Winona Airbnb spotlights popular tourist spots from former Video Vision store – Reuters

WINONA – When Michael Onstad’s business plan changed, it meant the former Video Vision store would share a new starring role as Airbnb – which showcases Winona’s unique building and popular locations.

the

rent

near US Highway 61 shares fictional moments from Winona’s history: a giant squid at East Lake Winona, Bigfoot’s delight at Bloedow’s Bakery, robots battling aliens at an intergalactic Sugarloaf gas station, and a secret base from NASA to Video Vision. Moments in history are marked by interior murals of

Artist Winona Sarah Johnson

from Joy Labs.

“We have a fun story in each room, we have a theme in the entryway, but it’s still a really nice, clean place that you’re not going to feel weird staying in,” Onstad said of of the Airbnb location which opened in May 2022.

Signs in the rooms also encourage people to visit the Lake Winona trails and the Minnesota Museum of Marine Art. Winona ties extend to Winona Ryder movie posters and a giant Minnesota sign proudly depicting Winona’s rivers, donuts, cliffs, art, trails, canoes and history in the main entrance .

In a ‘backwards’ trip, Onstad bought the property in 2019 before another company’s move-in plans were finalized. The business has instead become an Airbnb rental with four rooms available between the two floors. Guests can book rooms individually or book all rooms depending on their group size. The rooms are suitable for two to four people each.

“We’re a working town, we’re going to have a lot of people traveling for work, we’re going to have young couples, we don’t really accommodate large groups of people and if we do they can rent multiple rooms” , Onstad said.

The building itself has long attracted interest, ever since it was constructed in the 1980s. The steel, more typical of farm buildings, “really (pushed) the envelope at the time” in a bid to make so the building “stands out,” Onstad noted of Video Vision’s original owners, Doug and Mary.

“I really like the building, either you really like it or you don’t,” Onstad said. “It’s very unique, it has character. I really dig it.

He also owns the former Sears store in downtown Winona and previously owned two college house rentals.

Exterior changes “mimic” the building’s original character, such as the use of corrugated aluminum sheets to cover blue strips and air conditioning unit holes that have been added over the years, Onstad said. The building was constructed with recycled corrugated iron.

Whether people liked Onstad’s idea for the building or didn’t know what an Airbnb was, he said the people he met along the way were the stars of the project. He chatted with community members, passers-by and the designer of the building, who lives in South Africa.

As Winona’s oldest video store, from the 1980s to 2019, Video Vision’s Dennis Darst loved sharing stories. Onstad works to “keep the nostalgia alive” with film elements, like a guest book based on the film’s payment slips and VHS tapes for rent for guests.

“I have fond memories of going there and renting movies myself. And you know, I remember…one specific time my friend was maybe also buying movies from Dennis, a very kind soul, great person. I think he communicated a lot with a lot of people who were willing to give him time to do that,” Onstad said. “He had a lot of return customers because of his generosity and his kindness, and he was quite proud to be one of the oldest in the country.

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