Aiming for the top: Lake Estate on Winnisquam seeks five-star distinction

TILTON — The Lake Estate, sure to become a landmark hospitality establishment when it opens next year, represents not just a renewal of an aged property, but a shared ambition among its owners to create the premiere lodging experience in the Granite State.

Currently being constructed on a 36-acre lot formerly home to the Anchorage at the Lake cabin colony, the Lake Estate on Winnisquam will offer 114 rooms, including 18 suites, most featuring balconies and views of the lake and Belknap Mountains beyond. The investors aren’t banking on views alone to deliver a return, however.

The ownership group includes Dan and Elaine Dagesse, who own the nearby Nucar auto dealership; Rusty and Jodie McLear, who developed much of Meredith’s hospitality landscape; and veteran hoteliers Patti and Ed Rocco, who first met when they were both hired to help open a hotel in Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1981.

The Roccos, who raised a family in Massachusetts, recently relocated to the Lakes Region, where Patti grew up, to transition into pre-retirement mode. Their first intention was to purchase or build a small hotel they could run together as a cozy way to wind down their working years. Then their Realtor introduced them to the Dagesses, who had similar investment ideas, and with their combined resources started to look at larger available properties.

“We looked at some hotels on the big lake, but couldn’t come to terms with any of them,” Ed said. Then, they started to consider the Anchorage at the Lake site. At first glance, it was clearly in need of a lot of attention. Ed said cottages “had seen their useful life,” with holes in floors and roofs, and were more fitting to a past era of tourism than present day.

Looking past that, though, they saw the intrinsic qualities of the lot. It boasts 3,400 linear feet of shoreline, including two beaches, and views that define the beauty of central New Hampshire: lakes and mountains.

With an easy drive from Route 93, and with nearby Laconia airport providing access for the private flying crowd, the ownership team started imagining what it would look like if the area’s best hotel was located there.

“We thought, ‘Wow, this would be a win-win for a lot of people,'” Patti said.

One foot ahead, one foot behind

So was born the concept for Lake Estate on Winnisquam. It’s a hospitality business with feet straddling different sides of a divide. The vision is for luxurious accommodations, but more unassuming than austere. Patti describes the experience as being welcomed into a well-heeled friend’s lakehouse, rather than conducting a commercial transaction. It’s why she prefers the term “estate” to “hotel.” Patti, who is in charge of ordering the countless and diverse items the business requires, said she wants the items guests encounter to be of the highest quality, but modestly so. Everything should feel comfortably at place, not screaming for attention.

Similarly, although the project is aimed at setting a new standard for the local industry, it’s also one that honors the region’s long history of providing a peaceful retreat from the rattle and thrum of industrialized modernity.

The business they’re replacing, Anchorage at the Lake, “probably served generations of visitors,” Ed said. He sees their project as an evolution of that tradition. “The hospitality community was built on roadside hotels, roadside cottage communities. We’re taking this to the next generation.”

Five-star ambitions

What does it mean to move into the next generation? For the Lake Estate leadership, it means shooting for a standard no other lodging establishment in the state currently holds: Being listed as a five-diamond establishment by AAA, or five-star by Forbes.

Such an ambition is not taken on lightly. The standards for such have driven much of the architectural and design considerations, such as the level of detail in the woodwork, quality of bed linens, construction of doors that hang in the guest rooms, and material used for carpeting: only wool, not nylon.

Woodwork and floor coverings are only part of the equation. There's also the experience provided by staff, who must be trained to a level of service currently unavailable on this side of Boston.

“Structurally, we have the five-diamond hotel. Now we have to provide the service,” Ed said. “At the end of the day, the auditors will come in from Forbes and AAA and tell us what we are. And our customers will certainly tell us.”

As guiding lights, the Roccos are looking as much to current five-star and -diamond establishments as they are to icons of New Hampshire’s past, sometimes called the “Grand Dame hotels” in the White Mountains, which served ultra-wealthy guests who came by train from New York and Boston.

“They were regal, they were grand, we’ve replicated a lot of that,” Ed said.

Nods to history will include gas lamps at the main entrance, and once inside, guests will walk through a foyer three stories high, with a massive chandelier barely contained within.

There will be numerous fireplaces, all with unique mantles. Original artwork and custom-made furniture will make each room unlike any other.

“It’s pretty amazing, pretty mind-blowing that it’s in Tilton, New Hampshire,” Patti said.

“Until you walk it, I don’t think people can fathom what we’re doing here,” Ed said. “We like the surprise factor."

The Lakes Region has had a hospitality workforce for generations, but the Roccos think the Lake Estate will provide a new level to which those workers could aspire. They expect to employ around 130 people, mostly year-round and full-time, including 17 management level positions. Ed noted they’ve already received more than 100 resumes, even though they haven’t advertised for employment yet.

“We are not a seasonal resort, we are open for the long-term. We are going to pay at the top of the wage scale for all of these positions,” Ed said. “We understand the importance of giving people a living wage.”

Amenities

The rooms will range in size from 430 square feet to 1,100 for the suites, and prices will fluctuate from in the hundreds per night for a small room in the off-season to the thousands for a suite in the summer.

Along with the rooms, guests will be able to access the grounds, which will have open spaces and walking trails, an apple orchard and tennis and pickleball courts, as well as a swimming pool and hot tubs.

Should rain coincide with a guest’s visit, they could spend some visiting the Lake Estate’s movie theater or wine cellar, or take a guided tour of the million-dollar art collection.

The general public will also be welcome to visit the Estate for its multiple dining rooms — Chef Chris Viaud, twice nominated for a James Beard award, is culinary director — or to be pampered in the 5,000-square-foot spa.

Though the Estate has the ability to construct more, they are only offering eight docking slips to begin with, and those will be for use by people who have reservations at the dining room, in order to limit boat traffic and preserve the peaceful setting.

Opening this spring

The first occupants of the Lake Estate will be a small army of tradespeople spending the winter finishing the building in time for an opening in late spring.

The first month or so will be at a fraction of capacity, something like 25 rooms and one restaurant, so the staff can focus on the quality of their service before opening up the rest of the space.

“We want to be sure we get that right,” Ed said.

In recent years, and especially since the pandemic, the Lakes Region has seen an increase in the number of visitors, including those who are accustomed to the highest levels of service.

“We love the Lakes Region, but you don’t have the luxury hotel to stay in,” Ed said. “New Hampshire doesn’t have that distinction. A lot of the hotels, they’re family-run, and they’ve done a marvelous job, generation after generation go back to those. We feel there’s another niche. We think there’s a segment of hotel that the state has lacked, we are hoping to fill that void with the Lake Estate.”

“There’s no place like this,” Patti added. “Why not take this to that next level? If we have the means to do it, why not?”