Charles Indermuehle

There was a boy growing up in Payette, Idaho who knew what “poor” meant. He was one of seven children brought here in 1934 from Wyoming, attended school, then moved to Portland, Oregon, where his father obtained gainful employment.

Charles Indermuehle or “Chuck” as his intimates know him, started as a bus boy at age 13 because the family needed money for food. He looked years older and said so and the Multnomah Hotel believed him. He was paid $5.00 a day and all he could eat and to this day he admits he was a “terrible” busboy but he kept trying. Just couldn't lose this job – he had a responsibility to take care of.

He tells the story of the day he found 85 cents in the school yard and realized he could almost buy the camera he has his heart set on. When his father was told of the find, he insisted Chuck return it to the Principal of the school so its rightful owner could be located. That was a lesson in honesty he will never forget.

When he turned nineteen he was faced with a crucial decision, for one so young. The night auditor job was available but it only paid $135 a month. If he stayed as a bell hop he could earn $600 counting his tips. He knew his future lay in the lesser paying position but that was tomorrow – what about today? No guarantees – what a gamble!

Always he worked harder than the other employees – putting in more hours with no pay – starting earlier and staying later. He knew some day it would pay off and it did. After lengthy deliberation he accepted the auditors position and has never regretted the risk he took. At that time he was the youngest auditor in that chain of hotels. He worked his way into managerial positions and eventually he gained acclaim among his peers.

One of his supervisors, Gordon Bass who later became President of Westin Hotel recalls, “Chuck believed in hard work and honesty. He had unlimited ambition and everyone liked him. I can never remember when he showed fear at taking a risk for he felt only a failure was afraid to try".

One day he was placed in charge of the fashionable Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco which was considered one of the top five hospices in the country. From there he went on to manage the Americana in New York City.

At 37, he became Executive Vice President of Operations for the entire Thunderbird/Red Lion Corporation and was responsible for the reconstruction magic performed in 1981 at the two Red Lion Inns in Boise. It was not the policy of that chain to merely remodel but rather to rebuild most of the purchased hotels. In the same year he was elected into the Lodging Hospitality Hall of Fame located in Cleveland, Ohio.

Charles was eventually placed in complete charge of a $21 million face lift and expansion project to Portland's largest meeting and convention center.

From 1979 to 1982, his Company increased their gross from $125 million to over $300 million and at that time over 400,000 guests were accommodated every month.

Charles insisted on the finest quality of products and service and he traveled constantly between the 43 hotels owned by the company. They boasted of having more than 8,000 rooms and that took a heap of supervising. The food and beverage acquisitions alone in 1981, represented $1 million in meat and $250,000 in seafood each month. The Red Lion chain is indeed big business on a grand scale.

Charles has greeted dignitaries from every nation in the world as well as famous entertainers such as Arthur Fiedler and Marlene Dietrich. He remembers when Ms Dietrich checked in, special blackout curtains had to be installed in her suite because she couldn't sleep unless it was completely dark.

Presidential candidates Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey in 1968, required extra special attention demanded by the Secret Service. Just getting those two men safely from their cars to their rooms called for a myriad of details to be checked and rechecked.

Charles's photograph graces the covers of the Jan/Feb 1981 issue of the Oregon Washington Industrialist Magazine as well as the Lodging Hospitality Magazine for December 1981.

In 1985, he left Red Lion and formed a new chain called Raffles Inns. Within a year he had acquired sixteen hotels boasting a total of 4,000 rooms and was President and Chairman of the Board of Raffles and Inns, until his retirement.

He adopted the name Raffles from and old Humphrey Bogart film because it resembled a mystique and quality he felt he had to incorporate in his dream. That name referred to a legendary Singapore hotel, which was the birthplace of the world famous Singapore Sling and Joseph Conrad penned some of their famous works in that inn.

The Hotel and Resort Industry Magazine for April 1986 shows Charles on its cover and inside is presented a story paying tribute to the accomplishments of a lad from Idaho.

As he traveled world wide covering 3,500 miles a week in his Lear 55, a $6 million jet liner, he had time to reflect on his growing up years in Payette.