by John Waters
Publisher
Lajitas Resort, the 25,000-acre, 118-unit property along the Rio Grande in south Brewster County was given a new lease on life last year when the property changed hands and a new management team was brought in. In the ensuing months, many, many readers have asked, How’s Lajitas doing? Or What’s happening at Lajitas? After waiting six months for the new management to settle in, I contacted Edwin Leslie, the new President and CEO of Bridlie-LEG Lajitas, Inc. to find out.
Arriving in Lajitas on Friday, May 23 for an interview with Leslie, I noticed the RV Park actually had occupants. Several, in fact. And in the hotel parking lot there were cars. And in the lobby of the hotel, there were several guests mulling around.
After the conversation with Leslie, I went to the Thirsty Goat Saloon; there were people at the bar. A sizable dinner crowd occupied the Candelilla restaurant.
Granted, my visit was on Memorial Day weekend, so a vibe was to be expected, but with the temperature at 102, the number of guests moving around was impressive. Impressive too was that people were still outside, on the patio, imbibing cold beverages, seemingly unbothered by the heat.
For the first time in my living near and reporting on Lajitas over nearly five years, the place had a buzz. Could Lajitas be rising like a phoenix out of the ashes?
Lajitas has a storied modern history. From the mid 1970’s to 2000, Walter Mischer ran the popular, albeit financially marginal resort. Finally Mischer’s board of directors urged him to unload the property.
After buying the resort in 2000 for about $4 million, Austin entrepreneur Steve Smith had an unpopular resort and spent an estimated $100 million developing it. His balance sheet forced him to seek protection in bankruptcy court last summer.
For the later half of 2007 the future of Lajitas was uncertain. Would a buyer be found? Would the resort continue to operate? Employees prepared for the worst, while unsecured creditors hoped for the best. In the balance also lay significant contributions to the county tax base, with Lajitas generating 28% of the revenue for the Terlingua Common School District and an equal amount of revenue for the Brewster County Tourism Council.
Late last year, the resort was purchased by Dallas businessman Kelcy L. Warren of Dallas and Tom Kelly of Midland for $13.5 million. During an interview at the time with the Gazette, Warren said one reason he bought Lajitas was, “I love that part of the world and I love the people.” Warren also said he would not run the resort himself but would hire someone with hotel expertise: enter Edwin Leslie, who began his hospitality career in 1984 with Houston-based Southwest Inns. Leslie has been in the hotel business ever since and has worked for Hilton, Holiday Inn and Westmont Hospitality Group.
Leslie has been on the ground for five-plus months and, along with his staff, has been putting in long workdays in turning Lajitas around. During our two-hour interview, he was relaxed, charismatic, and funny. Leslie also possesses the pragmatism of a driven CEO. His goal is to get more people to Lajitas – and get them there 12 months a year. Also present during the interview was Don McDowell, equally as charismatic, a longtime Lajitas employee who is now Facilities Manager.
When Leslie arrived as CEO, one of his first public acts was to write a letter addressed to the “Community of the Big Bend” that was published in the Gazette and other regional newspapers. In that missive, Leslie simultaneously outlined part of his vision for Lajitas and offered an olive branch to local residents who never warmed to the resorts previous owner: “This resort is here for the community as well as the guests,” wrote Leslie. “It is my hope that you will allow us the chance to prove to you that we are committed to Lajitas, we are committed to Big Bend and we are committed to you.”
Leslie concluded his letter with, “We are no longer the “Ultimate Hideout;” we are your neighbors!”
When asked how things were going, Leslie said business is good: “I think our marketing has worked. When I was here last year it was sad; sometimes I was the only person here. What I like now is you look around and you see people here.”
In a departure from the $300/night rooms of the last incarnation, the resort has dropped rates to the $149-$179 range for most accommodations, with condos and homes going for more. According to Leslie, March bookings were up 200% from the same month last year, at 60% occupancy, with impressive April bookings, and May at 51% occupancy. The occupancy rates are records for the resort, which hopes to continue to set records for the summer months.
Leslie says what is new, in part, in their marketing strategy, is to cater to Texans, and to families who will be enticed by a more affordable restaurant and lower-priced accommodations. The resort continues to market to the wealthy as well, who will fly their own aircraft to the resort and spend thousands of dollars for a weekend of golf.
Shedding its elitist image and attracting a mix of clientele is already proving successful for the resort. “We dropped the ‘Ultimate Hideout’ reference,” noted Leslie. “We want people to come and have fun. We’re not just providing a club atmosphere.”
The resort has recently completed a demographic survey of guests; the results confirm this shift to middle class guests while retaining the jet set. Recently a group of Dallas executives who had chartered a jet and rented a house at Lajitas told Leslie what they enjoyed most about their stay was hanging out at the bar and drinking beer with locals. (While at the Thirsty Goat, I met a patron who had just flown in on his Swiss-built Pilatus (cost about $3 million) who had entered the bar for a few drinks.)
The new resort is also encouraging guests to explore the region and patronize other businesses too. “We want people to go out in the community. Go to the Starlight, go to Kiva; if you stay at Lajitas, go out, get a feel for the community,” said Leslie.
