SOLON — After having been closed for about a year for renovations, a popular hotel and restaurant in a building that traces its origins back nearly 130 years is scheduled to reopen Friday under new management,
The four-story hotel at 4 S. Main St. was built in 1895 on the foundation of the historic Caratunk House, which burned down in 1893. The hotel has gone by several names since opening.
Bruce and Faith Goguen of Embden bought the property in September 2021 and, after a soft opening Wednesday night, the building will officially reopen Friday morning — with a ribbon-cutting ceremony — as The Solon Hotel – Restaurant & Pub.
“We’re super excited about it being open,” Elaine Aloes, chair of the town’s Board of Selectmen, said Thursday. “People have missed it — getting together, going up there, seeing friends.”
Aloes said the hotel has been closed for the past 18 months, but the Goguens regularly posted renovation updates to their Facebook page. The renovated hotel will include a full-service restaurant, function hall, kitchen and bar, rooms to rent and a fourth-floor family or group suite.
Many town residents, Aloes said, are looking forward to dining at the restaurant. The Goguens shared the finalized menu last week on Facebook, and received more than 700 likes and almost 200 comments.
The landmark hotel is off Route 201 in the small Somerset County town, and officials said it might draw people seeking recreation areas in Bingham, The Forks, Moosehead Lake and Sugarloaf.
“It will be a great boon to the (Solon) economy,” Aloes said. “It’s really been missed.”
Members of the hotel’s management staff were not available Thursday to comment.
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