New Lyle Hotel owners aim to ‘Make it what it’s meant to be’

Though there is still work to be done on the exterior of the building, the Simpsons have lightened up the interior of the hotel. The lobby’s previously crimson walls have been changed to a creamy antique white and the bar area, which was a simple light oak surrounded by blue walls, has been stained and is now backed by an antique piece of furniture that features intricate carvings.

“We didn’t know what it used to be. We’d been to Hood River a bunch of times but we had no idea what the Lyle Hotel used to be. Our goal is to make it what it’s meant to be now,” Trece said.

Though neither of the Simpsons has ever run a hotel before, both are feeling confident about their business’s potential given their separate backgrounds and experiences. Richard is a classically trained chef from the California Culinary Academy and even served as a cook with the USA cycling team for the 1989 Tour de France, while Trece managed orthodontic practices for 25 years, as well as a construction business.

And so that’s how it works: He manages the kitchen and the food side of things, while she handles the hotel and hospitality.

“This opportunity has been the perfect culmination of all our experience. It was the most natural thing for us to do,” Trece said.

The interior decoration of the hotel isn’t all that’s changed. Richard said in order to get the kitchen up to snuff it had to be totally gutted.

Since opening, he’s managed the restaurant’s menu, which changes periodically and focuses on French, Italian, and American cuisine. Everything is made from scratch and eventually the menu will feature all locally sourced ingredients, similar to the bar menu, which includes all locally sourced beer and wine.

“It’s an all-star lineup,” Richard said.

It is the hope that the Lyle Hotel can serve the recreation community of hikers, mountain bikers, kite boarders, and windsurfers that come to Lyle, but also those who flock to the surrounding hills throughout the year to visit the multiple wineries that now call Lyle home.

“We have tried to make it as much of a symbiotic relationship as possible. We’re sending the wineries people and they’re sending people down here,” Richard said.

The Simpsons also want the Lyle Hotel to be a go-to spot for the local community. Since opening on New Year’s Eve, the bar and restaurant have been open for dinner starting at 4 p.m. every day except Tuesday and brunch on weekends from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., giving them plenty of opportunities to hear about residents’ previous experiences at the hotel.

Upon hearing of the Lyle Hotel’s reopening, one customer decided to repeat history.

“Fourteen years ago his then-new-date surprised him by picking him up after work and not telling him where they were going until they got here, so they had their romantic dinner and not long after were engaged and have been married for 14 years since, so when he found out the hotel was reopening he did the same thing for her for New Year’s Eve,” Trece said.

That said, there have been some growing pains associated with opening a hotel for the first time and revamping its restaurant. During their Valentine’s Day celebration, the hotel was fully booked and several items on the restaurant’s menu sold out. For the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day celebration, which will feature live music and a special menu, the Simpsons say they are ready for more.

“We want the food to evolve and have it all be a good, new experience. That’s what we want to do,” Trece said.