Rates at the RV Park have been dropped to $29 per night. Gone is the previous management’s mandate of only high-priced, “Class A” RV’s. Seventy of the one hundred RV sites are already booked from next September through March.
The high-end Ocotillo restaurant is now closed and the Candelilla restaurant offers two-for-one fajitas for $16.95 on Wednesdays, and a prime rib special on Friday for $21.95 a person.
The restaurant also offers moderately-priced entries with most items below $15 and none over $22. Leslie says the menu prices are comparable to a resort the size of Lajitas and comparable to other restaurants in the area.
Under the direction of Executive Chef Blas Gonzalez, the menu will offer predominantly Mexican cuisine. While marketing to both the middle class and jet set, Leslie joked, “Hey, we will still sell you a $150 drink [anejo Tequila] if you want.”
New and Future Plans
Lajitas recently began to offer fuel service at the Lajitas International Airport and is considering either charter or commuter air service to and from Midland. The resort may avail guests of car rentals as soon as this fall.
Lajitas has also been working with the National Park Service to house firefighting equipment that will enable the NPS to better fight fires in the park from the air. The resort has offered to provide the space to the NPS for free, as a community service.
In July, Lajitas will offer on-site customs clearing for international passengers arriving by air. The service will be provided in conjunction with U.S. Customs and require 24-hour advance notice.
The resort has expanded its marketing to northern Mexico, targeting guests from the cities of Monterrey and Chihuahua. The resort has recently booked large wedding parties from Mexico.
The resort plans on constructing 18 “Lakeside Cottages,” an idea first proposed by the previous owner Smith. The 2-bedroom, 3-bathroom units will be 1,900 square feet and start at $495,000.
The resort will soon open a new fitness center at Maverick Ranch that features Cybex workout equipment, treadmills, and stationary bikes and is considering offering memberships to community members that would include pool access.
In the next few weeks, the resort will also begin to offer its own guided tours on All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV’s).
Don McDowell, Facilities Manager, has been busy overseeing, amongst many other facets, the physical structure of the resort. “What people don’t see is all the infrastructure improvements that are happening every day,” noted McDowell. Also, “we have cleared the river and taken out saltcedar; we’ve reworked the [boat] put-in.”
As for developing more of the resort’s 25,000 acres, Leslie replied, “No, we’re not going to develop; there’s too much character, too much value [as is] from a public perspective.”
The resort has an extensive system of mountain biking trails that has been open to the public for years – and will remain so. “Unequivocally,” said Leslie, “the bike trails are not going away. Mountain biking will stay where it is.”
In fact, Leslie hopes theat Desert Sports’ MasOMenos 100K endurance mountain bike event will “return to Lajitas....We are open to any event that will benefit the community as a whole,” added Leslie.
The Lajitas clinic is currently closed after the resignation of the medical provider John Alexander, Physician Assistant. The resort is in the process of interviewing several Emergency Medical Technicians to staff a basic first aid center on the premises soon. Future goals include having an ambulance on site, and an expanded clinic, pending the formation of a non-profit corporation.
The resort is putting the finishing touches on a full-service grocery store, located on FM 170 in the former hardware store. The store will carry groceries, produce, deli, have a short-order grill, and have 24-hour gas pumps and will offer propane.
The former Trading Post will soon house the historic Yates Texas Longhorn collection, the world’s largest. At over 1,000 horn, the collection includes horn mounts, full head mounts and full body mounts. Regarding the collection Leslie said, “What is more descriptive of West Texas than a longhorn?”
With the summer months nearing, a season heretofore almost nonexistent for business in Lajitas, Leslie is undaunted and optimistic. In what he terms the changing dynamic of summer tourism, Leslie said the resort was about to embark on a media blitz, advertising in 22 Texas newspapers and airing a 30-second television commercial on ABC in several parts of Texas. “If you don’t ask anybody to come, they’re not going to come.”
In his short tenure Leslie has dramatically increased bookings and appears to be turning Lajitas around. If he and his team are successful, Lajitas will indeed rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes.
While the original structure was built in the early 1900’s to house U.S. troops stationed along the border after Mexican incursions at Columbus, N.M. and nearby Glen Springs, Lajitas’ “Calvary Post” now offers accommodations to visitors at $179 a night. Under new ownership and management, Lajitas Resort has seen an upswing in business with record occupancy this spring. For the first time, the resort is aggressively marketing for the summer season. Employment at the resort is up to a staff of 105 staff, up from 76 in January. (Editor’s Note: When we asked to photograph Lajitas’ new CEO, Edwin Leslie, he declined, smiling, and said, “Don’t photograph me: photograph the resort.”) (John Waters, photo)
On March 1, Lajitas Resort hosted an open celebration of Texas Independence Day, replete with fireworks and live music. Though the crowd thinned out around 8:30 or so, after dinner and fireworks, diehard music fans were treated to long, wonderful, energetic performances at the Pavilion by Emily Klepper (above, at left, on mic) and Klepper George under an uber Texas starry sky. (Marlys Hersey, photo)
On Memorial Day weekend, the new CEO of Lajitas Resort led guests and Lajitas stablehands/horsetrainers on an evening ride near the base of Mesa de Anguila in Big Bend National Park (background) to the resort’s “Stargazer Mesa.” (Marlys Hersey, photo)
