Meet Your New Innkeepers

RYan & Allie Palmer

Ryan & Allie met on a trip to Zimbabwe as teens and have been visiting bed and breakfasts, boutique hotels and small towns since they got married in 1998. Ryan was active duty when they married and spent 4 more years as a nuclear electrician. When he separated from the Navy in 2002, they spent time traveling Europe. They knew they would love to be part of the travel industry.

They have had tandem kayaks since their kids were young and have enjoyed biking for recreation and family trips. Their first trip to the Root River was to bike the trail, the second time was to kayak the river. While the area is beautiful, the towns are alive and the recreation is just what they like, it was the lack of mosquitos that sealed the deal. This would be a great place to live, work and play.

Ryan is from a small town in Missouri and Lanesboro reminds him of the best parts of his upbringing. As a realtor, his favorite part has always been getting to know his clients. He loves people and is the manager of Root River Inn & Suites. He is also the front man and harmonica player for Waylen Blue. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to enjoy his music at High Court Pub during open mic or when he performs locally with River Crossing. He is an artist who values art that plays with irony, light or fresh perspectives. His medium is stone and a couple of his sculptures are on display in Bluff Country Hall.

Allie is the owner of Trades Advantage and is an advocate for the trades. She is in a customer facing business and enjoys being a trustworthy face in a challenging industry. She loves to build and her handiwork on premises includes the new headboards, shelves and much of the new look in the rooms. She also does a lot of work behind the scenes on marketing and web design. Allie has been an avid gardener for years and thoroughly enjoys having garden space to share at the inn. Being a MN girl, who also like cross country skiing, she knows that here, we get to enjoy every moment of outdoor time we can, and loves that this property offers so much opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. She enjoys talking with guests and loves to laugh and share stories.

With self check-in and easy check-out you are able to come and go without interacting with your innkeepers, no problem! But, if you want to share a cup of coffee or chat at the patio, we’d love to welcome you to our inn and our lives.

The History of The Building

Root River Inn & Suites main street building was built in 1888 as the private home of Robert Greer. The Robert Greer House was the home of Lanesboro's first mayor, who also owned a general store on Parkway.

Besides being a family home, this "Main Street" building also housed the Lanesboro Leader, Lanesboro’s own newspaper. A picture of the front of the building as the newspaper, including the staff, is featured just inside of Coffee Commons. Make sure to check it out.

Also, during the 1900’s, this building housed a coffee house, an antique store and even an automobile tire shop. Restored and reimagined in the 1990’s, this historic inn now holds 9 modern rooms and suites. Make sure to look at pictures in the hall just off the boardwalk of that transformation process.

In 2021 we purchased the hotel and did a complete transformation of the rooms, from antique and dark to modern and fresh. We hope you enjoy this historical property, reinvisioned for today’s travelers.