It’s a dream come true for Barbara and Christian Heim – and one they’ve been working toward most of their lives.
The couple has just recently taken over as owners and operators of the historic Hotel Matador, one of the most treasured and historic businesses in the tightly knit community of Matador, Texas. The Heims have recently completed their move from British Columbia, a province in Canada, to Matador.
“We just felt led to come to this area,” Barbara said, “and then we saw the hotel was for sale and decided to pursue the opportunity. Being innkeepers has always been on our bucket list, and with our combined skill sets, we thought it would be a great fit.”
The purchase was completed in June, but the couple then had to go through the visa process. Having finally cleared that hurdle, they officially took over operations of the hotel Nov. 14.
According to its website, the Hotel Matador is a bed and breakfast that has roots in the community dating to 1915. The community treasure underwent significant renovations under the watchful eye of former owners Linda Roy, Caron Perkins and Marilynn Hicks, three sisters with longtime ties to Matadors spanning five generations.
“We realize the hotel has been around since 1915 and that the sisters, Linda, Karen and Marilynn basically rebuilt it from the ground up,” Barbara said. “As a result of their work, they’ve built a beautiful building and a nice business. Our vision is to try to meet and exceed their benchmark, realizing they’ve left a big one. We want to grow the business and eventually add our own signature to a few things.”
Since arriving, they said the community and its citizens have made them feel welcome.
“We absolutely love it here,” Christian, who is also a European-trained pastry chef, said. “We sort of fell in love with the community even before we arrived. Everyone who has been involved in the process has just been tremendous in helping us out. We love the geography here in Matador, and people are super friendly and helpful.”
For now, the Heims said they plan no major changes to the operation.
“We jumped right into it that first Tuesday morning serving breakfast,” Barbara said. “We want to add some things to the menu down the road, and we would also like to embrace the hunting crowd in our area with an early takeout on-the-go breakfast for them, but that’s a little bit down the road as well.”
As they are continuing to get acclimated to the new surroundings, the Heims are learning about the people and other businesses that call Matador home.
“Everyone has really extended themselves,” Christian said. “We’ve always lived in small, rural communities. We knew this might be a good fit, but we did not know we would be welcomed in such a warm way. We’ve been blown away by that. We are also quite fond of the cowboy culture in this area and that’s a good fit for us, too.”
Barbara and Christian were especially grateful to the work of hotel’s previous owners, who they said went above and beyond to help make the transaction smooth.
“The sisters did more than necessary to make it possible,” Barbara said. “Theyreallyextendedthemselves,and they will continue to be on speed dial in our lives until we feel we’ve filled their shoes appropriately – and those are big shoes to fill, for sure.”
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