LOUDONVILLE – Landoll’s Mohican Castle broke ground Wednesday for a new building that will nearly double its number of guest rooms.
General Manager Jimmy Landoll said the castle has had 17 rooms since it opened about 15 years ago. The castle itself contains 11 suites, and another four are in the the Highland Building. The grounds also has two guest cottages.
The new expansion, called The Stables, will be an approximately 14,000 square-foot building with 14 new suites. The building site is on a hill on the opposite side of the Copper Mug Bar & Grille restaurant.
“They will be king suites with double jacuzzi tubs, double showers, double vanities,” Landoll said. “We’re doing like stamped concrete floors in there to kind of keep that stable feel to it a little bit. It’s going to have a pretty neat look.”
Landoll said his target date to open the facility is in early May. Loudonville-based design and construction company Schrock Premier Custom Construction has created the design and will build the facility.
Landoll said it was important to him to keep the project local by working with a local builder.
The expansion comes about two years after restaurateur and television personality Gordon Ramsay filmed an episode of his show, “Hotel Hell,” on the property.
Landoll’s Mohican castle co-owner Marta Landoll, who is Jimmy’s mother, said she was hesitant to allow the business to be on the show because Ramsey’s on-air advice for businesses can be brutal.
“We took one for the team, let’s say, but they gave us a lot of advice,” she said. “And their first advice right off the bat was, ‘You don’t have enough rooms.'”
The episode focused on the Castle’s restaurant and event space, where the Landolls have hired an executive chef and revamped the menu.
Since the show aired, the business has hired 25 new employees, Jimmy said. Marta said the business has quadrupled its overnight stays and its income, in part by expanding its wedding and event business.
But the small number of rooms has been a challenge.
“Every Friday and Saturday, weeks in advance we’re full … Then during the week, it’s hard to fill the rooms, especially in January through March,” Jimmy said. “To have those additional rooms for the weekends is a Godsend because now we can stay busy. The restaurant’s busier, and we can start to attract larger weddings from further distances.”
Jimmy said a majority of the weddings Landoll’s hosts are for residents of the Cleveland and Columbus areas, and Marta added The Stables will help the business accommodate tour groups.
“One thing about adding these 14 units is we can get buses now to come in and spend the night, because they need about 30 rooms,” she said.
Kathy Goon, executive director of Ashland Area Economic Development, said the expansion will be good not only for the business but also for the community.
“This is great for hospitality in the Loudonville area, which is tourism-driven, and this is great for the economy, anytime you can get in more beds and more people coming into your community,” she said.
