4 minute read
THE BUZZ
THE BUZZ by B.C. Kowalski
A petite, downtown experience
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Lesli Iverson and Juan Antonio Casarrubias are
planning to open a petite hotel downtown; and it will be unlike anything currently in town
Lesli Iverson’s and Juan Antonio Casarrubias’s Airbnbbased short-term rental business got started in 2017 when Iverson moved back to Wausau. It started with a historic house she bought on Franklin Street, once converted into a triplex in the wake of World War II when there was a housing shortage in Wausau and other cities.
A look at the Wausau market on Airbnb shows bookings are often somewhat slim for Airbnb units — but Iverson’s have always bucked the trend. Her lushly decorated spaces she creates are appealing, and have attracted plenty of visitors traveling to ski on Granite Peak or mountain bike on the various trails in the area.
That led to the couple investing in more spaces to rent, and now are about to embark on their biggest project yet — a petite hotel on the corner of Grant and Third streets. It might be petite, but they have big plans for the space.
The petite hotel, which they’re calling Anora, will breathe new life into a building that has sat empty for some time, at least on the first floor. The couple is working with Holster Management to renovate both floors of the building. The top floor has suites, some of which are currently being rented long term and others on short-term rental. Iverson and Casarrubias are working on renovating the suites.
On the first floor will be a “nomad cafe” as they’re calling it, designed not only for the guests but for Wausau residents as well. Holster is renovating that floor, and the building will have an updated, modern entrance on Grant Street across from the newly remodeled Graebel building, with a glass facade to match the new glass across the street.
“The idea is to have all the amenities only the best hotels in the world have,” Casarrubias says. The nine suites will be fully furnished, air-conditioned with king beds, and a recreation area. The rooms are 450-600 square feet with a living area and a sitting area.
That it’s the perfect occupation for the couple is obvious. Iverson spent decades in Cancun working as an interior designer, and Casarrubias worked in the hotel industry for his career, besides founding a major triathlon series that became part of the Challenge series.
The new hotel is similar to something Iverson and Casarrubias discovered through their trips to one of their favorite places, Mexico City — old buildings that were turned into mini-hotels. That created a unique experience outside a traditional hotel, Iverson says; and that’s what they aim to create here.
Iverson first became interested in Wausau after working for a couple in Cancun who was from Wausau. She started visiting them and fell in love with the city. Iverson moved to Wausau in 2017, first working as a Spanish translator before getting into the short-term rental business. Casarrubias joined her a couple of years later.
The couple is bullish on Wausau’s prospects, especially the downtown area which has seen a lot of growth lately. And they say there is already a lot of tourism here. They’re targeting an opening in November of this year.
▲ Juan Antonio Casarrubias and Lesli Iverson plan to open Anora, a petite hotel simialr to the kind they encounted in Mexico City, later this year.
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