Madison Beach Hotel: The Duques' Vision

Madison Beach Hotel after being rebuilt by owners Ric and Dawn Duques.

The hotel owners are working hard with their staff to make it one of the finest hotels around, and its opening brought with it an infusion of revenue, not just to town coffers, but also to 60 to 90 people who live locally and who now have jobs in what is a very difficult job market.

The hotel owners . They have made donations to local events of importance, such as . They donated money and time to .

Duques announce intention to contribute financially to restoration of Wharf

At the hotel's official Grand Opening Friday, Ric and Dawn Duques announced their intention to contribute financially to the restoration of the West Wharf pier, which was destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene.

They also, surrounded by friends, neighbors, family, and their staff, gave thanks to many people and described their vision of the hotel's role in the community.

Ric Duques started his comments at the recent Grand Opening by saying thank you.

Thanks to neighbors, town officials, police, and firefighters

"The first thank you goes to many of you that are here ... the neighbors. You signed up for a year and a half of construction, you got three years. So your patience is greatly appreciated. Dawn and I hope you use the place frequently and have a great time here," he said.

Duques said he has a new level of respect for town officials after working with them as the hotel was being built. "They have a difficult job. This is not an easy town." Duques also thanked the police and firemen in Madison. He noted that Madison Hose Co. No. 1 responded to 27 false alarms while the hotel was being built. "So they are well trained, folks," Duques said.

Duques thanked the builders on the project who "did a difficult job under difficult circumstances," circumstances that included Tropical Storm Irene. Duques also thanked Distinctive Hospitality Group, which is managing the hotel, and DHG President Lou Carrier, who has 20 years of hotel management experience.

Carrier company will continue to manage hotel

"He came in about a year ago and helped us managed the construction process. He did a terriffic job. For the soft opening, he hired the staff ... the wonderful staff, and got things going ...," Duques said. Carrier also organized the Grand Opening Thursday, Duques said.

"His group will continue to manage on a go-forward basis."

John Mathers, the hotel's general manager, and his wife received a thank you as well. Dawn Duques said the Mathers recently put in an offer that was accepted on a house nearby the hotel and that they plan to become Madison residents soon.

Thanks to his son and wife

A final round of thanks from Ric Duques went to his son Scott Duques and his wife Dawn.

"Scott signed up for a couple of weeks ... it turned in to several years," Duques said. "We're so proud of him you can't even believe it. Thank you Scott, so much."

Then, turning to Dawn, Ric Duques said, "And this lady, my wife of 47 years, was the interior design person ... everything you see inside the hotel, she had her design paws on it."

For the family's "education junkie," another doctorate

Duques said the hotel was going to hire an interior designer, but Dawn wanted to do it. The rugs, the chandeliers, the wall paper, even the door knockers in the shape of shells, she picked out. "A hundred thousand different decisions had to be made," Duques said. Duques added that Dawn is considered an "education junkie" in the family, with advanced degrees in several areas, including a doctorate in education. "After this, I'm giving you an unofficial doctor of design," he said.

Duques noted that those in attendance at the hotel Grand Opening included numerous family members and that his family history goes back several generations to his mother's father, who was the first postmaster of the main Post Office downtown when it opened in 1939. The Post Office Box Number One in Madison is still in the family, he said.

"My dad came over from Paris, France when he was 18 years old," Duques said. Family folklore has it that "he was sending love letters back to his girlfriend in Paris, but since my mom was working in the post office, none of those letters left Madison, the rest is history."

"This is our home"

Ric and Dawn Duques started to summer in Madison many years ago, and have owned a home in the Parker Lane/Parker Avenue neighborhood next to the hotel for 30 years. "This is our home. And we're very happy to be in Madison."

He said the family's purchase of the hotel in 2006 has been described as "an emotional purchase." They originally hoped just to renovate it, he said, but, when that proved too difficult, they tore it down and started to rebuild. He said they tried to keep a similar look and feel.

"Obviously, that's difficult, we we tried to keep the charm of the hotel," he said. "Our vision was to create the finest small family-owned hotel and restaurant in the world. Then we got the budget for that vision." The new goal? "To become the best small family-owned hotel and restaurant in Connecticut. We are well on our way to realizing that vision." He said he hopes it becomes a place that residents of Madison can enjoy, along with people from across the country. 

An ambitious mission that includes enhancing Madison, serving guests, hiring and sourcing locally, enhancing environment

Dawn Duques said she and her husband hope the new hotel enhances Madison.

"But that is not our entire mission," she said. "We wanted to do more. So we went to the staff and told them we had four desires we wanted to fulfill ... "

First, Dawn Duques said, she and her husband want every guest to be treated as well as the staff would treat members of the Duques family.

Second, she said, the goal was to hire people who live locally to fill the 60 to 90 jobs at the hotel.

"We plan to continue to be good neighbors"

Third, she said, a goal is to use local vendors as much as possible. Much of the food being served at the hotel is locally sourced, along with many of the gifts in the boutique. "They are brought in by local vendors, they are made by local artisans," she said.

