Chatham Bars Inn celebrates a century of hospitality

June 08--CHATHAM -- A century ago, a resort opened with 50 rooms, nine guest cottages, a golf course, a pool and a tennis court.

Today, that resort has 217 guest rooms, seven restaurants, a fitness center, a luxurious spa and a farm -- which provides fresh produce and dairy products for the guests' meals.

A lot has changed at Chatham Bars Inn. But at the same time, a lot has stayed the same.

The resort opened as a hunting lodge on June 9, 1914. Charles Ashley Hardy, a prominent Boston stockbroker, acquired the land for the hotel in 1912.</p>

Hardy and the a group of prominent locals known as the Chatham Associates constructed the upscale resort to attract an upscale crowd, according to Hardy's grandson, oral historian Charles Ashley Hardy III. Promotions for the resort when it opened said that it offered the best of deep-sea fishing and shore bird shooting.

The Hardy family faced many risk opening up a resort during the World War I recession

"Grandpa realized the economy entered a fairly severe recession during the first World War. The government shut down loans and finances for expansion, and 1920 was the year of the severe post-war recession, which hurt tourism and hurt his ability to finance in continues improvements," the younger Hardy said.

Charles Hardy overcame that recession through his ability to attract tourists and wealthy Bostonians, with the many amenities he offered -- such as a yacht club and a country club.

The inn has even served royalty. During their World War II time in exile, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and her three daughters spent the summer of 1944 at Chatham Bars Inn.

"It has always been regarded as one of the great places you wanted to visit if you were traveling in the '30s ,'40s, '50s or '60s." said Steven Sampson, director of sales and marketing at Chatham Bars Inn. "The inn was one of the places you wanted to go to and dine."

Through the years, the inn has had four owners.

After Hardy's death in a 1929 hunting accident, the Hardy family trust and the Chatham Associates continued to manage the inn until about 1953. At that point, the inn was sold to a local businessman whose family, the McMullens, owned and operated the inn until 1986. The inn was then sold for $23.5 million to William Langelier and Alan Green, who ran the inn for 17 years, selling the property in November 1993 to the Great American Insurance Co. of Cincinnati for $15 million.

Great American, in turn, sold the resort to New York developer Richard Cohen in 2006 for $166 million, after completing a $100 million makeover to the resort. The work included the renovation of guest rooms, landscaping, dining rooms and public facilities, and adding a spa.

Even with that work, the inn's public spaces -- including the lobby and main dining room -- retain their period feel, closely resembling the way things were in 1914. The resort's management said that ambience is an important part of the inn.

"We will modernize some things, but our greatest strength is our past and history," Sampson said. "I don't ever see it growing larger than the 217 rooms we already have. It will be a place that continues to maintain the old time and period in which it started."

The inn plans to celebrate its 100th birthday with many throwback events which will include an old-fashioned ice cream social. This event will mark the official anniversary Monday from 2:30 to 4 p.m., mirroring the celebration that opened Chatham Bars Inn in 1914.

The event is free and open to the public.

On June 14, the inn will host lawn games, antique cars, a speakeasy and Roaring Twenties Costume Ball. That day's events start at 11 a.m.

On June 24, the younger Hardy will be giving an illustrated lecture about his grandfather and Chatham Bars Inn.

"I'm looking forward to speaking at the inn," said Hardy, 62, who has been to the resort just six or seven times.

Sampson arranged the speech by Hardy, a professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, after visiting Hardy and getting a look into Hardy's "treasure box." Sampson said he was blown away by all of the artifacts, blueprints and photos. He immediately decided to have Hardy speak during the centennial celebration.

The event will cost $10 and all proceeds will be donated to the Chatham Historical Society.

Moving into the future, the Inn plans to become more tech-savvy by introducing more mobile applications. It already has an app that alerts guest with news about events or special deals the inn may be having.

The inn plans to keep its heritage alive for many years to come, continuing to build on its luxurious reputation. For the hotel's guests, that heritage is a key point.

"The nice thing about Chatham Bars Inn is that it really captures the feel of Cape Cod, the old world feeling and beach," said Michael Perrone of Yorktown Heights, New York, an IBM analyst who has stayed at the hotel several times. "If you go to some big hotel in New York or D.C., it may be new and fancy, but it doesn't have that feel of culture."

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