Cranwell Resort Fills Management Positions

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LENOX - Cranwell Resort, Spa and Golf Club recently announced the appointment of two new members to the property's management team. Michael Mulligan joins Cranwell as assistant general manager and Hector Garibay is the new food and beverage director. Mulligan has more than 15 years of management experience in four-diamond resorts in New England, such as the Sagamore in Bolton Landing, N.Y., the Equinox in Manchester, Vt., and the Hotel Viking in Newport, R.I., as well as the Gleneagles Resort in Scotland. In his new position, he will oversee the operations of the resort, including the rooms divisions, guest services, housekeeping and reservations. Garibay brings more than 20 years of expertise in all facets of restaurant/hotel service and management for four-diamond and four-star properties. Prior to overseeing the food and beverage operations at Sun Mountain Lodge in Washington state, Garibay held management positions at St. James Restaurant in Palm Springs, the Pueblo Bonito Hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and the Hyatt Grand Champion in Indian Wells. About Cranwell Resort Cranwell is an all-season resort that, in addition to its historic Gilded Age mansion, features 116 guest rooms set on 380 hilltop acres, a panoramic 18-hole championship golf course, four restaurants, spacious rooms for conferences and weddings, and one of the largest resort spas in the Northeast. The AAA four diamond resort has received many awards including the SpaFinder 2006 Readers' Choice Award for one of "Best Spa Resorts for Golf" and the World Travel Awards' 2007 "Leading Massachusetts Resort." Cranwell's restaurants received the Wine Spectator Magazine Award for Excellence and earned the Best of the East 2006 award from readers of Meetings East Magazine. Cranwell is 2 1/2 hours from New York City and Boston. For information, call 800-272-6935 or visit www.cranwell.com .
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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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