Two Portland hotels sold to NH developer as lodging industry keeps humming
Courtesy / Portland Harbor Hotel, XSS Hotels
XSS Hotels, based in Hooksett, N.H., has acquired the Portland Harbor Hotel, left, and the Inn at Diamond Cove, which is on Diamond Island.
A New Hampshire-based developer on Tuesday announced it has purchased two Portland hotels for an undisclosed price.
XSS Hotels acquired a controlling interest in the Portland Harbor Hotel and the Inn at Diamond Cove, according to a news release. Bateman Partners, the original developer of both properties, retains a minority ownership in them, the release said.
The management affiliate of XSS Hotels, Colwen Hotels, will operate both the 101-room Portland Harbor Hotel, in the city’s Old Port district, and the Inn at Diamond Cove, a 44-room resort on Diamond Island that was recently restored from use as a military barracks.
Colwen acquired a minority stake in both properties as part of the purchase.
The deal also included restaurants at both hotels: BlueFin North Atlantic Seafood, a restaurant and garden patio at the Portland Harbor Hotel, and Diamond’s Edge, a restaurant, marina and event venue on the island.
A longtime Maine resident and hotel industry veteran, Michael Strejcek, has been named general manager of both properties, according to XSS.
"We are pleased to add these two remarkable properties to our portfolio," said Mark Stebbins, managing partner of XSS Hotels. "With the hotel in the Old Port District and the Inn on Great Diamond Island, we can offer our guests two unique and authentic Maine experiences."
Under the new management, guest and dining services at both properties will be “enhanced,” Stebbins said. The Inn at Diamond Cove and Diamond’s Edge will reopen in June after being closed for the 2020 season.
Based in Hooksett, N.H., XSS Hotels owns and operates over two dozen properties licensed with Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Intercontinental Hotel Group, according to the XSS website. Most of the hotels are in Massachusetts, and the Portland purchase represents the company's first properties in Maine.
Bateman Partners, headquartered in Portland, has developed a huge portfolio of residential and commercial projects. The firm is also teaming with Shipyard Brewing Co. and two out-of-state businesses to erect the $27.5 million, 102-room Cambria Hotel in the city’s East End.
Construction of that hotel is expected to wrap up this fall. In total, construction of three new hotels is expected to add 349 rooms across Portland this year, bringing the total capacity to over 3,400, Mainebiz recently reported.
The developer’s president, David Bateman, expressed optimism about the hotel boomlet, saying, “People forget that the city has gone through many ups and downs and rebirths, which is why the symbol of the city is the phoenix. We’re on a very good tangent.”
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Portland has enough expensive hotel rooms. How about affordable housing for all of the working people who have been driven out of the city by soaring rents and wealthy covid refugees fleeing Boston and New York?
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