The Iron Road Inn, a new hotel, is set to open soon by the Gandy Dancer Theatre off the Beverly Pike Five-Lane in Elkins.
"The Iron Road Inn was named for the railroad," Julia Elbon, who owns the hotel with her husband, Harold Elbon, said. "It was suggested by a friend who has ridden a lot of iron rail.
"Railroading has been an economic base for over 100 years in our area and is being renewed by tourism," Elbon said, noting that "the iron road, or railroad, was built by people called gandy dancers." The hotel will be decorated in a railroad theme, with original artwork depicting the West Virginia railroads by Heather Johnson hung in the greater lounge. Outside, railroad lights will glow on the brick entry, and the hotel's sign, designed by Mark Branciaroli of Elkins, shows railroad tracks leading off into the sunset.
Article Photos
The Inter-Mountain photo by Brad Johnson
The Iron Road Inn, a new hotel, is set to open soon off the Beverly Pike Five-Lane in Elkins. The inn will offer a total of 63 rooms in two buildings.
Local workers are restoring the two-building facility, and the construction crew is "capable of making the buildings come alive again," Elbon said. The buildings had been vacant for three years, she said.
The Elbons, who are part owners of the Elkins Days Inn, said the Iron Road Inn will "have its own personality" and the facility will not be a franchise.
The Iron Road Inn has 45 rooms with an interior corridor on two floors, and the upper two-story building has 18 rooms with exterior doors. Single, doubles, suites and one king room make up the floor plan, with a total of 63 rooms in the two buildings.
Julia Elbon said the buildings were originally built to the requirements of a major franchise.
"The rooms are spacious and the buildings have good bones," she said. "Many repairs were required to meet today's standards," she noted, adding that CO2 detectors are being installed.
The Elbons plan to open the hotel in late August or early September "praying all falls in place," Julia Elbon said. The Elkins area can support another hotel because of seasonal travelers, she said.
"Room demand is greater in the spring through fall seasons," Elbon said. "Guests to the area enjoy the many planned events by the active Elkins and Randolph County community, who do their best to entertain themselves and others (with) theaters, trains, the Augusta Festival, the Cultural Center and family gatherings. Also, many come to enjoy the beauty of the season and the scenic area in which we live."
The Iron Road Inn is located on 2.67 acres beyond the Western Steer, Gandy Dancer Theatre and the Elkins branch of the Belington Bank.
