As local communities consider ways to increase economic development in the sluggish economy, Francis Mayor Lee Snelgrove said he’d like to see a hotel in South Summit.

With so many lodging options available in nearby Heber and Park City, Snelgrove admitted it is sometimes tough going for properties on the East Side. Still, the Best Western Holiday Hills in Coalville does well all year. He wonders if the same could be true in the Kamas Valley.

Sheri Marsing owns the Woodland Farmhouse Inn not far from Francis. She doesn’t think a large property would be successful in South Summit.

“I’m not making a ton of money. It’s very seasonal: feast or famine,” she said.

Much of the winter business in the valley comes from snowmobile enthusiasts. Outside of the holiday season, Marsing said she’s only had marginal success attracting them to rent a room.

Year round, the majority of her customers come from Salt Lake and Utah counties.

“I see lots of family reunions and other get-togethers,” she said.

During slow times, Marsing doesn’t need to worry about overhead because the inn is also her home. She is able to profit off the busy times. A larger property may not be able to, she said.

Marsing pointed out that the Littledikes could not keep the Summit Inn now known for pizza operating as an inn. The owners of the Kamas Inn could not make it work, either, and sold at the beginning of this year.

But Steve Butler, owner of Kumbayah Kitchen in Oakley, is more optimistic.

He, too, runs a bed & breakfast inn from his home. In addition to the inn, he also runs a catering business from the property.

With close proximity to Weber Canyon, popular cycling routes, the Oakley School and annual events like the automobile show and the Oakley Rodeo, Butler says he stays as busy as he’d like.

“I could be booked all the time if I wanted to be,” he said.

He sees people who come to the mountains to camp and then change their minds. One couple from New York took a camping class from a salesman at REI and spent hundreds of dollars on equipment. They arrived at his inn with 80-pound packs ready to start a week-long trip in the morning. They came back that evening saying they’d just do day hikes.

More evidence that lodging properties can survive in South Summit is the High Star Ranch, he said. When the project is complete, there will be a rental pool and people will theoretically come from around the country to stay at the equestrian ranch and enjoy the Uinta Mountains, he said.