Carnall In Capable Hands

Fayetteville developer Rob Merry-Ship knew what he wanted when it came time to select a new general manager for the Inn at Carnall Hall, the boutique hotel owned by the University of Arkansas and run by Merry-Ship and Ted Belden.

“I saw the person having complete control of the overall operation from the front of the house to the back of the house,” he said.

Norm Toering is a natural fit, he said.

“I think he will instill in our people who work there a desire to learn and become good at their craft,” Merry-Ship said. “I think it’s a coup to have his kind of experience. He’s going to be good for the overall perception of what we want our hotel to be.”

Toering’s first day as the inn’s general manager was June 20. With more than 30 years of experience, he is a veteran of the hospitality industry.

“We rent rooms to strangers every night, which in itself is kind of strange,” joked the affable Toering. “Eighty percent of the time, the people are normal. It’s that 20 percent you could write a book about.”

Toering, an Indiana native, began his career with Marriott in 1979, and most recently was the sales manager at the Radisson Hotel & Suites in Austin, Texas.

Before that, he spent seven years as director of Total Hospitality Consulting, helping hotels re-establish profitability, drive occupancy and improve sales, marketing and operations.

Toering has also worked as COO for Best Western Marina Grand Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas; as regional marketing manager at the Best Western International Inc. in Phoenix; as national sales manager for the Omni Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati; and as senior sales manager for the Marriott Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio.

He was brought to Fayetteville during a transition of sorts for the inn, one that appears settled.

In the spring, several key employees were relieved of their jobs – including the general manager, restaurant manager and front office manager – and Carnall Hall began working under a temporary management agreement with Houston-based Vista Host Management, the same group that manages Fayetteville’s Courtyard by Marriott.

“We decided that, basically, we didn’t feel like we were getting the bang for our buck with the current management,” Merry-Ship said. “There were too many opportunities that hadn’t been expanded upon.”

Three management groups were interviewed before Vista was selected and it was Vista that brought Toering to Merry-Ship’s attention.

Toering was hired with the understanding that if a permanent agreement with Vista didn’t materialize, he would still have a job.

And that’s what occurred in early August when the inn ended its agreement with Vista; an amicable split, both sides say.

Presently, Toering has been going about the process of integrating new operating systems and hiring a new management team, while also introducing himself to the local and university community.

Besides the experience, Toering brings an engaging personality to a post that may have lacked that in the past.

He has a story for every occasion, including his snubbing of first-year Indiana football coach (and current ESPN analyst) Lee Corso to play football for Purdue instead.

Or the time he played a round of golf with Jack Nicklaus.

It is the hope that his outgoing style will foster new ideas and relationships for the business, both on-campus and off, which will lead to a healthier bottom line.

“It’s not been profitable for the owners,” Toering said. “But there’s no question it can be profitable, or I wouldn’t have come. There is an awful lot of upside, but we needed some change, which we are in the process of doing.”

 

An Historic Inn

Toering said the Inn at Carnall Hall’s unique presence grabbed his attention on his initial trip to Fayetteville.

“The [hotels] I have enjoyed the most are the older ones,” he said. “There’s character to them.”

The building, situated in the northeast corner of the UA campus at the intersection of Arkansas Avenue and Maple Street, was completed in 1905.

It’s the second-oldest building on the Fayetteville campus, and was the university’s first female dormitory through 1967. It was then converted to a fraternity house and used for another 10 years.

The building was later converted to classrooms and then sat empty for more than a decade. Although it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, a group of developers saved it from the wrecking ball in the late 1990s

Carnall Inn Development Co. LLC led a $7.1 million project to restore the building. The partners were Merry-Ship, Richard Alexander, Ted and Leslie Belden, James Lambeth and Miles James.

The building opened in August 2003 with 49 rooms and today offers rooms from $97 up to $360.

The building also includes 10,000 SF of meeting space as well as the popular Ella’s Restaurant, with room for 300 diners, and the Lambeth Lounge, with seating for up to 35.

The developers have a 41-year lease on the property and half of the profits from the inn and restaurant go to the university, which uses the facility and staff to teach classes on hospitality through its School of Human and Environmental Sciences.

 

Campus Outreach

The UA has more than 200 students who major in hospitality management, and uses one of the inn’s banquet/catering rooms for classroom space and lectures during the school year.

Each semester, students are involved in various courses at different levels at Carnall Hall, ranging from restaurant operations management to front office/revenue management and events management. They get hands-on experience in a variety of roles throughout the building.

Bob Harrington believes Toering’s wealth of experience and eagerness to explore new ideas will help the program grow. Harrington is in his fourth year at the UA as an associate professor in the department of foods, human nutrition and hospitality. He also counts more than 18 years in the hospitality industry as part of his experience.

“He’s real enthusiastic about it,” Harrington said. “He has some great ideas and is showing some additional leadership with other members of the team to work with us on a variety of projects.”

Toering has also reached out to other departments on campus.

“We certainly haven’t used the university as well as we could, as a partnership,” he said.

While in Austin, Toering said he collaborated with the University of Texas campus community and generated “all kinds” of business, he said, including housing visiting athletic teams.

“I didn’t realize how many [prospective] professors they brought in,” Toering said. “There’s an opportunity. Athletic teams? We aren’t big enough to house most. We can do track and maybe basketball, some of the other, smaller sports. Our price may be high, but we can look and explore. We at least want to offer.

“Our first focus is in our immediate backyard, to find out what the university community is doing and what we can do to help them,” he said. “I want the university to call us first.”

 

Facility To Be Proud Of

Like most hotels in Northwest Arkansas, Carnall Hall enjoys a prosperous fall season, buoyed by home Razorback football games.

Football weekends are a fun time for all, and as Toering says, a thriving hotel is a fun place to be.

But the hard files left behind for him to pour through also paint another picture.

“This is not a very busy hotel,” he said. “On weekends where the place is sold out, that’s great. Football weekends are great. We want to be high occupancy all the time.”

There is an opportunity, Toering said, to tap into the large vendor market that’s prevalent in Northwest Arkansas. Procter & Gamble was a key customer of his while working in Cincinnati, helping that hotel reverse a trend of “never making money to making money,” he said.

Of course, Toering noted P&G’s presence locally because of its No. 1 customer, Wal-Mart.

Toering said his top priority is having a facility the university community can be proud of and recommend highly, from the chancellor on down.

There are some minor upgrades to a handful of rooms that are taking place. Toering said what the inn is now, what it can be in a year and what it will be in five years is totally different.

He envisions a thriving business, and has the backing – not to mention the experience – to make that happen.

“The owners are 150 percent committed and they clearly envision what this inn should be,” said Toering. “And that’s what’s fun. Come back in November and you’ll see a difference. You’ll feel a difference.”