- May 1, 2024
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When Jeff and Debby Meyer bought the A1A (formerly Chalmar) Motel in March, they knew what needed updating the most — its image.
“The place was built in the late '50s, and it looked like it was built in the late '50s,” Jeff Meyer said.
It was 1953 to be exact, and since then, aesthetics weren’t the only area that needed some T.L.C.
“When we first came here, it was a weekly/monthly rental,” Meyer said. “It was not the clientele we wanted. We were looking for more of the tourist clientele. We’re not a Hilton, we’re not a Hyatt — we’re a beach motel that’s clean.”
To accomplish that, they employed Sherry Waldman, of Refunk Your Junk, who crafted a beach-chic look and gave each room a different theme. She showed up with three truckloads worth of furniture and set to work.
“They invited me into the motel, and when I saw it, I just thought, ‘Diamond in the rough,’” Waldman recalled.
The most interesting accents to the motel’s rooms are shutters and windows Waldman salvaged from the wreckage of Superstorm Sandy, while she was still living in New Jersey. Other accoutrements come in the form of repurposed surfboards and ammo crate tops. The rooms come with names like “Captain’s Quarters,” and “Island Life” and feature vibrant color palettes and clean motifs.
The Meyers’ son, Danny, 22, is the motel’s manager. He’s a senior resort and hospitality management major at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he also played Division-1 lacrosse.
“It was a happy coincidence,” said Meyer of his studies and his parents’ recent acquisition. “It’s a great program down there, and they have a whole building that’s dressed out like a hotel. … It was nice learning about it before I came here. It’s like an internship pretty much. Not many kids have the chance to say that.”
Jeff Meyer said the biggest challenge has been rebranding, which he expected. But business has been good so far, and everyone who’s stayed at the motel has already rebooked. Nearby hotels — the competition — have even referred potential clients when they were full.
“Anybody that comes by just falls in love,” Jeff Meyer said. “They can’t believe this was the same place that it was three months ago.”
The Meyers moved to Flagler from Jupiter two years ago. They have a real estate background and viewed the motel’s prime spot at 1204 S. Oceanshore Blvd. as a no-doubt investment.
“I know this isn’t going to last,” he said of low property values. “Flagler Beach is the old Florida town that’s being discovered, and discovered rapidly. I know the appreciation’s going to be there over the next three to five years.”
Check out the motel’s website at A1Amotel.com.
From Nixon to today, it's still A1A
It was always room No. 14, Kelly Williams remembers. Always the terrazzo floors and the cozy kitchenette where he and his family munched on lunches of trout his father angled from the Intracoastal Waterway.
Williams and his family started vacationing in Flagler Beach back in the late 1960s, about the same time they discovered the A1A Motel. They’d make an annual pilgrimage from their Atlanta home for a few weeks each June or July, and each time they stayed at the same motel, in the same room. His father rose early to fish, and his mother would take the children to the beach for the day.
When he became a father himself, Williams, 50, kept up the tradition. Most recently, his family and a group of friends rented out three rooms over the Memorial Day weekend.
“It’s just something I wanted my kids to experience, to have the same feelings that I did while I was there,” he said.
After going several years without staying at the place, Williams stumbled upon renovation efforts when he rode his motorcycle by in March. He hit it off with the new owners, Jeff and Debby Meyer, and knew it was time to bring his family back.
“The interior of the motel has changed some over the years,” Williams said, “but other aspects of it haven’t.”
Over the years, Williams has seen the motel’s name change from the A1A to Barracuda Motel and even to Charlmar Motel (achieved by combining the first names of the owners at that time, Charlie and Martha). But the private beach deck across the street remains unaltered from his first visit, as does the rounded, glass-enclosed manager’s office.
Williams still requests that same room, only now, it’s called "Island Life.” The moniker makes a little more sense than its predecessor.
“I never could quite figure out why (it was No. 14), because there weren’t 14 rooms in the motel.”
He loved Flagler Beach and the A1A Motel so much that he’s chosen a nearby spot for a retirement. Last week, Williams closed on a house one block away from the motel.
“It’s just kind of surreal to buy a house a block from where I grew up on the beach, going to vacation,” he said.
— Joey LoMonaco
