In concept, The Abbey Inn & Spa found itself in the right place at the right time. The venue hotel was located within the converted Episcopal Sisters of St. Mary”™s Convent at a Revolutionary War site within Peekskill and its 42-room boutique hotel overlooking the Hudson River made it an ideal setting for weddings, special events, conferences and quiet vacations.
As for timing, The Abbey readied itself to open for business at the start of springtime, in perfect synchronization with the launch of wedding season. But, alas, there was a bit of a problem.
“You know that we opened on March 18 of last year?” said Gilbert Baeriswil, The Abbey”™s general manager. “So, obviously, the first two months were slow.”
Initially, The Abbey opened its hotel rooms to first responders and medical personnel serving the region in the initial surge of the Covid-19 pandemic while its restaurant Apropos was not able to open.
“And then,” Baeriswil continued, “about mid-May we started to pick up when we had a write-up in The New York Times and Bloomberg. That”™s when the market found out about us.”
While The Abbey got off to a slowish start ”” the venue hosted 13 weddings last year ”” Baeriswil was nonetheless satisfied that its business began to take root.
“This year, we”™re going very strong and still booking,” he said. “We had one wedding in March and the next one is May. We”™re sending a contract out for June and then we have one for September.”
Managed by the Hay Creek Hotels chain, The Abbey offers wedding planners its 2,183-square-foot Highlands Ballroom, set in the former sanctuary of the original convent building ”” with some of the original stained-glass windows offering bold illumination of the setting.
The venue”™s Cellar Tasting Room, a combination wine cellar and dining room, is positioned for rehearsal dinners, and wedding parties are pointed to the spa or one of the nearby golf courses for pre- or post-ceremony relaxation.
Baeriswil reported The Abbey still operates under state pandemic edicts, with a cap on 110 people, or 75% capacity, for its indoor and outdoor events as well as a 75% capacity on its restaurant, which offers a farm-to-table ingredient lineup for its menu.
If there was one fortunate aspect of opening at the start of the pandemic, Baeriswil said, it was that the venue never had to reconfigure and adapt to meet the health safety protocols imposed on it by the state.
“From day one,” he said, “we went with social distancing, sanitizing and taking temperatures not only for the associates but for anyone coming into the building. We use the fumigating machine and anything else that needs to happen in order to ensure the safety of the guests and the restaurant patrons.
“In the restaurant,” he added, “we have the tables with the six-foot gap in between and we rotate the tables. As of next week, we”™ll have outdoor dining with 13 tables.”
Baeriswil has relied mostly on social media and word of mouth to promote The Abbey, but as the pandemic starts to recede, he is slowly ratcheting up more traditional promotional strategies, including a happy hour at the restaurant”™s bar and a Mother”™s Day special promotion including a three-course meal and special hotel rates for those treating their moms to a weekend”™s vacation.
And despite being open at a limited capacity for a little over a year, The Abbey has already made an impact in the hospitality world. Earlier this year, it ranked third in the USA Today 10 Best Readers”™ Choice 2020 honors for new hotels, while also receiving “The Knot Best of Weddings 2021” and the “WeddingWire Couples”™ Choice Award 2021” from two of the most prominent online wedding industry resources.
