Inn at Taughannock Falls reopens restaurant

After having to shut down due to COVID-19, Inn at Taughannock Falls had two reasons to celebrate last month: its hotel reopening July 2 and its restaurant reopening July 31. For staff, it’s quite the relief after many months of uncertainty.

Inn at Taughannock Falls, located adjacent to Taughannock Falls State Park, has a long history in the village, with over 150 years under its belt. According to its website, the Victorian home was originally erected in 1873 as a summer residence for John Jones, a wallpaper merchant out of Philadelphia.

Jones owned 800 acres of the area, most of which he later sold to the state to become Taughannock Falls State Park. In 1925, he sold the estate to the Agard family, who turned it into an inn and operated it until 1997. The Sheridan family owned the business until 2016, when a group of Ithaca College alumni purchased the inn.

As event planning team member Stephenie Monroe explained, the alumni were film students who had returned from a successful stint in Los Angeles, and they had a large job ahead of them.

“The inn was in bad shape,” she said. “It was old. It was outdated. It needed a lot of renovation. It was falling down. There were parts that were obsolete, [like the] water sewage system. … They really wanted to return it to its former glory, which is sort of this romantic estate that throws you back to time gone by.”

Under their leadership, the inn was transformed into what it is today, with much of the outer buildings completely redone, a new balcony added and a 1-acre wedding garden built right on the property. Beyond structural changes, Monroe said the inn has gone through a bit of a culture shift as well.

“Our restaurant is more successful in terms of how it meets the local culture this year than it ever has been in the past,” Monroe said. “The inn had really grown in the ’90s and in the early 2000s away from being a part of the local community. It had been very old-fashioned. It was alienating people. … We’re making it more casual. We’re removing the barriers the inn originally had. We welcome everyone to the restaurant.”

To that end, Inn at Taughannock Falls has also considerably moderated its pricing, making it more accessible to more residents. The inn also hosts community events and is a popular wedding destination.

“It’s casual fine dining,” Monroe said of the restaurant. “It’s approachable luxury. It’s something for everybody. The dining room is completely different. It’s a menu that is open to anybody, and it hasn’t been in years past.”

Also new to the inn are several staff members, including Monroe, fellow event planning team member Crystal Garrett, Housekeeping Manager John Zavatski, Pastry Chef Taylor Sauginas, Executive Chef Todd Kegresse and front desk managers Amber Husain and Sarah Jordan.

“It’s a new, fun, dedicated, passionate team,” Monroe said. “Every new idea or fun tool that we’ve created this year has been the work of sometimes as many as 10 different people. It’s refreshing and fun, and I think this communal, team-focused spirit is what showcases our identity as part of the Trumansburg culture.”

While Inn at Taughannock Falls was in an upward swing, COVID-19 hit, throwing a wrench in much of the management’s plans. Monroe said that in the first six weeks after the pandemic hit the county in mid-March, the inn had to cancel over three months’ worth of reservations, with the inn giving back over $250,000 in refunds.

“There was a great rush to try to get these people their money back, as COVID had been no fault of their own, and we were still trying to pay our bills, keep the lights on, still trying to work towards, are we going to have our weddings? Are we going to be able to open a restaurant? What can we do? Should we even have the hotel open?” Monroe said.

Management closed the hotel for a few months, finally reopening in the beginning of July. As Monroe explained, the reopening decision was made based on three main factors.

“One, after two weeks of careful planning, we were certain that we could do it safely,” Monroe said. “The second was the demand. At some points, we were getting 10 to 20 calls per day for people that were looking to book reservations, local folks and out-of-towners. And the third is it felt like the time was right in terms of being true to the business.”

But during the period when the inn was shut down, the business faced its fair share of challenges, the largest being concern for worker safety.

“One of the reasons why we closed the hotel business — even during the period of time where it wasn’t required, it was closed — is because we didn’t want housekeeping staff to potentially be exposed to anything,” Monroe said. “So, it actually forced us, unfortunately, have to break those employment bonds with a number of people, who we brought back as soon as we could, but that brought us to the next challenge.”

That next challenge was in numbers. After employing over 100 people the previous season, the inn was only able to bring back a fraction of those employees for this year’s season. While the workforce had become more diverse in its candidates, there were a lot of people uncertain about returning to work in hospitality, Monroe said.

“They were still receiving federal grants and their unemployment benefits, so it wasn’t necessarily the best choice for the family after they had struggled for a few months to potentially lose those benefits only to go back to an industry that didn’t have a lot of certainty,” she said. “And we still don’t. It could be that COVID impacts us again. We’re seeing number spikes all across the country.”

Fortunately for Inn at Taughannock, the situation has improved. Thanks to the preparation during the initial shutdown, including providing additional cleaning supplies and instituting more protocols, Monroe said the business is better equipped to withstand the pandemic. In fact, Monroe said that there’s considerable enthusiasm among the team members ever since reopening.

“On the whole, we’re pretty positive,” Monroe said. “I don’t think, actually, that there’s any sort of cloud hanging over. I don’t think there’s a concern that we don’t feel that we can meet.”

What’s more, wedding reservations are picking up again, as the inn is seeing a renewed interest for 2021.

“You could see just as soon as restrictions started being lifted a little bit this resurgence of engagement and interest in weddings and private events,” Monroe said. “Folks wanted to do it safely, and they’re ready to get out and sort of start exploring these topics again.”

Overall, Inn at Taughannock has faced its fair share of challenges thanks to COVID-19, but the team has managed to stay resilient. Monroe encouraged residents to come to the business to stay or just to eat, as it can provide a much-needed reprieve during what are still stressful times for many.

“The Inn at Taughannock isn’t the same Inn at Taughannock Falls that they knew 10, 20, 30 years ago,” Monroe said. “This year will be the most different iteration of it that it’s ever been. … We’re happy to invite everybody back because we really just want to share it with the community.”

Dinner service is held on Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m., and lunch service is held on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reservations are strongly suggested. Visit Inn at Taughannock Falls at 2030 Gorge Rd. in Trumansburg or online at t-farms.com.