LENOX — The county’s newest major hotel has opened its doors to guests for overnight, weekend, or extended stays of five days or more.
The 87-room Element by Westin, a Marriott brand, is just north of downtown Lenox at 130 Pittsfield Road (Route 7/20). It will employ 18 to 20 staffers full-time with additional part-timers during the summer, said general manager Elissa Towle.
The site housed a Holiday Inn built in 1964, later branded as a Quality Inn and an Econolodge before being renamed the Magnuson Hotel, which closed in 2017 and was demolished in 2018.
The new hotel represents a $20 million investment, said senior Vice President Carrie Hillenbrandt of the Albany, N.Y., management company BBL Hospitality, during a tour of the property on Tuesday.
It has 1,400 reservations booked so far for the upcoming weeks and beyond. Rates are based on availability, starting at $269 per night, and there are no minimum stay requirements.
Rooms range from standard rooms with a king or two queen beds to single-room studios with kitchenettes, one-bedroom suites, and an elaborate suite complex competing with Airbnb and VRBO online rentals. Those offer configurations of up to four bedrooms, depending on guests’ needs for family and group gatherings.
A spacious lobby includes a front desk for registration and a dining area for hot breakfasts including frittatas and egg whites, as well as a yogurt bar and an all-day espresso machine. There’s also a full bar and appetizers later in the day for guests.
An outdoor patio with fire pits and Adirondack chairs is designed for socializing. There’s a large indoor salt-water swimming pool suitable for laps, as well as a fitness room.
Other amenities include:
• A pet-friendly policy throughout the hotel, but there is a fee for special cleaning when furry friends stay overnight.
• Bicycles available for guests at no additional costs, and there are no resort fees beyond the room rental rates, per Marriott hotel policies.
A pending second-phase construction of 28 residential apartments in seven new three-story buildings on the 13-acre property owned by the affiliated BBL Lenox Hotel Group LLC awaits cost estimates, Hillenbrandt pointed out. The entire project previously has been estimated at $30 million plus.