A Brighton couple is restoring, updating historic landmark on the road to a full reopening
| MPNnow
Historic Naples Hotel sign will be restored by new owners
New owners of the Naples Hotel are reviving the historic sign
NAPLES — A Brighton couple is breathing new life into the historic Naples Hotel — the 1895-built landmark known for its ghostly encounters and hosting prominent figures such as the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
Tom and Destiny Salviski bought the hotel in April and, after a setback time-wise due to the constraints of COVID-19, are now renting rooms to overnight guests as they continue updating and restoring features of the Victorian-era hotel.
“We are very excited to be in Naples,” said Tom last Saturday from the hotel porch, which Destiny spruced up with planters of fall flowers and their youngest son, Rider, 3, ran from one end to the other, eager to show off the place.
Bookings are brisk for the hotel rooms, as are reservations for weddings into 2022, said Destiny.
You can book a “Historical Room” or a “Haunted Room,” playing on the history of the hotel where stories of sightings, strange noises, unexplained movements and other occurrences abound. The Naples Hotel, under previous owners, was featured in 2012 on Season 8 of the Syfy channel’s “Ghost Hunters” and holds a spot on The Haunted History Trail of New York State.
The hotel’s restaurant, bar, and speakeasy-style basement tavern are undergoing renovations with plans to reopen next year.
“We are excited to open up and go full steam as soon as spring hits, or maybe sooner,” said Tom. He added that they are looking for an operator or a partner “who will pretty much walk right in and run the place, in conjunction with us.”
Tom and Destiny are no strangers to property management and building restoration, though this is their first hotel. Recent projects include renovation of the historic Garlock House on Main Street in the village of Palmyra and an expansive restoration project of Main Street buildings in the town of Marion.
Destiny said when schools closed back in March due to COVID-19, it was hectic with their three children and the oldest ones, Stella, 8, and Thomas, 7, schooled from home. Now, she has more time to concentrate on the hotel and is having fun updating the rooms and working with Tom on other features. “They are beautiful rooms, but they need some tasteful modernization,” she said.
“Destiny is doing a wonderful job bringing them back up to speed,” added Tom, who showed a few of his own pet projects such as restoring for use the huge Naples Hotel sign that was in operation in the 1960s when the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy spoke from the hotel porch.
“We’ll make it look retro and new at the same time. We are very excited about that,” Tom said.