travel
Meet the Eilers Family: Owners of The Strawberry Inn
T
he Eilers are your typical family—Amber and her husband Carson have been married for 10 years and together are raising their two daughters, ages 6 and 8.
They, like so many other families, are involved with their local community, church, their daughters’ school, and sports. But, the family also owns and manages The Strawberry Inn in the small town of Strawberry, Arizona which they acquired in 2016. As newlyweds, Amber and Carson worked in real estate and began buying and flipping properties together. After dabbling in that for a while, they tried their hand at vacation rentals and bought several homes in Scottsdale. In 2016 they came across a for-sale listing for an inn up in Strawberry, Arizona. “The Inn was listed for sale as a business,” said Amber. “We found it and with our experience with vacation rentals we thought it could be an Airbnb.” After some discussion, the couple decided to purchase the Inn and began what would be a major renovation project. “No surface was untouched,” said Amber. “There were lots of repairs we had to do from lighting, to paint, to tiling.” Fortunately, since they had already established relationships with contractors and construction workers due to their experience with house flipping and vacation rentals, Amber said they had a team they could call upon for assistance. In addition to the remodels and repairs, Amber said she knew she wanted to give the décor of the Inn a whole face lift. “We tried to give a nod to the local environment with a rustic yet updated feel,” said Amber. “We brought all the old furniture outside and had a free yard sale—giving away beds, dressers, everything.” The new interior features white walls, shiplap, wood tile, and modern farmhouse-style design. “Everything is painted white inside,” said Amber. “You can tell that it’s clean when it’s white and cleanliness is important to us.” While renovations were underway, Carson suggested they create an Instagram account to begin interacting with their future guests, the nearby restaurants and businesses, and frequent visitors to the Strawberry/Pine area. “Social media gave us an outlet to connect with the people who were staying at the Inn and helped us build community,” said Amber.
32 October 2021 RaisingARIZONAKids.com
