Jack Moyer

Jack Moyer was washing dishes in a friend’s family restaurant, a college summer job to help put gas in his car, when he says “it clicked.” From then on he knew he wanted to work in the hospitality industry.

“It just seemed right, and it always felt right ever since the beginning, that this was the right career move for me,” Moyer said.

While earning his degree at Penn State, Moyer landed an internship with Hilton Hotels, one of only 10 offered in the country that year. That job launched an impressive career that led him to become the youngest senior executive at that time for Adams Mark Hotels & Resorts.

Then, 11 years ago, he did what many thought was crazy: He left his cushy corporate job to take over as general manager at the 1905 Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs, a historic, independent hotel in dire straits.

It was a challenging job, and Moyer was ready to quit after two years. But he was persuaded to stay by Marty and Elise Roenigk, who bought Basin Park and the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa in 1997. They wanted to bring both hotels back to their former glory by investing close to $3 million, in addition to all of the profits for both hotels, for renovations and infrastructure improvements.

They hired Moyer to develop and execute the plan, which he did with great success.

Six years ago, both hotels reached positive cash flow, and in the past few years the profit margins have really begun to widen. Last year was the best the hotel had ever had, with net profit up 40 percent over the previous record.

Last year, the Roenigk’s also bought the historic First Christian Church and changed the name to the Gavioli Wedding Chapel. Moyer helps manage the chapel.

The next big development for the coming year will be 40 guest cottages on the Crescent’s 15-acre estate that will be pre-sold this year to second-home owners who will have the option of participating in a renter’s pool managed by the Crescent. Moyer expects to have sold the properties and begun construction by this time next year.

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