Why didn’t somebody do this sooner?
That was my reaction last year when I heard about a boutique hotel planned for the heart of downtown. It’s no surprise the man behind it is Rick Vayo, a developer who has set about to reimagine Plymouth’s once drab business district.
The town has two mid-range full-service hotels close to tourist attractions – the newly renovated John Carver Inn on Summer Street and the Hotel 1620 Plymouth Harbor off Water Street – along with charming bed-and-breakfasts, the tiny Sisu “boutique motel” on Lincoln Street, a roster of serviceable chain hotels farther out, and the pricier Mirbeau Inn & Spa in the Pinehills.
But The Drew, whose two-building first phase opened Friday on Chilton Street, fills an obvious gap in the market. It offers luxurious accommodations that meld historical flavor with modern amenities. The first two nights were 85 percent booked, Vayo said Monday, a debut weekend he called “phenomenal.”
In some ways, The Drew could be his most ambitious undertaking yet. A signature strategy of Vayo’s company, Megryco, is to home in on a vacant or distressed property and remake it from the bones out. It’s repurposing with intent. Each project is a piece of a larger puzzle the prolific builder is keen on solving. His stated aim is to create a more appealing and dynamic business district, positioning Plymouth to better compete with similar coastal destinations such as Portsmouth, N.H.
A knock on Vayo from critics is he’s trying to “take over” the town for his own gain. Well, yes, a business is about making money but look at what he’s done downtown – it’s hard not to conclude the changes have been for the better.
The list is lengthy. It began more than a dozen years ago with the transformation of the former National Guard Armory on Court Street into condominiums and includes converting the former Registry of Deeds/courthouse on Russell Street into 19 condos; turning the gross-out Governor Bradford Hotel on Water Street into a harborfront hub with apartments, the La Baia restaurant, and Vitamin Sea Brewery; an apartment complex at the former Mount Pleasant School on Whiting Street; Plimoth General Store, a Main Street centerpiece; and in 2025, Bamp’s Toy Vault, which no one saw coming – except maybe Vayo’s grandkids.
These sites were languishing or flat-out decaying before his company bought them. None were razed to make way for something new. In an age of disposable architecture, they’re examples of moving the town forward while preserving its past.
Which brings us back to The Drew and how the hotel fits into Vayo’s vision. It started with Megryco scooping up two residential rental eyesores at 3 and 5/7 Chilton Street that were constructed in the mid- to late 1800s. Those addresses now house the 25 rooms of varying sizes that began accepting guests late last week. Current off-season room rates range between about $200 and $425 a night, with most going for under $300. Expect higher prices during peak times.
The original scope of The Drew could have stopped there, but as plans progressed, Vayo said, “there was an opportunity to acquire” three more rundown rental properties on Howland Street, a block over from Chilton. They’ll add another 17 rooms to the complex, bringing the total to 42. The work is already underway and scheduled to be finished by late spring of 2027.
“These buildings were all beat up,” Vayo said on a recent tour, gesturing toward Howland from a top-floor deck off a Chilton Street suite with a water view. “We’re stripping them down to nothing.”
On top of dealing with “50 or 60 years” of deferred or poorly done maintenance, contractors must bring them up to today’s safety code standards.
“Shortcuts had been taken” by previous owners, Vayo said. One can only imagine.
To pull the separate structures into a cohesive whole, the vacant lot between Chilton and Howland will feature a stand-alone 70-person function room, set amid a courtyard with garden plantings, fencing, and a fire pit. Think of it as a sanctuary smack in the middle of the high-density neighborhood, close to the harbor on one side and downtown’s restaurants and shops on another.
Megryco hired Lark Hotels to help it operate and market The Drew. Lark runs upscale hotels in eight states, from California to North Carolina to Maine and New Hampshire (including in Portsmouth). Tatum Stewart, who was instrumental in making Plimoth General Store a success, is the general manager. She’ll still oversee food operations there. Fortunately, it’s about a two-minute commute between the businesses.
The interior, designed by Elder & Ash, incorporates dark woods with bold paint colors, contemporary overhead lamps, and understated wall art. I didn’t spy a single painting of a lighthouse or disembodied sea captain’s head hovering above white-capped waves.
Considering the structures’ age, a surprising amount of natural light infiltrates the interior. Wallpaper – which the New York Times Style section informs me is making a comeback – is featured throughout, including on some ceilings. The printed patterns give rooms a distinct identity. Televisions are wall-mounted, but their size doesn’t overwhelm.
A lounge area, highlighted by a tiled gas fireplace, evokes the cozy secretiveness of a speakeasy. It will also host a breakfast buffet until the function room is ready.
The bathrooms are outfitted with frameless shower doors and polished brass fixtures. The bedding has the plush feel you expect from a premium hotel and can never seem to find in a store.
And even though everything is new, the place looks homey.
Parking – an issue that surfaced when the plans were first presented to town officials – looks ample, so don’t expect gridlock on Chilton Street.
With 10 days to go when Vayo showed me around, a fair amount of detail work remained. If he was worried about making deadline, his demeanor didn’t betray it.
“There are some minor things that we’re just tightening up,” he said. I could almost see him making mental notes as we walked down a hallway where plastic protected the carpeting from workers’ shoes and equipment.
The Drew, Vayo acknowledged, “is not for everyone.” Like young families who put a premium on an indoor pool so the kids can burn off sugar energy.
“We need a boutique hotel, we need the John Carver, we need the 1620,” he said. “We need everyone to elevate their game. Some people just want a Comfort Inn, you know? They can’t afford to do anything more than that. But we need all these different price points.”
“We’re hoping to fill a particular market niche here and we think we’ve met that,” he added. “The vision from the beginning was, like everything we do, to help elevate Plymouth to where it should be. I’ve said for quite some time, I feel like Plymouth lost its way for a while, and it’s finally at a point where it’s remembering we’re America’s Hometown. We need to make sure that everyone coming here leaves saying, one, ‘I want to come back;’ two, ‘I can’t wait to tell everybody about the experience;’ and three, just taking a deep breath and saying, ‘Wow, Plymouth is amazing.’”
Mark Pothier can be reached at mark@plymouthindependent.org.