Some be taught enterprise, others are born with a hunch for it. On the subject of Greg Clark, it appears the latter holds true. At 19, he stop his job, paid his lease and was left with simply $20 to his title. At this time, he’s renovating an 81-room lodge in Eureka Springs with a $1.1 million price range. The challenge, known as Lodge Expedition, focuses on creating distinctive experiences with facilities like yoga and a fireplace pit, in accordance with a report by PEOPLE.
From facet hustle to enterprise
When Clark stop his job, he went again to reside along with his mother and started shopping for and promoting used tyres on Craigslist out of her carport. This facet hustle ultimately grew right into a multi-state, multi-location automotive enterprise. Nevertheless, in 2020, when the pandemic hit, Clark started on the lookout for different avenues that might maintain his household with out him having to dedicate 100-hour work weeks.“I discovered actual property and ended up falling in love with renovating previous houses, however not a lot with being a landlord,” the 33-year-old instructed the outlet. “I then turned to short-term leases and actually loved the hospitality facet of this enterprise. I used to be lastly in a position to mix creating lovely areas with the dopamine I get from different individuals loving these areas.”This newfound love led to Clark shifting from short-term leases to bigger hospitality initiatives. In late 2025, he purchased his first lodge in Montana close to Yellowstone Nationwide Park. After an entire renovation, it opened in early 2026. Regardless of the Montana lodge not being worthwhile, Clark says the expertise solidified his ardour for the enterprise. “I used to be hooked for all times now, so you possibly can virtually say these have become midlife disaster ardour initiatives the place I wish to simply push the boundaries of what friends settle for as regular in lodges, and let my creativity explode on our canvases,” he stated.
A brand new challenge
Now, the entrepreneur is taking over his greatest challenge but. An 81-room lodge in Eureka Springs, which he bought for $2.55 million. He had budgeted one other $1.1 million for renovations, together with furnishings, fixtures and tools. He’s additionally residing on-site whereas overseeing the large renovation, which he hopes to finish in time for a grand opening round Christmas 2026.The Eureka Springs property was in-built 1993 as a Vacation Inn Holidome, a mode of lodge common within the Nineties that centred visitor rooms round an indoor pool space. In line with Clark, the constructing was constructed by stacking concrete blocks in a pyramid-like construction, which means every visitor room is actually a 25-by-12-foot concrete block that was craned into place.The challenge, which Clark has dubbed Lodge Expedition, is a part of his bigger purpose to construct a group of 10 curated lodges over the subsequent seven years. “I used to be impressed to purchase this 81-room lodge the second I walked the property and set foot contained in the pool atrium,” Clark stated, including, “I knew proper then and there, if I can simply get every thing else proper with this property, this room won’t ever exit of favor.”He was drawn to Eureka Springs, which sits within the coronary heart of the Ozarks, partially due to the expansion of northwest Arkansas and the realm’s sights, together with its historic landmarks, winding roads and rivers, in addition to cave eating eating places.Nevertheless, remodeling the property in accordance with his imaginative and prescient isn’t proving to be a straightforward feat. Among the many most urgent points are a pool and scorching tub that had been in such a poor situation that they needed to be closed to friends, together with a broken elevator and a number of HVAC methods that have to be changed. The HVAC work alone requires a particular crane and enormous business package deal models.The foyer can be at present closed as a result of friends can’t simply transfer by the house, making its completion one in all Clark’s prime priorities within the coming weeks. And as with every renovation of a constructing that has gone greater than 30 years with out correct care, Clark stated the challenge has introduced loads of surprising surprises.The property has additionally confronted important deferred upkeep, together with points involving its septic methods and roof. These surprising prices, together with HVAC bills which have climbed into the tons of of hundreds of {dollars}, have pressured Clark to make some tough selections about the place to spend the renovation price range.
A luxurious escape with out the value
“We wish to provide a stage of facilities that cater to friends who need extra out of their journey than only a mattress and a heat bathe,” he stated. That imaginative and prescient features a spa with an in-house masseuse, morning yoga, bracelet-making lessons, film nights by the pool and s’mores kits for friends to take pleasure in across the property’s fireplace pits. The purpose is to make friends really feel as if they’re staying at an upscale resort with out the upscale price ticket.Clark expects nightly charges to vary from round $110 on a weekday to as a lot as $380 throughout an occasion weekend, relying on the season. With the intention to perceive the lodge’s goal visitor, he has additionally been travelling across the nation and generally internationally to check lodges serving the same viewers.To maintain issues fascinating, he’s documenting all the course of on TikTok. Initially, he started sharing it to have the ability to look again on the progress and bear in mind the transformation. However then, his movies went viral, amassing hundreds of thousands of views and tons of of feedback. “I had no concept hundreds of thousands of individuals would wish to comply with the journey,” he stated. “The response has been very overwhelming and really mind-blowing.”“I hope followers can take away that I’m simply a mean dude; I’m not a company, a group of board members, or some wealthy belief fund child,” he provides. “This purpose is obtainable for any common, regular American.” One phrase specifically has turn out to be a private mantra for him: “If they’ll do it, I can do it.”
