Majority Share Of Orchards Hotel Sold To Maine Company
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US Hotels Group closed on a deal late last week with investment firm the Carlyle Group, operating as HCC Orchards LP, to purchase 90 percent of the hotel, . The remaining 10 percent is still owned by the managing group Hay Creek Hotels.
"We've always wanted to be in the Berkshires," US Hotels CEO Paul Hanley said Wednesday morning. "We think the market is great. We think the area is great and we think the hotel has great potential."
The sale, for an undisclosed amount, involved both cash and an exchange of debt. The Carlyle Group was looking to divest while Hanley said his company was looking to expand. The two reached a deal that put ownership of the hotel into a company whose sole interest is in hotels and restaurants. The group owns multiple hotels, restaurants and banqueting halls and has been expanding into Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
"It's kind of a natural extension," Hanley said, adding that the locations of the other hotels are in the same "route" of their customers. "It's a terrific addition to our portfolio."
Hanley said Hay Creek Hotels will continue managing the hotel and that he does not see any immediate changes in the pipeline. He said there will likely be some renovations "over time" and that the group will boost marketing of The Orchards but "nothing earth shattering."
Developed by
The Orchards is a four-diamond hotel with 49 rooms and 3,100 square-feet of event and meeting space as well as Gala Steakhouse & Bistro, located on just under three acres.
The Orchards was one of two high-end hotels in the deal. US Hotels also acquired The Centennial in Concord, N.H. The Centennial has similar amenities to The Orchards.
Editor's Note: one of readers noted we had the wrong person developing the Orchards property. The late Chester Soling, he told us, was a former Williamstown selectmen who retired to Arizona. As always, we appreciate corrections from readers.
We remember where the British Maid was and that some thought a town institution. It was a little before our time but maybe some of our readers remember it?
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