Sep. 18--FORT WORTH, Texas--When Tim Laska walked through the doors of the Green Oaks Hotel in April to report for his first day of work, he says it seemed as if he had never left a job he had there more than 25 years ago. 

"Walking in here was deja vu," Laska says. "Some of the colors are different and there has been some renovation, but some of the people are still here." 

That was a comfort to Laska, whose charge now is getting the hotel back on the Rolodexes of clients and customers. 

"It's the people who make the difference in this business," he says. 

Beginning in 1975 and for the next seven years, Laska served as director of sales for the Green Oaks Hotel, then owned by Minnesota-based Kahler Hotels. 

Laska moved on in the hotel industry but never left Fort Worth. Today, still living less than a mile from the Green Oaks, Laska is regional director of sales for Hostmark Hotels. LaSalle National Bank in Chicago hired Hostmark in November to operate the hotel. 

LaSalle foreclosed on Calstar, its Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based owner of two years, in November after Calstar defaulted on a $5.6 million mortgage. 

Laska is joined by Don Winslett, who came to the hotel in May to serve as general manager. They say they are working to bring back the hotel's vitality. 

Their strategy is simple: It's back to the basics. 

First, they say, they had to determine what made the hotel successful in the past and what it wants to be in the future. 

"What made this hotel successful was it being a part of the community," Laska says. "One of the first strategies was to resurrect business acquaintances in the surrounding business community." 

On 11 acres in west Fort Worth, the hotel is near two large employers, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. and Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. 

Laska says he and Winslett did some relationship building that is already beginning to pay off. When the employers need hotel space, they call on the Green Oaks, he says. 

Agribusiness has also been a big part of the hotel's business over its 35 years. Laska says he went back to many of the horse and cattle organizations that bring people to Fort Worth and asked for their business. 

A direct-mail campaign aimed at members of those groups resulted in a 400 percent increase in room reservations, Laska says. 

"People like to do business with people they know," Laska says. "As the employees in the hotel see that the hotel is filling up, it's created an excitement. That has made a huge difference in the property." 

Clay Murray, director of marketing and media for the Fort Worth-based National Cutting Horse Association, says the hotel has a huge following from among its membership. The association has 58 days of competitions in Fort Worth this year and many members will stay at the hotel. 

"Our members are certainly comfortable staying there," Murray says. "They've developed good relationships. The Green Oaks is a fixture of Fort Worth as it is of cutting. We've grown hand-in-hand." 

Overall, Winslett says business has increased about 50 percent in the past six months at the 284-room hotel. It's not at the level they'd like it to be, but it is a great start, he says. 

"Things are looking up for us," Winslett says. 

As general manager, Winslett has been concentrating his efforts on improving the look of the hotel, as well as making staff improvements. 

Grounds crews have been sprucing up landscaping and improving meeting spaces and guest rooms. They've started a preventative maintenance program, too. 

Employees, who now wear uniforms, are also receiving training. 

Hotel guests immediately notice three things upon their arrival: the smell of the room, the condition of the carpet and the cleanliness of the bathrooms. If those things are good, 90 percent of the guests are happy with their stay, Winslett says, and those are the things he and the staff are working hard to make right at the Green Oaks. 

Even little things such as scratches in the base of an armoire, likely caused when a room is vacuumed, are noticed, he says. 

"These are basic things, but things that make guests comfortable," he says. "We're getting over the bumps and bruises." 

Winslett, who comes to Texas from a Hostmark property in Pennsylvania, says that although the hotel faces challenges, he was surprised at its condition. 

"I was relieved," Winslett says. "It's in good shape." 

Awareness has been one of the biggest challenges, the men say. 

The hurdle to get over is the perception of uncertainty about the hotel's future. 

The hotel has been full many times in the past six months, and Laska and Winslett say they're confident their market share will increase in 2002. 

"In an economy that's relatively soft right now, we have the opportunity to make the biggest strides," Laska says. "We have a lot to gain. We have local customers, longtime employees and a good marriage with the community." 

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(c) 2001, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. KHLR,