Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X X V O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 2 0 16 M I D C O A S T / D OW N E A S T F O C U S "is was all about adjusting and really listening to our clients," she says. Events were also quiet, with two smaller weddings of around 40 people each this summer. Finigan says they were "beautiful and intimate," as she looks forward to 2021 with already six weddings on the calendar postponed from this year. SEBASCO HARBOR RESORT/PHIPPSBURG Weathering the storm in Phippsburg prawled across 450 acres on Casco Bay, the Sebasco Harbor Resort is like a village unto itself, with accommodations from cottages to the 10-room Lighthouse, a nine-hole golf course and indoor recreation center with candlepin bowling. "We've weathered the storm," says Bob Smith, self-proclaimed lighthouse keeper and majority owner. e resort closed for the season on Oct. 17. Attracting new visitors from New York and New Jersey helped. "We certainly made a lot of new friends from those two states this year," he says. While the resort normally employs up to 150 seasonal staff, in late September it was at around 80. After a late start and no business the first month it was open, occupancy levels rose every month to the "second best half of August we ever had," he says, reporting in late September that "the last two or three weeks were really unbelievable." at added to pressure on a stretched workforce, even with Smith and family members chipping in to work, "grabbing every warm body we could," he says. "We did fine in food and beverage and other areas, but it was really hard to get every single room back online, clean and ready," he says. "ere were a few nights at the end when we couldn't clean the entire place and sell all the available rooms. You can only ask so much of people, and some were already working 80 or 90 hours a week." Smith, who has invested millions in projects and renovations since buy- ing the property in 1997 he lovingly calls "e Money Pit," expects a quiet off-season. "I think we'll make it through the win- ter without really being able to do a lot of the things we like to do in the off-season to fix the place up and get it ready for next year." he says. "We're going to have to cut back a bit more than we would, but we'll do our best to weather the storm." CAMDEN HARBOUR INN/CAMDEN Finding a rhythm in Camden n May when Mainebiz previously checked in with Camden Harbour Inn co-owner Raymond Brunyanszki, Natalie's Restaurant had switched from fine dining to takeout as the crew had fun producing tongue-in-cheek video vignettes about surreal aspects of the "new normal." On June 1 when the hotel and restau- rant reopened, Natalie's offered inside and outside dining, in-room dining and still offered takeout. Decked out in romantic red, the restaurant serves as the culinary anchor for a hotel that belongs to the international Relais & Chateaux luxury hotel and restaurant association. "In the beginning, everybody had to find their rhythm a little bit, but the guests really appreciated all the work we had done to keep them healthy and safe," says Brunyanszki, co-owner since 2008 with Dutch compatriot Oscar Verest. Brunyanszki says that while occu- pancy rates were low into July, August was better than predicted, and they've been improving ever since. And while he expects a 15% to 20% drop in revenue over last year, that's no cause for concern. Last year "was definitely the best we had, so I'm not too disappointed," he says. While visitor numbers were way down from Massachusetts, Florida and Texas this year, visitors from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey compensated for it. "Flying into Portland was not easy this year," he says, "but the good thing is that Maine was perceived as very safe. For sure that helped with business." Nevertheless, "I would have liked to have seen Massachusetts being opened up much sooner, then we would have had somewhat of a normal year." » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 8 » S We're going to have to cut back a bit more than we would, but we'll do our best to weather the storm. — Bob Smith Sebasco Harbor Resort F I L E P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R Bob Smith, majority owner of Sebasco Harbor Resort in Phippsburg, photographed last summer when things were busier. P H O T O / I R V I N S E R R A N O N Camden Harbour Inn is home to Natalie's. Raymond Brunyanszki, owner of the Camden Harbour Inn. I P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F C A M D E N H A R BO U R I N N

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