Greyhound Inn in Tyler.jpg

For over 25 years, Andy Bergfeld and partners have tackled redevelopment and renovation projects to make downtown a center of activity. The missing piece was lodging.

“It’s kind of a passion that our downtown be transformed into something that everybody can be proud of,” said Bergfeld, president of Bergfeld Realty and Greyhound Inn managing member. “For people to consider us a destination, we needed some places for them to stay.”

The Heart of Tyler Inc. (HOT) hosted a renovation celebration Tuesday evening to encourage people to explore the Greyhound Inn, a boutique hotel housed in the historic Union Bus Station, the former site of the Greyhound bus station.

“There’s enough to do down here to make a weekend of it,” Bergfeld said. “Downtown can be your central location, but we needed more rooms.”

According to Bergfeld, the building has nine hospitality suites for overnight lodging, two ADA-compliant hospitality suites and 2,600 square feet of retail space on the first floor.

All the door hardware is authentic 1930s, and the hardwood floors are refinished from the original.

The retail space was renovated back to its 1946 floor plan and features plaster walls, high ceilings and storefronts on the south and west sides, and there are talks of leasing the space for a breakfast/lunch dining concept.

“We feel like we want something in there where the nine overnight lodging rooms can complement each other with the retail space,” Bergfeld said.

Built in 1932, parts of the Tyler Union Station-Campbell Building, a two-story art deco commercial brick building, maintain its historical integrity with modern additions.

“It was awful looking when it was covered in sheet metal and plaster, but underneath it, there was a diamond in the rough,” he said about the building before renovations.

The team focused on the building’s architecture and restoring it to a better condition than when it was built. Brickwork and zigzag cast stone work on the exterior remains, and the 1946 floor plan inside the main building was restored.

“This is what I like doing,” Bergfeld said. “You feel like you’re adding to your community when you can bring something like this online. I think people are going to enjoy it. I think it’s something that will make Tyler a better place.”

He said many people are getting on board with restoring old buildings, saving them, and figuring out how to make them work and be a neat part of the community.

There is a lot of development happening downtown; simultaneously, Bergfeld said almost every original building left downtown can have a purpose. Tyler tore down “a lot of pretty houses and pretty buildings” in the name of prosperity.

“But I think the community realizes now that we should save what we’ve got,” Bergfeld said. “These buildings, like this one and others around downtown that are being redeveloped now, will add to downtown.”

HOT member Chelsea Payne is a Dallas-Fort Worth transplant who’s lived in Tyler for about three years. She said more people from large metroplexes are moving to smaller metros like Tyler for a small-town feel, and boutique hotels add to that charm.

“It helps ensure that small towns don’t become ghost towns,” Payne said.

Guests get a special touch when they stay at the Greyhound Inn versus corporate hotels. Payne said each room is unique and has complementary items, amenities and privacy.

The Greyhound Inn is a contactless hotel. Employees are only on-site if they are cleaning rooms or doing routine maintenance. The hotel will be managed from Bergfeld’s office in Plaza Tower, about a block away.

Guests will book their room either through the website, www.greyhoundinntx.com, or one of the national booking services like Airbnb or Expedia, and will be given a code to get in the gates and exterior doors with a different code to get into their room.

“The spirit of Tyler is such a gem,” Payne said. “It has preserved its old history but the good history, and then the hospitality they still exude to visitors and newcomers. I love it. So I hope to see more and more success out of this town.”