The Bethel Inn Resort, built in 1913, has been sold to a Massachusetts real estate developer that owns 46 hotels in the Northeast, including four in Maine. Rose Lincoln/The Bethel Citizen
BETHEL — The Bethel Inn Resort has been purchased by Giri Hotel Management, a real estate developer based in Quincy, Massachusetts.
The 15-year-old company owns 46 hotels in the Northeast, including ones in Waterville, Bangor, Portland and Ogunquit. The company is owned by Ryan Amin. Its portfolio includes Marriott, Hilton, Choice, Wyndham, IHG and Best Western brands.
The purchase was confirmed by Brad Jerome, director of sales and marketing. “The Bethel Inn Resort/Bethel Commodore Corp has been sold and any billing needs to be cut off by 12/21/22,” he wrote to the The Bethel Citizen.
The 100-acre property includes a conference center, town houses and condominiums, a championship 18-hole golf course, health club and outdoor heated pool. The inn hosts golf tournaments, weddings and cross country skiing.
The newly constructed inn opened in 1913 under a partnership between Dr. John George Gehring, a distinguished neurologist, and five of his patients. After his death in 1932, there were a succession of owners through its heydays into the 1950s and sporadic success in the 1960s.
It closed Feb. 28, 1979, and was purchased from Canal Bank of Portland, the mortgage holder, May 22, 1979, by Richard “Dick” Rasor for $150,000 cash and a $300,000 mortgage, according to The Bethel Inn website.
Rasor added the conference center, expanded the golf course from nine to 18 holes, built 53 town houses, a health club and added a new wing to the main inn. He was married in 1999 to Gretchen Chapin Davidson of Bethel.
In 2004, Allen Connors, the inn’s former golf professional and then-general manager became Rasor’s partner. Connors is a 1982 graduate of Telstar High School in Bethel and graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business in 1986. He went on to pursue a career as a golf professional and eventually general manager at White Mountain Country Club near Plymouth, N.H., before joining The Bethel Inn Resort.
Since their partnership began, Connors has presided over some $5 million in construction projects, and was key in establishing their time share business.
Rasor died April 4, 2022, and his ownership transferred to his daughters, Kerry and Elizabeth (Missy), and Kathy, the widow of his son, Richard Drew Rasor, who died in 2010.
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