Ramona Valley Inn getting $500,000 transformation
Room updates, mural of historical scene to add to new look at hotel
Ramona’s only hotel on Main Street, the Ramona Valley Inn, is in the midst of a half-million-dollar renovation to turn the property into a boutique-style inn that the new owners hope will attract families and leisure travelers.
Karan Mody, a director of San Diego-based Lotus Signature Hotels, said his parents and owners Heena Mody and Nitin Mody, purchased the hotel in October 2019 with plans to completely reposition and renovate the two-building complex. However, the coronavirus pandemic put those goals on hold and the renovation began in January 2021.
“The Ramona Valley Inn will be 100 percent renovated, turning it from a roadside motel into a boutique inn,” said Mody, the director of operations of the hotel. “We look forward to being part of the Ramona community in a good way.”
The exterior of the hotel at 416 Main St. has been revamped with fresh paint, new signage, a repaved parking lot and new drought-resistant landscaping. Electric car charging stations are planned for installation by May, he said.
The interiors of the 39 guest rooms are being upgraded with decor and amenities in a country farmhouse style, Mody said. Updates include new hardwood floors throughout, new bedding, custom-made furniture and new 55-inch TVs.
Phase 1 of the first building is expected to be completed by May 31 and the second phase is planned for September through November. The estimated cost of the project is $500,000, he said.
The “Kenilworth Inn Vignette” mural is another addition to the exterior improvements. The three-panel artwork illustrates the former Kenilworth Inn that opened in Ramona in 1887 and catered to guests until it was destroyed in a fire in 1943, said Elaine Lyttleton, president of the Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, which commissioned the project.
The two-story inn was one of the oldest and most widely known hostelries of Southern California, according to published reports.
A rededication ceremony for the mural, installed on Feb. 12, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Ramona Valley Inn.
The vignette was painted in 2012 by Linda Luisi for the site where the Kenilworth Inn was originally located. The building now houses the Ramona Food & Clothes Closet. And that’s where the mural was displayed for nine years — until it was moved to the hotel property.
The Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural project had always envisioned replacing the small Kenilworth Inn mural with a larger one, they just didn’t have the funds for it in 2012, Lyttleton said. All of their murals, except for one, are painted on aluminum panels so they can be removed and relocated if necessary, she added.
Luisi’s children, Ian Foster and Alexi Foster, were models for the two vintage
characters shown in the mural. Ian, who was 22 years old at the time, is depicted selling the original Kenilworth Inn Manager Ida M. Kearney’s famous one-dollar chicken dinners, and Alexi, who was 21, is shown sitting on a ledge.
The artist said she was aiming for a contemporary, thought-provoking piece that involves the viewer with the building and era itself. She visualized the two characters as time travelers from the past stepping into today’s Ramona and drawing viewers back into their world.
“I’m so delighted the mural fits in the new space and the fact that it’s on the inn is appropriate,” said Luisi.
“I hope the new owners of Ramona Valley Inn don’t get customers requesting $1 chicken dinners,” she added with a laugh.