Groovy Nomad Opening Spring 2022

By REBECCA HAZEN
News Editor

The Groovy Nomad, a new, quirky, and colorful boutique motel in Trenton, will be welcoming its first guest’s next spring.

Ryan and Melissa Faircloth purchased the building, located on Highway 11 North, which had been empty and neglected for many years.

“I am a real estate broker. We started investing in 2016. We have flipped houses, and now we have some rental properties. We were led to do more in our community. We needed to focus on Dade,” Melissa said.

“This building has been sitting here empty. Every day I would drive by, and I would say, ‘I’m going to buy that someday.’ It took me three years to buy it,” Ryan said.

The in-progress project includes all new wiring and plumbing, new windows, and doors. The only thing that is original is the walls.

“We bought it and then we figured out what we were going to do with it,” Melissa said. “We just started bouncing ideas off of each other.”

“We knew we could do something pretty cool if we just put our minds to it,” Ryan said.

Currently, two rooms are finished. The Faircloths want to wait until half of the rooms are finished until they are rented out on Airbnb.com and Vrbo.com.

Each room will have a different theme, set off by a bold wallpaper print on the wall behind each bed.

For one of the rooms with a retro theme, they found a whole vintage set of furniture from 1961.

“The next room will be a 1970s theme, and the next will have a vinyl record theme,” Ryan said,

“I am dying to do a 1920s Gatsby room,” Melissa said.

The rooms feature a tiled walk-in shower, a microwave, a mini fridge, flat screen TV, and a coffee maker. Each room will have a lava lamp as well. One of the rooms will be a suite with a kitchenette.

“It’s going to be an experience, instead of going to a hotel where every room is exactly the same. Maybe people will come back and say that they want to stay in the vinyl room next time, or the Gatsby room,” Ryan said.

The building used to be a motel in the 1960s. The Faircloths have a stack of check-in cards from the hotel, with guests staying from all over the country. Most stays cost only $5 to $6. The Faircloths plan to frame the check-in cards in each room, as a nod to the building’s history.

The Faircloths also hope to have an outdoor lounge area on the lawn in front of The Groovy Nomad.

The outside of The Groovy Nomad features colorful murals painted by local artist Keeley Farmer. One of the murals features #TheGroovyNomad. The Faircloths encourage people to visit, take pictures of the murals, and use the hashtag on social media.

“There have been a lot of people coming already. It’s exciting,” Melissa said.

To follow the progress of each of the rooms, follow The Groovy Nomad on both Facebook and Instagram.