The Wardman Group, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate investment firm, has acquired Ocean Gate Resort and has engaged Massachusetts-based Scout Hotel & Resort Management as its operator. Ocean Gate Resort is a 65-room waterfront resort just two-and-a-half miles from the popular town of Boothbay Harbor. A New England favorite for family vacations and special events, the resort opened in the mid-1950s and had been owned and operated by GEM Hospitality Group since 2006.
“Ocean Gate Resort has been a true labor of love for our family, and we couldn’t be more pleased with The Wardman Group’s interest in it,” said Frank Gaynor, owner of GEM Hospitality Group. “We have complete confidence that Wardman and Scout are the right team to shepherd the resort into its next phase.”
“Ocean Gate Resort has many great qualities for families, couples, and groups seeking a Maine getaway, and it perfectly balances a secluded setting with proximity to Boothbay Harbor. We appreciate the Gaynor family’s excellent stewardship of the resort over the past 11 years, and look forward to bringing it to its full potential,” said Thad Paul, founder and CEO of The Wardman Group.
The hotel features a range of guest-room options, including standard guest rooms, one- and two-bedroom suites, and two stand-alone cottages, with almost all guest rooms featuring waterfront locations. In the off-season, Wardman plans to selectively upgrade the guest rooms; will modernize its dining room, including the creation of a separate private dining room that can serve small group meetings; and will also convert the underutilized fitness center into a second meeting room.
The 33-acre resort is open seasonally from May through October and offers guests a wide array of recreational facilities, including a heated pool and a hot tub, a floating dock with kayaks and canoes, a nine-hole miniature golf course, and a tennis court and a basketball court.
Ocean Gate Resort is located on Southport Island, which is accessible from Boothbay Harbor by a swing bridge, and is just minutes from Southport’s Robinson’s Wharf and Oliver’s Restaurant, as well as Boothbay’s Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, restaurants, galleries, and waterfront activities. For more information, go to oceangateinn.com.
