New downtown Perry summer rental opens as 3rd Street Suite

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Bethany Wicks

Visitors to Perry who find the hotels full — a common occurrence on weekends during the fair-weather months — now have another option in the newly opened 3rd Street Suite, a downtown house-cum-Airbnb rental owned by Bethany Wicks of Perry.

Wicks bought the four-bedroom house at 1407 Third St. in January and after some light remodeling, a soft opening was held in April. So far the feedback has been five stars, including from a party of nine.

An open house is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. that will make the 3rd Street Suite better known to Perry residents.

“The Hotel Pattee is a destination in itself, unique in all of its rooms,” Wicks said, “but sometimes people are traveling with groups or families and maybe they just need a little bit more space in town. This is kind of a different style of travel and a new way to traveling that people are going to be looking for also.”

Wicks gave a brief tour of the house to ThePerryNews on a gorgeous spring afternoon not long after the last of the winter snows.

“I came in the other day, and it was so nice,” Wicks said. “I had the windows open.”

The 1,400-square-foot, two-story house was built in 1935. Of the four bedrooms — one down and three up — each has a queen-size bed. There are full bathrooms on both floors, with a living room, dining room and sun room downstairs.

The price on Airbnb is listed as $175 a night.

“Guests who rent it have access to the whole house,” Wicks said. “It’s not by the rooms so if one person rents it, they get the whole house. If they bring a group of eight people, they all share the whole house.”

The bedrooms are themed, not in the elaborate style of the Hotel Pattee but in a modest, Perry-centered mode. There is the Perry Room, the Bike Room, the Book Room and the Thai Room, the latter a tribute to a year Wicks and her husband spent teaching English in Thailand after college.

Virtually all the decor is locally sourced, whether from Betsy Peterson Designs, local antique shops, Ben’s Five and Dime or Perry’s other retail outlets. A copper artwork by local artisan Brad Kiefer, who also led the remodeling of the house, hangs prominently in the dining room.

“Brad was such a big help with the remodeling,” Wicks said, “and he was, like, ‘Hey, would you like to display some of my artwork?’ and I was, like, ‘Absolutely. I’ll even put the little tags on there so if anyone stays and decides they want that piece of art, they know where to get it.'”

The dining room also features a hutch for curios, including an autograph book in which guests are encouraged to write comments about their stay at the 3rd Street Suite. Wicks  described one customer who was in town for a large event, and she planned to stay at the Hotel Pattee.

“And the lady flat out said, ‘Well, we wanted to stay at the hotel. We’ve stayed there before, and we really enjoyed it, but it’s booked up, so we’re going to stay with you.’ Kind of like, ‘Meh, you’re my second choice,’ which is fine. And then her review and what she wrote was, like, ‘This is a gem. I’m so glad we got to know and find this here in town. It’s such an asset to the community.’ So I hope it’s not a let down for those who can’t get into the hotel.”

Wicks seemed very pleased by the positive comments. A guest named Claudel also had a positive experience at the 3rd Street Suite.

“We attended a wedding in Perry,” Claudel wrote. “We had never used Airbnb and didn’t know what to expect. We were blown away with our host’s extra touches! She left snacks and drinks for us! The whole place was super clean, very comfy and recently updated! Would highly recommend host! We have kids and would never rent a hotel again!”

Wicks looked up from the comments, smiling brightly as the fresh spring breeze lifted the curtains in the sun room. The new and different style of travel has a new and different style of host.

For more information about the 3rd Street Suite, call 515-782-9370 or visit their Airbnb listing.

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