Johnson & Wales University sells inn for $1.65 million

Johnson & Wales University has sold a Seekonk inn it owned and operated as an internship and training site for the past 30 years. The Sarchi Group, which is based in Seekonk, purchased the Johnson & Wales Inn, and will operate it as the Hilltop Hotel & Conference Center effective immediately. The sale price was $1.65 million, according to university spokesperson Madeline Parmenter. Parmenter added that Johnson & Wales continues to own and operate the Radisson Hotel Providence Airport. "As the university's first hotel internship property, the inn, purchased in the early 1980s, has played a significant role in JWU's history and has been an important venue to the local community," said Michael Downing, the university's vice president of auxiliary services said in a statement. "We are pleased that under the new management of the Sarchi Group the doors will remain open to welcome guests and host special occasions in the years ahead," said Downing.