The fourth goal? "To not screw up the environment," she said. In addition to supporting the work on the dunes, she said, the family "made an offer to support financially, as well, the repair for the Wharf [damaged in Tropical Storm Irene]. We plan to continue to be good neighbors and support all of the environmental initiatives a hotel should support." 

After introducing by name the couple's many children and grandchildren in attendance, .

Reopening of hotel has created issues that are being addressed by the town

The reopening of the hotel has created some issues in a residential neighborhood nearby, on Parker Avenue, where the Duques family owns two private residences, and two pieces of property.

The reopening of the hotel has sparked a lot of discussion in town about

The opening of the hotel also has created congestion in the West Wharf, Parker Avenue, Middle Beach West area, where they unload their wares.

Parking after 5 p.m. at West Wharf can be difficult

Parking in the municipal West Wharf Beach spots, and in the ten municipal parking spots immediately adjacent to the hotel also are a sore spot for some town residents, who say they have a hard time finding a place to park to enjoy West Wharf Beach, particularly after the town beach pass parking attendant leaves for the day, usually around 5 p.m.

On the other hand, there are no restrictions posted for those spots, so anyone--a resident with or without stickers, someone just passing through town wanting to go to the beach, or a hotel guest--is allowed to park in the West Wharf Beach parking spots at times other than when the town beach pass parking attendant is checking.

The opening of the hotel has created a flurry of issues for town officials to deal with as they have come up. Hotel officials were using property owned by the Duques family on Parker Avenue as temporary employee parking. The property, in a residential neighborhood, appeared to be on wetlands. Town officials asked the hotel to stop having people park there.

Bocce court, more parking issues, and handicapped signs

The Duques family also started construction on

Local resident Walter Lippmann pointed out at a recent Board of Selectman meeting that the hotel, which offers free valet parking to all hotel guests, had no designated handicapped parking spaces. The town's Building Official Vincent Garofalo says that the signs were up when he and other town officials signed off on the hotel's certificate of occupancy, but were subsequently removed by landscapers. Garofalo visted the hotel immediately after that meeting, spoke with hotel officials and the signs have since been put back up.

During a recent Grand Opening Party, the hotel cordoned off the ten municipal spots next to the hotel, and used them for valet parking. A town resident who asked to park there was allowed to park there, but First Selectman Fillmore McPherson, who did not attend the Grand Opening Thursday, said the hotel was not authorized to cordon off the parking area and said that he would look into the matter. 

At the same time, at the Grand Opening, the hotel made a diligent effort to direct guests away from the West Wharf parking area and towards the free valet parking by posting an employee in the middle of West Wharf Road at its intersection with Parker Avenue. This employee did his best to wave party and hotel guests towards the Parker Avenue parking areas.

Blue light display at opening creates distraction during ballet recital at Beach Club for some

One Patch reader said in the comment section of about the hotel that the sound from the Grand Opening and the outdoor blue lighting used at the Grand Opening created something of a disturbance directly across the sound at the Madison Beach Club, a exclusive members-only club open only for a few months during the summer, that was hosting a ballet recital Thursday night.

"The light display and music went until around 11:30 PM. The display became more intense/frenetic as the night went on ...  I'm sure it was a nice party for those who attended, but as the coast curves around in both directions, many sections of town and private beaches and private homes had a view of the display from the sides - not to mention boats in the harbor," the reader wrote. "There was a ballet recital at the Beach Club which was attended by many in town (members & guests alike) who have described both the band noise carrying and the extreme lighting (the latter being the more distracting of the two). It just seems so out of character with the neighborhood. I am wondering if it was a one time celebration, or an indication of what every weekend / function will look like going forward? Is the lighting permanently installed?"

Several ways to address concerns that arise

All good questions and there are ways to get them answered. Citizens with concerns do have ways to address them.

• Hotel officials have said that they are eager to address any concerns raised, particularly those that might affect neighbors. DHG President Lou Carrier and Hotel General Manager John Mathers have addressed some of those concerns, and those who know Ric Duques have addressed concerns with him personally. The hotel phone number is (203) 245-1404

• The town also has a traffic commission, which is also the town's Police Commission. Police Commissioner Thom Cartledge takes the lead on traffic issues. He has said anyone with concerns about traffic or parking anywhere in town can request a review of that issue by sending an email to Cartledge at tjcartledge@sbcglobal.net, with a copy to Madison Town Engineer Michael Ott at ottm@madisonct.org, and to the Madison Police Department Executive Assistant to the Chief Christie Hodge at hodgecs@madisonct.org.

• Town residents also can attend any meeting of the Police Commission, which generally meets monthly, and raise concerns during the public comment section of the meeting. A calendar of specific meetings dates is posted on the front page of Madison Patch every day and also is on the town website.

• Madison Beach Hotel's operation is also subject to terms set by the Zoning Board of Appeals when the board approved a variance for the hotel's construction. The minutes from that meeting are included with this story. If those terms are not being met, residents can raise the issue at a meeting of the Board of Selectmen, during the public comment section of any selectmen's meeting, or with the appropriate town agency. Contact information for the various town agencies is listed on the town's website. John J. DeLaura is the town's zoning enforcement officer and his phone number is (203) 245-5632.