Owners face social media backlash for layoffs at historic Gadsden Hotel

In the year since Sukhchain “Ken” Sandu and his Bright Brain Hospitality partners bought Douglas’s historic Gadsden Hotel in December 2022, they have lost more than $200,000.

To stem the bleeding, the partners, who also own the Motel 6 in Willcox, closed the Gadsden’s popular Cafe 333 restaurant and the Saddle & Spur Tavern on Dec. 23 “for maintenance” with plans to reopen on Jan. 1.

But those plans changed.

“We are going to start demolition in the middle of January. In the meantime, we thought, why don’t we step back and restructure ourselves, get our finances together and then we will reopen,” Sandu said.

The partners decided to keep the restaurant and bar closed indefinitely, which resulted in laying off about two dozen full- and part-time employees, including several who had been with the hotel for years.

Douglas Mayor Donald Huish, in a written statement, said that “it is of great concern to the city” any time a business “experiences a need to redefine their business model due to economic factors that negatively impact employees.” But, the mayor said, he understands that the impacted employees could be rehired once the project is finished.

The layoffs, coming days before the Christmas holiday, spurned a social media backlash, including racially-charged comments that Sandu said mischaracterized him and his partners as being motivated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“That hate should be stopped. It’s not going to take us anywhere,” said Sandu, who was born in India and has lived in the United States for 35 years.

Sandu said his other partners, Balwant Aulck and Rashpal Thind, also are India natives who have lived most of their lives in the U.S.

“We have kids who were born here. We are serving the country. I don’t know what these people are talking about,” he said.

Bright Brain Hospitality, based in Seattle, bought the Gadsden Hotel for $1.6 million from Douglas residents Anel and Florencio Lopez, who purchased the five-story hotel in late 2016. The Lopez family renovated the 21 rooms on the first floor. The upper floors were closed off with plans to eventually renovate them, but that never happened.

Sandu said he and his partners will carry out those plans, creating suites on the top floor and standard hotel rooms on the second and third floors.

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They have a demolition permit to begin the work, and their architectural plans are awaiting final approval, but Sandu said the to-do list before they can begin actual renovations is unwieldy. It includes replacing the heating and cooling system and duct work, as well as the fire sprinkler system throughout to meet updated city and county codes.

“We’re talking about millions of dollars. It could be over $3 million,” he said. “We are going to dump our mind and soul to finance this building and I want to make it very clear to the people who think we just came in and we’re going to run away from it. No. It’s very unfortunate that we had to let people go, but for one year, we supported their paychecks.”

“We’re not super rich people; we are just regular people,” he added. “We took loans on our homes to buy this building. Of course, when you are losing money you have to step back and reorganize yourself.”

Mayor Huish said the owners have “properly followed all permitting requirements” for the renovation.

“We are anticipating that their project will move forward expeditiously, and they are able to once again expand their services,” he said. “We remain supportive of their continued interest in investing in Douglas and their vision for the future of the Gadsden. The Gadsden is a cornerstone to the history of Douglas and an economic driver for our downtown.”

The Gadsden Hotel — the name is Hotel Gadsden on the building — opened in 1907 and quickly became the central meeting place for cattlemen, ranchers, politicians and the community. With the exception of the 1928 fire that nearly destroyed the hotel and led to its closure while it was rebuilt, the hotel has continued to be “the living room of the community,” said longtime Douglas Historical Society volunteer Lea Dodge.

“Whenever someone has a big event, graduation or reception, they take place in the lobby of the Gadsden,” said Dodge. “On a daily basis, it’s a place where people go to have coffee and meet socially there.”

There are only a few hotels and motels in the border town of 16,500, and the Gadsden is the grandest. It also is the only one that can boast of being a bonafide tourist destination. Visitors often walk through the front doors and into the opulent lobby with its winding Italian marble staircase and soaring marble columns illuminated by light peaking through the 42-foot Tiffany stained-glass mural.

“Our long-term mission and goal is to take the Gadsden Hotel to the next level,” said Sandu, who said they have gotten “a lot of love and respect” from the people of Douglas. “We feel proud owning a great piece of history.”