Overton Hotel Abruptly Closes Its Doors

By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

Guests and employees at the Best Western Northshore Inn were surprised to be requested to leave the premises on Tuesday, December 21 when management of the Overton hotel suddenly closed its doors. The hotel’s 14 employees were abruptly laid off on the week before Christmas. And all the guests staying at the hotel at the time were refunded their money and told to seek other accomodations.

Logandale resident Larry Goettsche had made arrangements for family members who were visiting from out of town for the holidays to stay at the hotel.

“We had made reservations for our son and his family to stay in two rooms over two nights,” Goettsche said. “But they were told that they just had to leave. They were closing the hotel. They didn’t try to find other accomodations for them or anything. They just locked the doors and sent everyone packing.”

The hotel went through a change in ownership last August when long-time owner and Logandale resident, Russ Babb, sold the facility to a Utah business partnership. Since that time Babb said that he has not been involved at all with the hotel’s management.

“I’m completely out of it at this point,” he said.

But Babb said he was aware that the new management had made various changes at the hotel.

“The biggest thing is that they decided to not be a  Best Western anymore,” Babb said.

Gary Jolley of St. George, Utah, has been managing the business of the hotel since August.

Jolley said that the closure of the hotel was due to an ongoing legal battle with Zion’s Bank. But he said that he was not at liberty to discuss the particulars of the lawsuit.

Jolley did say that the hotel would eventually re-open.

“At some point, once everything gets cleared up, it will return to business,” Jolley said. “But exactly when that will be, I don’t know.”

Jolley stated that seasonal business at the hotel begins to pick up in early March. He hoped that the hotel would be able to be re-opened by around that time.