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News Brief
May/June 2004

Guyette & Schmidt to bid farewell
to Oquiguit’s Cliff House location

For collecting veterans who have flocked to the summer decoy auctions in New England for decades, a tradition established over 30 years ago by Richard Bourne in Hyannis, Massachusetts, plan a change in your itinerary for next year. Guyette & Schmidt, who have held auctions at the Cliff House in Oqunguit, Maine for more than ten years, have announced a new location for their summer 2005 sale, the Boston Seaport Hotel on the south side of Boston harbor.

The view from the Cliff House, perched high above Maine’s rugged Atlantic coastline, was breathtaking, and auction-goers took full advantage of its beauty, enjoying lunch on the patio or simply gazing into the distance. While it may be a terrific place to plan a vacation, Gary Guyette insisted it was no longer a convenient location to hold an auction.

A number of years ago the Cliff House tore down a building that dealers used for a buy, sell and swap area. Since then the dealers have been scattered among three floors, many inconveniently located three floors below the auction. Although Cliff House was supposed to build a new ballroom that would accommodate them, it’s never materialized and it doesn’t appear to yet be in their plans.

Plus, due to the expense, many of the dealers never actually stayed at the resort; at $260 per night, with a three-night minimum, most roomed in nearby York.

According to Gary Guyette, the Boston Seaport Hotel will be more convenient (for those who fly it’s two miles from Logan Airport), it’s a better facility and it’ll give auction goers a taste of the city, with Chinatown and the Aquarium in walking distance and water shuttles to the city. There are also harbor cruises and whale watching available. They have signed a two-year contract.

The buy, sell and swap location at the hotel will be adjacent to the auction, making it much more convenient for attendees to go back and forth between the two and making the dealers once more feel part of the show. Dealers will also be able to unload at the door. Table fees, with 80 tables available in the ballroom and 15 tables in the lobby, have not yet been determined, although Guyette hopes to keep it below $200 for the three days.

Guyette & Schmidt have negotiated a $169 per night room rate. All of the rooms are water view with most facing Boston Harbor. For those wanting to spend less, a Holiday Inn Express is nearby.

So while you’re in Ogunquit at the Cliff House this July, savor the view. And if you really think you’ll miss it that much, plan a vacation after next summer’s auctions, it’s only an hour up the road.