Robert and Soo Cha (pronounced Chai) were looking for a town just like Athens in which to operate a new business and to settle their family of three.

The couple, South Korean natives, are the new owners-operators of the Quality Inn at U.S. 72 and Interstate 65. They say purchasing the old Hampton Inn was a dream-come-true for two people with no experience in hotel management.

“This town has great potential, it’s in a great area,” said Robert. “We searched all over the Southeast. It was a one-year endeavor as we looked all over Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Finally, we just fell in love with this area.”

Soo and Robert, who have been married for 19 years, live in Alpharetta, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, with their three children, Grace, 18, Rachel, 15, and Alex, 12. They are looking for a home in Athens and say they will make the move here when Grace, who is in her senior year at Alpharetta High School, graduates.

Soo said Athens reminds her of Alpharetta 20 years ago.

“We loved Alpharetta at first, but then the traffic—it’s so horrible,” she said.

Robert is in Athens throughout the week and commutes to Alpharetta on the weekends. Soo comes to Athens a couple of times a month since the couple became owners of the Quality Inn in September.

“People are so friendly here, there’s no traffic and it’s not crowded,” said Soo.

Both Robert and Soo’s fathers escaped from North Korea, where they were friends.

“Our Dads grew up together,” said Soo. “They escaped to South Korea when they were 18. They took the train. If they had been caught, they would have been killed,” she said pointing her index finger to her temple, mimicking a gun barrel.

“Both of them left their families behind. They were the oldest sons in each family. Their fathers told them to go look for their freedom and don’t worry about them. ‘You have a big dream, but we’re too old to take the risk.’”

The two men established families and jobs in South Korea, where they remained friends. However, Robert’s father moved his family to Hawaii in 1970 when Robert was 9, and then to Bradenton, Fla., before finally settling in Atlanta in 1975.

Robert graduated from both Georgia Tech and Georgia State University, taking a job with AT&T after graduation.

Soo’s family remained in South Korea and she earned a degree in fashion design. Robert made periodic business and pleasure trips to South Korea and on one of those trips he got acquainted with Soo, who operated her own business, a boutique.

“I never knew her while I was in Korea, but it was on a summer visit 19 years ago after the Olympics that I met her,” said Robert. “She had an interest in coming to the U.S. to do additional studies.”