Chapter 25
Kellerman’s was a family affair from the start. It had been open since Johnny bought the place in 1972, but didn’t have total control until the title cleared two years later. When that happened, Johnny began to open up Kellerman’s on a limited basis, inviting his cast and crew from his shows to rehearse and practice their lines. He also tested out new ideas with Phil and Penny.
Johnny had friends and relatives stay over every once in a while, accepting any ideas that they could give him. He conducted surveys, held meetings and got lots of advice from Neil and spoke to other hotel managers.
All this was done while the building was being renovated, which was ten years, four years longer than he had expected.
In 1985, when the renovation was complete, Johnny put the finishing touches on it. Once again, it was open on a limited basis, and once again Johnny worked off of different people’s advice and opinions.
In 1990, Kellerman’s had started taking reservations when a fire developed in the restaurant’s kitchen. It was shutdown for at least two years before the restaurant began again in 1994.
The buildings opened again in 1995. People started to come up, especially when they heard that it was Johnny’s hotel. He kept it open in the winter for the skiing crowd. In the summer he opened for the hikers and traveler’s passing through.
The idea for a meeting place came from a suggestion of one of his customers. A lot of hotels now, he said, were run as convention and meeting centers, not to mention weddings, parties and reunions. An extension had to be built and by the spring of 1999, Kellerman’s was ready to service the public in any capacity it wanted.
After the first year, it became the most sought after place to spend the summer.
And that’s why Johnny always blamed Baby for it. She wrote the book, Dirty Dancing and it became the movie. The steady business that they had today was from the wildly successful book and movie. He refused to believe that it was through word of mouth.
Or because he had been a celebrity.