Wake Robin Inn is on the market

LAKEVILLE — As they prepare to celebrate their 10th year as the innkeepers of the Wake Robin Inn, owners Shaffin Shariff and Michael Loftus are also announcing that the inn is up for sale. This new listing follows the closure of Salisbury’s historic White Hart Inn, which shut its doors suddenly and unexpectedly on Election Day in 2010, following a massive renovation and all new interiors by famed designer Matthew Patrick Smyth. Also up for sale, in nearby Amenia, is Troutbeck, a sprawling estate that was once privately owned and is now a conference center — although it is now only open for corporate groups, private parties and weddings. Loftus and Shariff say that their decision to sell is not the result of a sluggish economy or a downward spiral in the area’s hospitality industry. In fact, they said, they experienced double-digit growth between 2009 and 2010. But innkeeping is exhausting and humbling work, especially in an intimate setting such as that offered by the Wake Robin. Loftus lives on the premises, Shariff and his family live down the street and around the corner. They are at work pretty much 24/7, 365 days a year. Certainly, they knew what they were getting into when they purchased the inn in April 2001. Loftus had worked in hospitality his whole career and came to Connecticut from Chicago, where he had been manager of the historic (and enormous) Palmer House Hilton. Shariff had worked for the Harris Bank in Chicago.After a search of available properties around the United States, they settled on the Wake Robin, which they purchased from Tor Olsen, who at that point was only offering lodging on weekends and holidays. The century-old building had begun to droop and needed some substantial work before it could be considered a real contender for business. Over the past decade, Shariff and Loftus have buffed, polished and upgraded the facility and have also changed the way they do business. One major change is that they cater primarily to groups, rather than trying to ride the wave of leisure travel bookings. When they first opened, they functioned more like a traditional hotel. Sometimes there would be guests, sometimes there wouldn’t. Staff had to be available at all times in case there was an uptick in bookings at the last minute. The kitchen had to be fully stocked, but the proprietors never quite knew what was going to be ordered — if anything.A full menu had to be available but sometimes all the eatery would serve would be a few hamburgers and beers. The Wake Robin is now booked pretty much all year long with weddings and groups, what Loftus and Shariff call destination travelers. “They don’t come here just to stay at the inn,” Loftus said. “They come for weddings, or to come for the races at Lime Rock Park. They come for parents weekend at one of the private schools.”“What we provide is service and hospitality,” Shariff said. “We’re here to facilitate their visit. We become a part of why they’re here but not the reason why they are here.”The guests benefit from the full attention of the staff, without the distraction of unexpected noise or bustle of a restaurant/pub/bar open to the general public. The management benefits from being better able to plan supplies, staffing and time.“Now we know that on a given weekend, we’re going to order 60 pieces of chicken for dinner and we’re going to serve 60 pieces of chicken for dinner,” Shariff said.The innkeepers are also proactive with local organizations such as the private schools, working hard to communicate with them as early in the year as possible to find out when large blocks of rooms might be available. “It used to be that when, for example, Hotchkiss had a parents weekend, the local innkeepers might not have rooms available,” Loftus said. “There might be a wedding at the hotel for example.”“We work with the schools to be sure we keep blocks of rooms available when they’re needed,” Shariff said. “We might make more money doing a wedding, but it’s important to us to be here for the community.”“We thought this was a better way to do business,” Loftus said. “And the market has affirmed it,” Shariff said.The Wake Robin is the second largest inn in the region, with 38 rooms. The largest inn is Lakeville’s Interlaken, which has 80 rooms. Following the recent renovations (which reduced the number of rooms, but increased their size), The White Hart now has 15 rooms. It is on 1.4 acres in the center of town, across from the ambulance garage. The asking price for the White Hart is $5 million and that inn is currently shuttered.Troutbeck has 10 bedrooms and a large stately expense of downstairs rooms open to the public. It is on 42.7 acres. The asking price is $9,950,000.The asking price for the Wake Robin is $4,795,000. In addition to the 15 rooms in the main building (built in 1899 as a school for girls), the inn sits on a hill overlooking Lake Wononscopomuc and comes with 11 acres of woodland with hiking trails.“There’s tremendous potential here,” Loftus said. “We’ve brought it this far, now it’s time for someone to take it the next step.”At present there is no broker holding the listing. A real estate open house will be held at the inn on May 19 with showings at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Loftus and Shariff said their plan is to sell the inn within the next one to three years and that they plan to keep operating it as they have been. Once they’ve accomplished their goal, Shariff (who is 49) said he would like to spend more time with his husband, Kevin, and their children, Max and Alexander. Loftus said he’d like to take a cross-country road trip and visit the friends and families whose weddings, funerals, birthdays and more he missed while arranging the weddings, birthdays, vacations and more of the inn’s patrons.The Wake Robin is online at www.wakerobininn.com. and can be also found at Facebook (www.facebook.com.Wake.Robin.Inn) on Twitter (www.twitter.com/WakeRobinInn) and at foursquare.com (www.foursquare.com/user/wakerobininn).