Submitted photo. A new stay and spa that features an indoor pool, hot tub and sauna opened near Main Street. Customers can rent out The Cottage through Airbnb and Vrbo." />
Submitted photo. A new stay and spa that features an indoor pool, hot tub and sauna opened near Main Street. Customers can rent out The Cottage through Airbnb and Vrbo.
What started as Aaron and Kore Thakker’s dream of having their own pool turned into a new rentable spa and stay.
The Cottage opened its doors at 2 W. 10th St., across from the public safety building, last month. The new business offers several amenities, like an indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, steam shower, an outdoor patio and more.
The Thakkers have several Airbnbs throughout Kansas, but the idea to make a stay and spa came from their desire to have a swimming pool.
“We wanted this to be more of an experience,” Aaron Thakker said. “We kind of liked it for ourselves because we just wanted a fun place for our kids to hang out and have fun. We took it to the next level and kept adding things and it took off.”
It was his idea to turn his office building at Brightway Insurance into The Cottage after he found pool hookups inside. Four months of renovations later, they opened their one-bedroom, one-bath stay and spa.
Brightway Insurance is still inside the same building;, but it’s moved rooms to free up space for further renovations.
While it may have been their dream to have their own pool, the popularity of The Cottage has made it so they have to rent out their own space to use it.
“We just wanted a cool place to hang out,” Aaron Thakker said. “Now, if we want to use it, we have to go through Airbnb and everything.”
For $321 a night, The Cottage offers overnight stays and a space for hosting events as well.
“People are starting to rent this out for events now, too, like birthday parties and graduation parties, so we wanted to be able to provide a bigger space so more people can flow through,” Aaron Thakker said.
Theresa Seiwald hosted her birthday party at The Cottage last weekend and was pleased with her experience.
“It was amazing,” Seiwald said. “The Airbnb is really cute and to have the spa experience with that is really unique.”
A week after they opened, the Thakkers started expanding The Cottage due to high customer demand. With these renovations, The Cottage will feature another bedroom for people to stay in.
“We have the upstairs space, but it really can only sleep four comfortably so, as we started getting more bookings, we decided to expand it,” Kore Thakkersaid.
Though renovations are happening, the Thakkers are still accepting bookings because the room being renovated can be closed off when customers arrive.
They were not expecting the attention The Cottage received during its first week open, but they are excited to provide a relaxing experience for the community.
“It’s all been very positive,” Kore Thakkersaid. “I think people are excited for something new to come to town.”
Seiwald was happy to see a rentable spa and stay come to Eudora because it adds to the value of the community, she said.
“Eudora is growing immensely so I think it’s really important to have a space like that where people want to stay,” Seiwald said. “It’s really a multipurpose space, and Eudora doesn’t have anything like it.
In the future, Kore Thakkerwants to look into hosting yoga classes or massages at The Cottage, saying it would be a good way to get more people involved.
Those interested in staying at The Cottage can rent through Airbnb.
Reach reporter Camryn Robbinson with more business news at [email protected].
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