Stephentown Hotel Reopens

by David Flint
After a two-month delay caused by last minute complications with the County Health Department, Miguel and Vilma Melendez have reopened the Stephentown Hotel. The grand opening took place on Friday, August 14, with the DJ Sound Control performing later in the evening.
It was just two years ago that Miguel reopened another local establishment with a lot of history, the Bridgeway Café in Cherry Plain. The Bridgeway, he said, is going well and has had a lot of support from people in the community. Contrary to some rumors, Melendez said he never had the Bridgeway up for sale and he has no plans to do so. Reopening the Stephentown Hotel will not, in his estimation, affect much the business at Cherry Plain. People, he believes, will “hang out” at both places.
The plan is to have a band or a DJ at the Hotel twice a month and the same for the Bridgeway but on different nights. A light menu with sandwiches will be available in Stephentown, and Melendez plans lunch specials for local businesses, but if you want pizza, for the time being you will have to go up to Cherry Plain.
Melendez is very much pleased with his purchase. The building is in very good shape having been improved upon and well maintained by the previous owners. And being close to the crossroads of Routes 43 and 22, it has even more traffic passing by than does the Bridgeway. The layout downstairs, he feels, is very conducive to a pleasant pub experience. There are 13 rooms upstairs that the previous owners had restored to livable condition. Melendez thinks that eventually he may open some of these rooms for short term rental.
The Stephentown Hotel was built in 1878 as a railroad hotel alongside the Rutland Railroad. Originally it was the Stephentown House, competing with the Vanderbilt House, another railroad hotel across Route 43. The first proprietor was Peter Couchot; later it was sold to John F. Cassidy. Later still, under the ownership of Joseph and Olive Morin it became known as “Joe’s.” In 1941 Emily Morin bought the hotel from her cousin and eventually the hotel took on the familiar name of “Emily’s.” The bar was the attraction, but rooms were also rented out. The rate in 1948 was $2 per night. When Emily died in the early 1990s, her daughter Marilyn took over the establishment, determined to keep it open in memory of her mother.
Marilyn Means has said of  Emily, “My mother was its legend. At 4 feet 10 inches she controlled it like a giant. If you tested her beyond her limits – whatever limits she had decided on for that day – your name became etched on ‘the list’ of those never to be allowed in the bar again. Some customers could do no wrong in her eyes while others were banned, sometimes for reasons no one could make sense of. The bar was my Mom’s life for 52 years, 364 days a year, closing only on Christmas Day. She made the hotel a place where friends could visit and have happy memorable times. When a customer became ill or passed away she was deeply saddened.”
Miguel and Vilma Melendez will now carry on the tradition. “We’re here,” Miguel said, “We are excited to be starting a new business in Stephentown, and we’re hoping for the best.”