Despite the closure of some amenities and general deterioration, the Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa has been quietly put back on the market less than two years after its Christmas 2021 sale to MCR hotels by its longtime local owners.
MCR, the fourth largest hotel management company in the United States, purchased the resort complex from the Baraw family for approximately $13 million while also promising to make $5 million in renovations.
Now, the corporation has been showing the property discreetly, preferring to not post any public listings. Realtor Pall Spera confirmed MCR is seeking $20 million for the property, a sizeable markup from its 2021 sale price considering few obvious renovations and the closure or partial closure of some resort amenities.
Charlie B’s Pub and Restaurant has been closed but plans to reopen in July, according to the Stoweflake website. The resort’s spa has been closed and relocated to treatment rooms in its “sports center,” and a limited number of services remain accessible to guests.
The physical appearance of the 120-room hotel appears to have not been altered since its purchase, despite promises made by MCR executive Joe Delli Santi that “north of $5 million” would be invested in the aging resort to create a “great upscale experience” with the promise that every aspect of the resort would get “a total facelift.”
There has also been a marked downturn in the number of current and future conferences booked at the resort, according to an employee who was not officially authorized to speak on the matter.
The Stoweflake is one of a few locations in Stowe able to accommodate large gatherings.
When purchasing Stoweflake, MCR claimed they were “bullish on Stowe” and looked to invest in the area after seeing the boom in the town’s hospitality business in 2021. Delli Santi pointed to the corporation’s purchase and renovation at the Killington Mountain Lodge as the model for its Stoweflake investment.
MCR purchased the Killington hotel in March 2021. A year later, in March 2022, just a few months after purchasing the Stoweflake, MCR sold the Killington Mountain Lodge to Mission Hill Hospitality, a company owned by private equity group KSL Capital Partners.
Representatives for MCR did not return a request for comment prior to press time.
Citing a lack of credit access for needed renovations and the increasing difficulties faced by independent businesses in the hospitality industry, former Stoweflake president Chuck Baraw still expressed optimism regarding the sale of the business that had been kept in his family for three generations.
Baraw’s parents, Stuart and Bea Baraw, started out with a collection of rental cabins on Mountain Road in the 1950s and, over time, the property grew into the multi-faceted resort that stands today, and much of the growth occurred under the management of Chuck Baraw.
At the time of sale, Delli Santi said MCR planned to continue with Sheri and Scot Baraw, Chuck’s daughter and nephew, in their executive roles as general manager and vice president of sales.
Both have since left the resort entirely. Neither could be reached for comment.
“I really truly believe that (MCR) is going to be good for this resort,” Sheri said in 2021. “If I didn’t, I would not have stayed on, and so it’s definitely a bittersweet transition, but I think it’s exciting for the resort.”
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