New boutique hotel being built in Narragansett

NARRAGANSETT – The Break Hotel, a $2 million boutique hotel under construction in Point Judith, has booked its first guest for the first weekend in June, owner Jim Durkin said Friday.
Durkin, who owns the property with his wife, Becky, said the hotel – which will feature a rooftop lounge with an ocean view and an in-ground pool – will charge $299 to $499 a night in season. Set to be open year round, it is located at 1208 Ocean Road.
Durkin is also the owner of Durkin Cottages Realty, which his grandfather and father owned and operated before him.
“This is what we do: we rent things to people,” Durkin said, “and I’ve always wanted to have this type of property. There’s a big market for it – that whole boutique hotel idea: vibrant colors, comfortable beds, really nice showers and bathrooms. This is new construction. It’s not going to feel like a home: this will be small and special.”
Frank Karpowicz Architects Inc. of Wakefield designed the building and Rap Builders of Cranston is the contractor, Durkin said. Lark Hotels, which is listed on the website, www.thebreakhotel.com, as the property manager, could not be reached for comment.
The property has a complicated history, but when the original developer couldn’t follow through despite the successful outcome of a protracted court battle, Durkin said, he decided to buy the land.
Boutique hotels typically have anywhere between 10 to 100 rooms and are high-end, full-service properties, not cookie-cutter designs, said Mark Brodeur, state tourism director for the R.I. Commerce Corporation.
“It’s nice to have a boutique property in South County, something new and modern that really speaks to a more sophisticated audience in an area that’s been very seasonal in the past,” said Brodeur. “We see South County as a place really rising as a place for luxury, with the $140 million renovated Ocean House, the $40 million renovated Weekapaug Inn and now The Break offering high end experiences for what was once a casual destination.”

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