BANGOR, Maine — Downtown Bangor's only hotel, previously known as The Charles Inn at 20 Broad St., is open for reservations after more than a year of remodeling.
The Phenix operates as a hotel-short-term rental hybrid, using Airbnb as its booking platform. The hotel will use the platform to rent its 37 rooms as short-term rentals.
"All our guests come through Airbnb. We love the communication through Airbnb. It just makes it a lot easier," co-owner Francisco Arango said.
Arango and his wife, Leah Lawyer, bought the hotel for $1.5 million and put $4 million into its renovations, according to Arango, who operates Soul Short Term Rentals.
Arango and Lawyer visited Bangor from Tennessee and felt like they saw the potential and wanted to bring something new to the city.
"I think this town is already on the upswing, and I think we can help make it even better by putting a cool place to stay in downtown Bangor," Arango said.
Anne Krieg, Bangor director of development, said having out-of-state developers interested in developing Bangor is encouraging for the future.
"I think outside investment into our community shows that our community is being looked at by investors all over the country, which is a good thing," Krieg said. "It's good that we're being showcased as something positive, a positive place to invest your money in."
The Phenix opened June 16 and has slowly rolled out several rooms at a time, Arango said. He said each room is different with unique decor and artwork. As of June 30, Arango said all but one room is available to rent in the four-floor hotel.