Tacos, gift shop checking into Hotel Kilbourne

SANDUSKY — Hotel Kilbourne is making more room for guests, gifts and guacamole.The proprietors for downtown Sandusky's only boutique lodge announced they're investing about $650,000 in private funds for a second phase of major upgrades.Among the planned enhancements, going inside a vacant, adjacent structure, include:• Adding somewhere between four and six rooms to supplement the existing nine in place today• Building a gift shop, offering the hotel's toiletries and amenities, travel books and T-shirts made by Sandusky-based company Zero Tide Great Lakes Apparel• Debuting OH Taco, a restaurant featuring made-to-order foods, specializing in tacos and dishing out house-brand guacamole, salsas and dessert optionsHotel Kilbourne is expanding by adding a gift shop and a made-to-order restaurant specializing in tacos in the building next to the hotel. Construction work should begin later this year.Construction work should begin later this year and end before spring 2018.Hotel Kilbourne's immediate success convinced its owners, spouses Nikki Lloyd and Ryan Whaley, to pursue a second wave of improvements after their boutique debuted in August 2016."Even during winter, our rooms are mostly booked," said Whaley, who also runs public relations firm Green Door Mediaworks. He and Lloyd also operate the nearby Volstead Bar. "Since we've opened, we have seen a great amount of traffic here, and tourists are figuring out Sandusky is a great place with a lot going on."Sometime in the coming months, Hotel Kilbourne will debut a restaurant called OH Taco, an eatery featuring made-to-order foods, specializing in tacos and dishing out house-brand guacamole, salsas and dessert optionsUpon pursuing this endeavor, Whaley and Lloyd didn't want to duplicate any business servicing downtown today.Rather they wanted to introduce new offerings, starting with a hotel and evolving with a gift shop and taco restaurant."When we decided to do this, we wanted to make sure this would complement all the other businesses down here," said Lloyd, who also serves as a city commissioner. "We are not trying to create something that already exists. We are trying to create something that supports everyone else in downtown."Sandusky's ongoing renaissance — a collection of new businesses, amenities and activities washing ashore onto the waterfront city in recent years — helped convince the pair to continue investing in downtown. Their financial commitment into Hotel Kilbourne and its related properties totals just shy of $2 million."In the city's bicentennial vision (master) plan, building up downtown as a destination was an important goal," city manager Eric Wobser said. "This early expansion of Hotel Kilbourne demonstrates that downtown Sandusky has the potential to become one of the premier destinations on the Great Lakes."Moseley's Public House bartender Roni Minzer mixes a black walnut old fashioned drink while working at the Hotel Kilbourne establishment in downtown Sandusky on Friday, March 3, 2017.Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.Hotel Kilbourne is expanding by adding a gift shop and made-to-order restaurant specializing in tacos in the building next to the boutique. Construction work should begin later this year.A black walnut old fashioned sits on the bar at Hotel Kilbourne after being prepared by bartender Roni Minzer on Friday, March 3, 2017.