Historic hotel in Powers Lake is renovated

POWERS LAKE, N.D. (KFYR) - A one hundred and eleven year-old building in Powers Lake has recently been renovated into what it was originally used as; a hotel.

Owner Lisa Thomas says the Historic Hygge Hotel has an interesting past. It once functioned as a boarding house for nuns, but then sat empty for 27 years before Thomas and her husband bought it in 2018.

The hotel sits on the corner of Main Street in Powers Lake. It’s the only hotel in town that’s open throughout the entire year. After purchasing the building and renovating it from scratch, Thomas opened the hotel in July of 2019.

“It was just my curiosity of what was inside the building, because I was born after it was closed to the public, and a desire to fill the need for a hotel in Powers Lake,” said Thomas.

The hotel has six rooms, each with their own theme. There’s also a coffee shop and a sit-down restaurant. The hotel’s long history and convenient location attract travelers from all walks of life, including ghost hunters, people looking for weekend getaways and others stopping by for a quick meal.

“It’s great that able to save the old buildings and you know, kind of keep them historic and not just tear it down, build something new all the time,” said restaurant customer Craig Lorentz.

The hotel’s restaurant has been so successful that Thomas bought the old Chevrolet dealership building next to the hotel to eventually expand their kitchen and eating area.

Thomas says they want the car dealership to be completely renovated within the next year. They’ll fill another need in the city by using the back garage portion of the building as a mechanic shop, since the only other mechanic shop in town recently closed.

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