Meet the Neighbor: Soon-to-be-Athens residents say town appears to be just what they were looking for

By Karen Middleton
karen@athensnews-courier.com

January 31, 2008 10:59 pm

— 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.”
The couple will celebrate their 19th anniversary Jan. 31.
“It was really a journey coming to another country,” said Soo. “Robert came at 9, but I came here at 25. I cried every night for five years. There was so much to learn about the American culture and I didn’t speak the language. There was just so much to learn.”
While her children were growing up, Soo took a job in a pre-school at Alpharetta Christian Academy, where she was able to bring her children to work with her while they were still pre-schoolers. She said friends, neighbors and co-workers asked her a lot of questions about her native Korea.
Robert, who worked for AT&T for 17 years, was recruited by Samsung.
“I kind of grew up in the IT arena,” said Robert. “While I was growing up in that field it did pretty well and I was promoted to a director level before I was recruited by Samsung.”
Robert spent the two years he was with Samsung commuting periodically to the company’s headquarters in South Korea. The family finally felt they had reached a time when they could invest in their own business.
Robert and Soo have been busily renovating the Quality Inn and are proud of a new meeting room and wedding accommodations they have created. On a recent Health Department inspection, they received a 100 rating.
“This is really a great staff who really takes care of the property,” said Robert. “Most of our employees have the same attitude of doing the little things well.”

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