Today we’d like to introduce you to Rik Villarreal.
Hi Rik, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
The Itty Bitty Inn in North Bend, Oregon, originally opened as a roadside motel in 1950. It was saved and transformed by current owner Rik Villarreal in 2015, who turned the faded vintage property into an acclaimed, geek-culture-meets-midcentury-exotica oasis.
The inn is famous for its colorful, sci-fi murals (featuring Star Trek and Star Wars homages) and five uniquely designed rooms:
The Star Trek Room: A highly sought-after, immersive room resembling the bridge of the USS Enterprise with screen-accurate set props. Phasers, communicators and engineering computers assist in adding to guest costuming (which is common at check in). A hidden panel activates the wall mounted intercom playing communiques from various bridge crew members.
The Grateful Dead Room: A tribute to the band that immerses guests into a living album version of Terrapin Station. Posters from Oregon Dead shows adorn the murals in the room. A hidden record player features Dead Head classic LPs such as American Beauty.
The Tiki Rooms: One room is a lounge, the other is an island bamboo and grass hut! Both rooms showcase vintage and rare furniture, lighting and decorations from the mid-century exotica genre.
The 70’s Disco Room: A far-out room where the clocks all ready 4:20 and a hidden switch activates the disco ball and ceiling lights. A real 1975 Dodge boogie-van is built into the room that hides the Televisions, Atari 2600, funky lighting and mini bar.
Guests regularly arrive at check in dressed for their rooms’ genre!
Beyond the decor, the inn is renowned for its quirky, personalized hospitality. Guests can borrow vintage bicycles, spin old records on retro turntables, play fully rebuilt Atari 2600 consoles, and sample local draft beer and cider from the inn’s taps.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We’ve had our ups and downs, like any other business – and we’re grateful to have survived the sudden income hiccups during the COVID epidemic.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I served 10 honorable years in the submarine service on two fast attack subs. After leaving submarine duty I became a middle school math teacher in public ed. Then in 2007 I started a company called EdComm, Inc. that provides program development support to schools, non-profits, and government agencies in renewable energy systems. I am still involved in the workforce development sector of solar energy and I volunteer, teaching in the Construction and Solar Technology program at Alternative Youth Activities, a community non-profit, in Coos Bay and Charleston, Oregon.
For this reason the Itty Bitty Inn was one of the first hotels on the Oregon Coast to integrate EV charging stations (still free for guest use!), extensive conversion to energy efficient technologies in the room, and a grid-tied solar electric system.
An overwhelming majority of the Itty Bitty Inn’s guests are unaware of the past career lives of their innkeeper.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Ive learned to not take myself seriously.
Good karma and luck have played the largest hand in helping our little inn finding any success.
And listen to the voices that guide your creativity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ittybittyinn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ittybittyinn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ittybittyinn/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/IttyBittyInn
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/itty-bitty-inn-north-bend
