Sun News - The Marina Inn at Grande Dunes, which opened in 2006 along the Intracoastal Waterway, has new owners that plan to keep the hotel running as a AAA four-diamond property. The Vista Group Of Companies, which owns and operates hotels, resorts and other commercial properties, bought the 230-room hotel Thursday from Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. Vista plans to keep most of the hotel’s employees and will continue to operate it as an upscale property, said Amin S. Visram, Vista’s chief executive officer. The property sold for about $4.9 million, according to Horry County property records.
Vista is in an acquisition mode and had wanted to have a property along the Grand Strand, Visram said. This is Vista’s first property in South Carolina. “It’s a beautiful area, the Grand Strand community is a phenomenal community and we want to have a presence there,” he said. Marina Inn guests aren’t likely to notice many changes under the new ownership, Visram said. The Marina Inn is one of a handful of Myrtle Beach lodging providers to have four diamonds, which means a property must be upscale in all areas, have a variety of amenities and a high degree of hospitality and service, according to AAA.
“It’s a pretty new project,” Visram said. “It’s not something you would change. Certainly it has been built very well.” B&C, which developed the Marina Inn as well as the rest of Grande Dunes, sold the hotel so it could focus on other goals, Jim Apple, B&C’s president and chief executive officer, said in a news release. “The Marina Inn is an important part of the Grande Dunes resort community,” he said in the release. “However, it is the only hotel we operate, and it doesn’t fit within our strategic plan. With Vista’s acquisition, we can concentrate our resources on our core businesses.” Vista, which is headquartered in Binghamton, N.Y., and has offices in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, owns 11 hotels with a total of about 2,550 rooms, including the Marina Inn, with other properties in Florida, New York and Canada. It also operates three shopping malls and two retirement homes in Canada, as well as office and medical buildings in Canada and Florida, according to the company’s website.
