Lenox Library Elects Three New Officers

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LENOX, Mass. - The Lenox Library Association is pleased to announce that three new officers were elected for a one-year term by the Board of Managers at the Association’s annual meeting on October 30, 2009.

Becky Sorrentino was elected President of the Board. Ms. Sorrentino is an Assistant Vice President and Branch Officer for Legacy Banks at the Main Street Office in Lenox. She has been involved with various community organizations. Most recently, she served as president of the Tri-Town Rotary; during her presidency there, she was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow Award and the Presidential Citation. Ms. Sorrentino holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Potsdam, New York and has had twenty-five years of financial experience. She resides in Stockbridge with her husband Joe Sorrentino, Jr. and their 11-year-old son, JT.

Bruce Finn was elected Vice President. A native of Berkshire County, he started his hotel career in New York City at The Waldorf Astoria Hotel after graduating from the School of Tourism Industries Management at Rochester Institute of Technology. He has since held positions in both hotel operations and development, most recently as General Manager of Roaring, L.L.C. where he leads the sales and operations efforts for The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge; The Porches Inn at Mass MoCA in North Adams, and the Elm Street Market in Stockbridge. In addition to the Lenox Library Board of Managers, he also serves on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Lodging Association, The Hospitality and Culinary Advisory Board for the Berkshire Community College, the Lodging Committee for the Berkshire Visitors Bureau and other community and trade organizations. His father, the late Hilbert “Huck” Finn, served as President of the Lenox Library Board of Managers from 1992-1996. He resides in Lenox with his 15-year-old son, Logan.

Matthew Mozian was elected Clerk. Mr. Mozian is a practicing attorney at the Berkshire County law firm of Campoli & Monteleone, P.C. He represents businesses and individuals in Massachusetts and New York in a variety of litigation matters and corporate transactions. Mr. Mozian holds a bachelor degree in English Literature from the State University of New York at Geneseo and a law degree, cum laude, from Albany Law School of Union University where he was a member of the Law Review and served as an editorial board member. Since relocating from the New York City area in 2007, Mr. Mozian and his wife, Dr. Sharon Mozian, have settled in Lenox where they live with their two young children, Ava and Max.

Stephen Peters of Lenox was re-elected Treasurer. One new member, Ethan Culleton of Great Barrington, was elected to the board for a term of one year.
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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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