Cranwell Names New Senior Management

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Lenox - Cranwell Resort has announced that Lewis Kiesler has been named President of Cranwell Management Company and John Dithmer assumed the position of General Manager of the resort effective September 1, 2008.

Dithmer has over 33 years of Four Diamond hotel management experience. He graduated from the University of Denver with a Business Degree in Hotel Administration and has received the Certified Hotel Administrator designation from the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Most recently he was Vice President of Lodging for the Killington Resort in Vermont. He was also General Manager of the Summit Hotel, Dallas, Texas and the Pink Beach Resort and Spa, Fort Meyers, Florida. For many years he was Vice President of Operations for Richfield Hospitality Services.

As President of the resort, Lewis Kiesler will manage various resort projects toward enhancing the property’s asset value and will be a liaison with the resort ownership. The resort has experienced substantial growth in the almost nine years since Kiesler joined Cranwell. During his tenure, he oversaw the resort expansion including the addition of the award-winning Spa at Cranwell, the renovation of Sloane’s Tavern, and room refurbishment and upgrades.  Under his direction, Cranwell has been awarded the coveted American Automobile Association’s Four Diamond rating for seven consecutive years. 

“John’s broad set of leadership skills, business acumen and operating principles will be an excellent fit to maximize the opportunities for Cranwell”, stated Mr. Kiesler in welcoming Mr. Dithmer to the organization. “We are confident in his abilities to expertly lead the next phase of the company’s growth.”

About Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club

Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club is an all-season resort in the heart of the scenic and culturally rich Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. In addition to a graceful, historic Gilded Age Mansion, this AAA Four Diamond resort features 114 distinctive guest rooms set on 380 hilltop acres, a panoramic 18-hole Championship golf course, four restaurants, spacious rooms for conferences & weddings, and one of the largest resort Spas in the Northeast.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

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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