Shelter Island’s revamped Pridwin Hotel set to reopen June 17

Just in time for the summer season, the historic Pridwin Hotel and Cottages will reopen to guests beginning in June after a two-year, pandemic induced closure and $28-million spruce up.

The New York Post is reporting that Shelter Island’s largest hotel will be up and running by June 17 with a whole new look for its 49 guest rooms and 16 private cottages sitting on 7 acres on Crescent Beach.

The upgrades retain the structure’s original bones and some of its fixtures, including three chandeliers reclaimed from the 1927 dining room that have been restored and moved to the upper lobby, which now features a more modern motif.

The hotel was purchased by Curtis Bashaw’s Cape Resorts in 2021 after working with the Petry family, who owned and operated the hotel since 1961, on its redevelopment since 2019, according to the Shelter Island Reporter. The Petry family is still part of the team operating the hotel.

In October of last year, Fort Amsterdam Capital, in partnership with Tilden Park Capital Management, closed on a $17.4 million first mortgage bridge loan to pay for the renovation.

Cape Resorts also owns Sag Harbor’s Barron’s Cove resort, as well as numerous inns in Cape May, New Jersey including Congress Hall and the Virginia Hotel.

Shelter Island sits between Long Island’s North and South forks, and is accessible by ferry from both sides.

The Pridwin is not the first classic hotel in the area to get an influx of cash and a new look. A number of investors have purchased and upgraded North Fork hotels recently, including the Sound View Hotel, the Harbor Front Inn and Menhaden Hotel in Greenport, as the largely agricultural area becomes more like its upscale counterpart to the south.

Last month, the kitschy, 1950s-era Silver Sands Motel, also in Greenport, was sold to Silver Sands Holdings I, an LLC that promises to invest $4 million to upgrade that hotel while keeping its old-school charm.

[New York Post] — Vince DiMiceli