PORT ANGELES — The Red Lion Hotel is undergoing a major face lift that’s not just rejuvenating its aging exterior and revitalizing its tired rooms, but giving a boost to its aging mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems.

“It’s a revamp of the entire space,” said General Manager Donya Alward. “It’s been quite a process.”

The extensive work on the 187-room hotel was needed, Alward said, due to long-delayed maintenance, wear and tear and a desire to meet the needs of today’s guests who are different from those who checked in 40 or 50 years ago. (The oldest section of the hotel dates from 1969 and was added onto in the 1970s.)

Improvements began shortly after BHG Hotels purchased the property from RLF (Red Lion Hotel Corporation) in 2018 for $19.5 million with what Alward called “not fun things” starting with plumbing and electrical upgrades and replacing water heaters, switching out old laundry service washers and dryers for new ones.

Even the outdoor pool is getting a makeover.

“We’re updating the space and making it not look like it’s in the center of a parking lot,” Alward said.

“We’ve got new pool furniture and we’ve painted the pool and updated the spa heater and pump.”

“The the exterior will be at least a 24-to-36-month project from this point and the interior will be finished by the summertime,” Alward said.

Integrating design, purpose and place is central to the renovation. The hotel, which sits on almost 6 acres of waterfront property, lies steps from the Olympic Discovery Trail, is adjacent to City Pier, has stunning views of Vancouver Island and hosts visitors drawn to the area’s hiking, biking and other outdoor activities. However, it lacks a distinct identity that takes advantage of its setting, according to Alward.

That is going to change.

Colors and fixtures with a maritime theme, a restaurant with a retractable glass wall so diners can eat outside in the summertime and a lighted and a landscaped plaza on the west side of the property where people could sit, drink a cup of coffee or watch the Coho ferry sail by will dramatically improve the hotel’s look and feel, Alward said.

The design concept as presently conceived would displace the annual Dungeness Crab Festival which takes over the parking area along Lincoln Street. Alward and Scott Nagel, executive director of the Dungeness Crab Festival, have been discussing how the redesign might accommodate the event continuing on the hotel property.

One of the first things return visitors to the renovated hotel will notice is that the lobby will no longer be located in a small detached outbuilding, but inside the main building where the restaurant is located.

The 1960s-era reminders of the Denny’s that originally occupied the space where the 48º North restaurant now operates will be removed as part of the redesign and the space completely reconfigured, most noticeably with the installation of a retractable wall that will open onto a waterfront patio.

The meeting and event space located on the second floor above the restaurant is in the processes of getting new carpet, wall vinyl and paint.

The waterfront guest rooms and the rooms facing the parking lot have been entirely renovated, from scraping off the popcorn ceilings to installing new HVAC units. Fresh paint, furniture and carpet are tied together with a blue, brown and gray color scheme. Balconies on the waterfront rooms are being replaced, the railing updated and new sliding glass doors installed.

Work on the common areas of the guest rooms has been completed and the bathroom upgrades will start in February with new tile, fixtures and plumbing. Bathubs will be torn out and replaced with glass shower stalls.

The 40 rooms in the building on the southeast corner of the property were renovated with outdoor-oriented guests in mind. They feature large open storage spaces with gear hooks where people can stow bikes or other equipment they don’t want to keep in their vehicles. The rooms’ refrigerators will also be larger than the typical hotel mini fridge to accommodate guests with extended stays and for those who prefer to grab food and go.

“We’re trying bring the property up to standard to where it should be,” Alward said. “We’ve listened to our guests to see what they need or what they’re looking for.”

Among the local businesses working on the project are APS Electrical and Anderson Iron.

”The hotel’s owners have a renovation crew that they use, so we weren’t able to use local general contractors,” Alward said. “But wherever we could, we used local vendors.”

Even without adding more guest rooms, the Red Lion remains the biggest hotel in Port Angeles. The hotel the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe plans to build on the corner of Front and Laurel streets will have 106 rooms. It is still undergoing the permitting process with the city, said project manager Michael Peters, with a projected date for starting work on the foundation this spring. Olympic Inn and Suites has 109 guest rooms and Olympic Lodge has 105.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at Paula.Hunt@soundpublishing.com