GALION — A new bed and breakfast (BNB) venue is scheduled to open this February in Galion.
Entrepreneurs Phil and Misty Dew are the owners of The R&R BNB, which is located at 343 Harding Way East. The building stands adjacent to the railroad crossing at the junction of Harding Way East and North Washington Street and has a nice view of the historic Big Four Depot.
Phil is an electrical engineer and sells test equipment to the automobile industry and the wireless phone industry. He is also a real estate agent, which has been a good venture for the family, he said. Misty was a stay-at-home mom who is now transitioning to the hospitality industry.
The Dews already own and operate a successful bed and breakfast on their farm in western Delaware County, not far from the Columbus Zoo. It’s been up and running for about a year.
“When we opened the BNB on our farm, we thought, ‘Well, let’s see if this works,’” Misty said. “We were booked solid every single night for the first four months. And that was without me having a picture of the room; we just had pictures of the property and all the amenities.”
Given the success of their current venture, the Dews decided to research the possibility of opening another BNB.
“Knowing that there’s not a lot of hotels or other accommodations in the Galion area, we thought a BNB would be great,” Phil said. “Would a hotel with 50 or 100 rooms work out here? I don’t think so. But a small BNB — I think this town can support a couple of them. This is just a hunch, but we think the BNB is going to be more appealing to travelers than hotels.”
Misty conducted extensive research into locations and discovered the property in Galion. She said she fell in love with the building and neighborhood.
“Everything was right,” Misty said. “This building has amazing bones. When you go upstairs, it’s a little dated, but the apartment is functioning and ready to go, with just a few changes that we’ll make to it. Being so close to the (Big Four Depot) and restaurants and stores (in Uptowne Galion) is great. It’s just got everything we were looking for.”
The two-floor building is the former home of Pete’s Place and the most recent owner was another entrepreneur Andrew Nolen, according to the Crawford County Auditor’s website. The ground floor is an open space that has been used for commercial purposes in the past. The upper floor, which covers 1,400 square feet, is living space with two large rooms, a full bathroom, and a full kitchen.
One of the rooms features a large bay window that faces west and provides a fine view of the Uptowne area. The north-facing windows offer an equally fine view of the Big Four Depot and its property.
The adjacency to the depot and the railroad crossing provided the backdrop for the facility to have a railroad theme, Misty said.
“We’re going to make the stairway to the second floor look like a railroad tunnel,” Misty said. “We really want to support the local area, too. I’ve already got a Galion blanket for the apartment. We’re just having fun with it and we want to make it something special and be an enhancement for the community.”
Misty said options for the ground floor include possibly creating a second BNB with a party room or converting it into office space. But that’s a decision they’ll make in the future.
“What’s nice about this place is that I can do about 60% to 70% of the work that needs to be done here,” Phil said. “We’re going to focus on the upstairs and get it going. We haven’t decided exactly what we’re going to do with the downstairs yet.”
The R&R BNB has a Facebook page called The R&R BNB and party room. For information, send a message to the Dews via the Facebook page.
