Tracy Hooper shows off the rooms at the Gearhart Ocean Inn like a proud parent she points to the fireplaces, the kitchenettes, the beach cruisers and the sparkling lawn where guests can roast smores, play croquet or just enjoy the weather.

I love being part of someones making memories with their family, Hooper said.

For the last nine years, Hooper and her husband, Henry, have owned hotel properties on the North Coast. They purchased their first, the Inn at Arch Cape, in 2004 and since then have added the Gearhart Ocean Inn and Fitzgeralds Cottages, both in Gearhart, to their company, Distinctive Beach Lodgings.

Each of the unique boutique inns is what Hooper calls, a local landmark. The Hoopers have spent much of the time they have owned the properties updating and refreshing them to improve guest experiences.

All of the buildings needed a little TLC (when we bought them), she said. So we started first renovating the inside and then getting fresh linens and carpet and so forth. Its more than tweaking its a lot to keep up a property.

From windows and roofs, to regular painting and weeding, Hooper said there are certain challenges keeping up older properties along the coast. They recently finished refreshing the exterior of the Gearhart Ocean Inn.

For Hooper, owning and operating hotels was a second or third act in life.

After graduating from college, the Baltimore, Md. native went to work as a television news reporter in Salisbury, Md.

When I got there, my first day on the job, they said we hired you as a reporter, but wed like you to be the weather girl, Hooper said. So I said, oh, I dont know anything about the weather and they said, oh thats OK, the sports guy will teach you. And the sports guy, who had been doing weather and sports for two months after the weather guy quit, taught me how to do the weather. Meanwhile, I didnt know anything about pressure systems or low fronts.

On the eastern shore of Maryland, kind of like the North Oregon Coast, weather is everything. Farmers, fisherman, beachgoers — and I was doing the weather and knew nothing about it. But I think I was fun and had no pretense about me, so people were so nice to me.

In the years that followed, Hooper worked as a reporter and then, later, anchor at TV stations in Baltimore and Hartford, Conn. Among her colleagues when she was in Hartford was CBS This Morning host Gayle King.

There were so many parts I loved. First of all, I worked with really interesting people. And I worked with people who cared about the community. I also felt like I was privileged to get into peoples lives It was demanding, but it was interesting.

When her husband finished his graduate degree at Yale and the couple moved back to Baltimore, Hooper gave up her TV news career.

I decided I didnt want to chase fire engines the rest of my life, and so I started doing voice-over work, she said. Ive had a very nice career, working, doing on camera and voice-over work for some pretty large corporations Marriott, NFL Films, the FBI, various people.

In 2001, Henry Hooper accepted a position in Southwest Washington and the couple, with their three daughters in tow, moved to Portland a place they had never visited until they relocated.

Hooper laughingly recalls during her time as a weather girl getting weather forecasts from the region over the Associated Press wire.

I would say, all those poor people who live in the Northwest, it rains all the time! Hooper said. I really think the weather suits me better. It doesnt get freezing cold, and we dont get a lot of ice.

I love it here. I think its really unpretentious. I think people are really authentic; they dont really care what your father did or who youre related to its very welcoming. All of our family who visits from the East cannot get over how friendly Oregonians are. I love that.

The couple now splits time between Portland and Gearhart. Hooper spends at least two days during the week along the coast, and then most weekends in Gearhart.

At first, buying the Inn at Arch Cape was a financial decision, Hooper said. However, as time has gone on, she said she realized how vital small businesses like hers are to the community.

I am really impressed with the small business owners here who Ive really gotten to know because were a small business, Hooper said.

All of us are in the business of trying to keep these small businesses going and thriving. And I think once people come to the North Oregon Coast, they get it.

After years of work and renovations on the boutique properties none has more than 12 rooms recognition has started to roll in from national media. The properties have been featured in Sunset Magazine and Travel + Leisure Magazine and recently on the Today Show.

Hooper tells stories of guests who heard about the properties and flew in from all over the country to enjoy the Oregon coast. The exposure, she said, has been a gift from God.

A background in TV news, though helpful with guest interactions, was a bit of a stretch when it came to hotel management, Hooper said. A talented staff with a passion for the properties and experience in hospitality management has been the key for Distinctive Beach Lodgings success. From the maintenance and housekeeping staff, to the desk staff and business manager Patti Lewis, Hooper said she is humbled by the work they do.

Our staff is so committed, and I think thats what makes all the difference, she said. Were small but mighty.