this historic building, and that seeing it in person gave her confirmation of what she already envisioned.

We're meeting such incredible people, who make the time out of their busy lives to just stop in to say, "Keep up the good work...you're almost there!" and "Terrific. We can't wait for you to open. Glad you're taking the time to do it right." Wow.

It's so easy to stay focused on the little things, the little problems and issues that one grapples with daily, but to hear people whom you've never met before say things like that, just pulls you right out of the micro and into the larger picture, the fact that this old historic building really means something to so many people. It holds memories, it holds tangible moments in time that people treasure.

And what about our friendly business neighbors? They have far exceeded anything I could have imagined. They stop by and encourage us nearly every day. Without exception, every single business owner who has seen us and had the opportunity to speak with us, has welcomed us, has given us words of encouragement, sage advice, and a warmth that is inexplicable. Just last week, the owner of Designs for Tranquility, Russel, came in to bring over some customers and friends of his, so that they could meet us and join our email list to get news of when we'll open. How very kind of him. Can you imagine? He left his shop around the corner, just to walk over his clients and friends to our establishment? Unbelievable!!! Wait until you meet his beautiful wife, Jill--beautiful from the inside out!

Pete and I can only hope to be able to provide our friends, neighbors, and out-of-town guests, with as much warmth, comfort and hospitality as they have experienced, and more. Every time a new person stops by, far from being an interruption from the daily grind, we find it absolutely exhilarating to be able to have an opportunity to chat, to share, to show them around the building. We feel incredibly connected. We feel incredibly blessed.

Do let us know if you'd like to come and see our beautiful building by posting a comment--or just stop by when you're in Frenchtown.

RENOVATIONS

It's been days since I've had a chance to send an update on our progress with the renovations being made to The National Hotel. The transformation has been immense. Little by little, every day there is yet another area that has become a shining visible example of the sweat equity being put into this project.

Amazingly, from ripping up the carpets, painting, refinishing the floors, adding furniture, accessories, etc., slowly but surely, Pete and I feel as though our vision is becoming a reality. And through what sometimes feel like small steps, when you take them all into account, you can truly see some tremendous improvements. Kristine Gryl Marinelli, as usual, flies in and magically moves one thing here, adds some festive accessory and/or decoration there, and voila: visible change and immediate improvement!

We are so grateful for all the help and support we continue to get...I recently received a beautiful card from someone who used to frequent The National Hotel:

Dear D'Costa's,

Yea, yea, yea! I can't tell you how happy I am that you are going to reopen one of my favorite restaurants resulting in super memories.

Yes, my husband and I had many a fine dinner but the best times were with two other gals. On a Sunday we would dutifully take a very strenuous hike and almost count all the calories we had lost. We would then immediately proceed to The National Hotel, sit at the bar, have a couple of Margarita's...Lots of laughs and good times.

Good luck and hope to see you soon.

We can only hope that we will be able to exceed her expectations...and we can't wait to meet her!

If anyone else would like to share any of their past memories of times spent at The National Hotel, do share your comments.