Callaway Gardens purchases The Lodge and Spa, plans $2.5 million renovation

Callaway Gardens said Thursday it has purchased The Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens, with plans for a $2.5 million renovation starting “almost immediately.”

The resort in Pine Mountain, Ga., about 40 minutes north of Columbus, would not disclose the purchase price of the 149-unit property at 4500 Southern Pine Drive, inside the gardens. The Harris County Clerk of Court office said Thursday it has yet to receive a deed from the transaction.

William R. Doyle III, who was hired nearly a year ago as president and CEO, in a statement called it a “historic moment” for Callaway Gardens, which has been struggling in recent years to get back on its feet financially due to debt it had taken on amid slumping attendance during the Great Recession.

“Our founder, Cason J. Callaway, built the first hotel rooms in the 1950s to provide gardens guests a place to stay with after-tax proceeds used to support the gardens and its endeavors,” Doyle said. “The addition of The Lodge and Spa is a strategic move to further enhance the Gardens’ experience and solidify its future.”

The upscale lodging property was constructed through a partnership between Callaway Gardens and Atlanta-based Noble Investment Group, which financed the project, with the hotel opening in November 2006 under management by Noble. The Atlanta company bought the Southern Pine Conference Center in 2011 and gained affiliation with Marriott International and its reservation system for The Lodge and Spa, operating it under what Marriott calls the “Autograph Collection.”

At that time, Noble’s marketing of The Lodge and Spa included references to its inclusion by Conde' Nast Traveler magazine as one of the top 100 resorts in North America. However, The Lodge and Spa could not be found Thursday on the Marriott reservation site. Rachel Crumbley, director of marketing and public relations, said the hotel “will not entirely close at any time for renovation” and that there were no plans to seek affiliation with Marriott again.

“The planning stages of a 10-month renovation will begin almost immediately to include all guest rooms, meeting rooms, public areas, restaurants and spa,” Doyle said of the hotel, which includes suites, outdoor fireplaces, a restaurant and lounge, a swimming pool and a 13,000-square-foot facility dubbed “Spa Prunifolia.”

The Lodge and Spa is certified as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), meaning its construction and operation is friendly to the environment.

Doyle, who succeeded Edward Callaway as CEO, was brought on board to turn Callaway Gardens around financially by restructuring elements of it and getting more people to visit the resort and stay in its lodging properties, which include Mountain Creek Inn, Southern Pine Cottages and Mountain Creek Villages. His first major moves included closing last fall two of its signature attractions, the John A. Sibley Horticultural Center and Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden.

Founded in 1952, Callaway Gardens is a nature preserve-style resort with bicycling and walking trails, golf courses, a butterfly center, a large man-made beach on a lake, an educational visitor center, zip lines and obstacle courses, an annual burst of colorful azaleas and Fantasy in Lights, the holiday event that has become its biggest draw. At its peak, prior to the recession’s start in 2007, the gardens drew about 1 million visitors a year.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Callaway Gardens purchases The Lodge and Spa, plans $2.5 million renovation."