The Pioneer Woman’s Oklahoma hotel is already booked solid

By Valerie Marino, CNN
3 minute read
Published 8:02 AM EDT, Tue April 17, 2018
<strong>The Boarding House:</strong> Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman to fans of her blog and TV cooking show, has now become a hotelier with the launch of her eight-suite hotel in rural Oklahoma.
The Boarding House: Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman to fans of her blog and TV cooking show, has now become a hotelier with the launch of her eight-suite hotel in rural Oklahoma.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman
<strong>The Ranch Room:</strong> Drummond's husband Ladd is a fifth-generation rancher.
The Ranch Room: Drummond's husband Ladd is a fifth-generation rancher.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman
<strong>Cowboy Luxury: </strong>Drummond has coined the term "cowboy luxury" (or should we say cowgirl luxury?) to define her design aesthetic.
Cowboy Luxury: Drummond has coined the term "cowboy luxury" (or should we say cowgirl luxury?) to define her design aesthetic.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman
<strong>The Drugstore Room:</strong> Each suite is different, and local design elements are found throughout. The Drugstore Room gets its name from this old tile sign.
The Drugstore Room: Each suite is different, and local design elements are found throughout. The Drugstore Room gets its name from this old tile sign.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman
<strong>The Emerald Room: </strong>This subway tile-lined room gets its name from the bright green color used throughout.
The Emerald Room: This subway tile-lined room gets its name from the bright green color used throughout.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman
<strong>Perks, Please:</strong> In addition to the usual room amenities, guests at the Boarding House will get reservations at Drummond's nearby restaurant The Merc.
Perks, Please: In addition to the usual room amenities, guests at the Boarding House will get reservations at Drummond's nearby restaurant The Merc.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman
<strong>The Tack Room:</strong> The brown and orange colors give major prairie vibes.
The Tack Room: The brown and orange colors give major prairie vibes.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman
<strong>The Prairie Room:</strong> Although Pawhuska only has about 3,500 residents, it has become a bona fide tourist destination thanks to its most famous resident.
The Prairie Room: Although Pawhuska only has about 3,500 residents, it has become a bona fide tourist destination thanks to its most famous resident.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman
Look inside Ree Drummond's Boarding House in Oklahoma
CNN  — 

Ree Drummond, known as The Pioneer Woman to her blog readers and viewers of her Food Network show of the same name, has opened a boutique hotel in her hometown of Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

Fans who missed an early chance to book a reservation will have to wait a while to check it out.

The Boarding House, an eight-room hotel described on its website as “cowboy luxury,” was fully booked through October within hours of reservations opening to the public on Thursday, with scarce weekend availability through March 2019.

Fans who registered early on an email list were given a one-week head start before Drummond announced the opening of the hotel on social media on April 12.

America’s newest must-visit small town

The Tack Room: This suite has slate walls.
The Tack Room: This suite has slate walls.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman

The eight suites at the Boarding House each boast a unique theme such as the Drugstore Room, named for the preserved mural on its exposed brick wall, the Emerald Room, for its bold subway tile, and the Tack Room, featuring rich wood tones and a slate-walled bathroom.

Drummond chronicled the building renovation on her blog and social media, and even asked readers for occasional advice on design choices.

Over the past 18 months, Drummond has turned Pawhuska, population 3,500, into a bona fide tourist destination.

The Emerald Room: If green's your color, this is the suite for you.
The Emerald Room: If green's your color, this is the suite for you.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman

In 2016, she opened The Mercantile, a deli, bakery, and store in a hundred-year-old building that Drummond and her husband Ladd spent four years renovating in meticulous detail, all documented on her blog.

Fans have traveled from across the country to dine on fried pork chops and tres leches cake at “the Merc,” as Drummond affectionately calls it, before driving to the Drummond family ranch outside town to tour The Lodge, a guest house that doubles as the production location for her Food Network show.

Guests of the Boarding House will have dedicated access to the Merc’s restaurant, bypassing the often hours-long wait with exclusive reservations.

The hotel’s in-room dining menu also features many of the Merc’s popular items like the Farmer’s Breakfast featuring “crispy bits” potatoes or the blog-fan favorite Fancy Mac & Cheese. (Spoiler alert: The magic ingredient is bacon.)

The woman behind the empire

The Boarding House: Rooms have design details inspired by small-town Americana.
The Boarding House: Rooms have design details inspired by small-town Americana.
Courtesy The Pioneer Woman

Drummond launched her blog in 2006 as a place to chronicle life on a working ranch, homeschooling her four children, and later, as a place to share recipes.

She has since published five cookbooks, a memoir that was optioned by Sony Pictures, and a series of children’s books along with a line of home products at Walmart and a quarterly magazine.

Not quite ready to slow down, Drummond has a third building project in the works next door to the Boarding House. The P.W. Steakhouse & Saloon will open later this year and offer reservations-only dining as well as an event space.

“It will allow us to welcome more groups than we are able to accommodate at the present time because of seating limitations in the Merc’s restaurant, and we can have weddings, celebrations, and hoe-downs!,” Drummond wrote on her website. “It should be a fun time.”

The Boarding House, 540 Kihekah Ave. Pawhuska, OK 74056, 918-528-7705, info@pwboardinghouse.com

Valerie Marino is a journalist based in Durham, North Carolina.