WADING RIVER, NY— East Wind Caterers has mounted a “soft opening” of its new upscale, full-service hotel here, The Inn at East Wind. Welcoming its first guests earlier this month with the debut of 30 (of its 50) deluxe guestrooms and suites, the new Long Island hotel has slated its grand opening for spring 2003, providing ample time for it to finish work on its additional rooms and suites as well as its pub, lounge and grand ballroom (designed to accommodate up to 1,200 people) over the course of the next few months. Other facilities— including a restaurant, fitness center and luxury day spa— are scheduled to be in-place prior to the property’s official opening this spring. On-site features and amenities at the hotel include complimentary high-speed Internet access, goose down pillows, 32-inch televisions, large work desks and chairs, two-line telephones with personalized voice-mail, full-length terry robes and slippers, coffee-makers, irons and ironing boards, hairdryers and make-up mirrors. The property itself also features a grand two-story lobby and atrium. In line with the business goals of The Inn at East Wind, the property has added a pair of sales executives to its staff— Robert Siemsen as director of sales and marketing, and Shannon McMullen as sales manager. Siemsen’s six years of experience in hospitality sales includes a stint as Northeast regional director of sales for Harbour Plaza Resorts, as well as a tour of duty on behalf of Sandals Resorts International as sales manager for New York State. In her new post, McMullen, a nine-year veteran of— and former executive editor at— HOTEL BUSINESS®, will now be responsible for developing corporate as well as group-meetings business for the new property.
