New hotel opening in historic downtown Reno building

East Fourth Street is changing and Piper Stremmel wants in.

“It’s always felt a bit gritty and bra and I think it’s still the part of town that has the best architecture,” says Stremmel.

So she bought what was once known as the

, and will be opening the Jesse, a six-room hotel and bar.

“It was built in 1907, so it’s had a very long and rich history in terms of Reno standards and we just feel super lucky to be the next ones to sort of take it on,” says Stremmel.

The name of the hotel is a nod to the city’s namesake, Jesse Lee Reno, a famous civil war hero.

Stremmel says she came up with the small hotel concept about 10 years ago while backpacking around the world.

“It’s going to be, sort of, a different unique type of experience for Reno. I mean, we already have some phenomenal hotels, but they are larger hotels and I think this will be a very different sort of accommodation experience.”

There will be three rooms on each the second and third floor, with the capacity to house 12 people. There will be a bar and lounge on the first floor, along with a patio, all open to the public.

“And it’s this gorgeous, huge, leafy green patio. It almost just feels like an oasis in the middle of downtown,” says Stremmel.

Stremmel also owns the building behind the Jesse which shares the patio. She’s using that space to open a new street taco restaurant called Estella.

“So not only is there going to be food and drinks, but we are going to do a lot of other activities to bring people in and we are just hoping people come and stay for a while and feel comfortable and almost like we don’t really want them to leave,” says Stremmel.

It’s an old building with lots of history, but Stremmel says she hopes during this next chapter it becomes a gathering place.