Over a decade of steady growth and development, Twisp River Suites has just passed some big milestones with their 11th anniversary and the 80th birthday of Joe Marver, the jovial host and proprietor of the boutique hotel on Twisp Avenue.
Creative minds don’t typically attack problems linearly and big ideas need a visionary who can play the long game. This holds true for Joe and the story of Twisp River Suites.
Joe’s idea to create a sophisticated, yet comfortable, hotel in Twisp started many years prior to breaking ground. After periodic visits to Twisp to visit his stepdaughter and grandson, and not finding a local hotel that offered the service or comfort he wanted, Joe knew Twisp could benefit from overnight accommodations that catered to a more upscale clientele used to front desk service, good food, and modern furnishings.
Joe Marver is celebrating the 11th anniversary of Twisp River Suites, and his 80th birthday.
As the project unfolded in the early days, the need for more space and parking became a necessary zoning requirement. Joe began acquiring neighboring lots and properties to satisfy the need to expand and offer covered parking for the eventual condominium complex that would eventually result. During the inception years, it became clear that people like to travel with their pets, so he expanded the vision to include Paws Awhile Pet Suites, a separate by related enterprise across the street.
After a decade of operation, the hotel is enjoying its busiest season yet, and despite the Christopher “Walkens Welcome” sign that may indicate otherwise, the hotel is frequently turning away walk-ins.
What’s exciting to Kori Burell, the marketing director, is that the hotel now has a strong international following and TripAdvisor consistently offers great reviews. Visitors from India, Israel, Germany, Ireland, England, Slovakia, The Netherlands and Canada keep finding the hotel putting Twisp on the international map. Many patrons are booking a year in advance for return stays. “We’re stoked,” she said as she listed the nationalities that visit the hotel.
As Joe passes into his 80s, he’s not slowing down. He continues to greet all his visitors personally, offering a drink to make them feel at home. He loves the role, meeting people from all over and sharing his home. He’s always got yummy dog treats in his pocket to dish out to his canine clients, who he considers important people.
Treating his guests with exceptional hospitality, Joe intends to be the grand host well into the foreseeable future, even when all the suites sell to individual owners. So far, three suites have been sold. Two operate as nightly rentals through the hotel, providing rental income to the owners, while one suite is occupied by a full-time resident who enjoys the proximity to town and low-maintenance upkeep. This was his plan from the beginning — to ease out of ownership by selling individual units but remain involved in the business as the host.
Fun facts about Joe include that he’ll sing jazzy lounge songs for as long as you let him, and Halloween happens to be his area expertise. As former founder and CEO of Spirit Halloween, a large pop-up Halloween store, he took his creative spirit to Twisp to start this new chapter, one that he fully embraces as Baby Joe, your host, as his name tag reads.
