Women Leading Central MA: Beechwood Hotel Co-Owner Janet Birbara

Monday, July 29, 2013

Susan Wagner, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Janet Birbara and her husband Charles run the Beechwood Hotel and Ceres Bistro, combining the classic with the modern.

Janet Birbara and her husband Dr. Charles Birbara, a Worcester rheumatologist, are the owners of the Beechwood Hotel and Ceres Bistro. She is a Canadian native who settled in Worcester in 1970, where her husband’s family has lived for generations. Originally trained as a nurse, Birbara has carried her passion of caring for others into her hospitality career and volunteer work in city organizations. It was my pleasure to catch up with Janet and to be her guest for a hotel tour and lunch at Ceres Bistro.

A Conversation with Janet Birbara

SW: You and Charles never set out to actively run an inn or restaurant. You were trained as a nurse. How does one “accidentally” end up in the hospitality industry?

JB: I would characterize my career path as jack-of-all-trades, master of none. I followed up my nursing degree with an undergraduate degree in business from Clark University. I never envisioned myself in the hospitality business but it has become a passion. My husband was a limited partner with a developer who went bankrupt and the responsibility for the property passed to us. Absolutely nothing from the original building remains. We have renovated it from top to bottom.

SW: So what is a typical day in the life of Janet Birbara like?

JB: That is a tricky question to answer, as every day is so different. It really depends on what is happening on site and if it is an area that I am involved in. I am often working on plans for the future and monitoring what is happening on site. The Farmhouse is a major project for me right now as it is an addition to the hotel. I love what I do. It is creative and people oriented as well as being a business. We have an incredible staff that allows us the freedom to pick and choose what we will be involved in.

SW: It is evident from being in the Beechwood Hotel that it was a labor of love. It incorporates a feeling of luxury and elegance with a sense of Worcester’s golden past while still paying attention to all the contemporary conveniences. How did the style of the hotel evolve?

JB: We have made a sincere effort to create a hotel that comfortably and enjoyably meets the needs of all of our clients. We have put a personal stamp on the property to create a “home away from home” with all the small luxurious touches that we appreciate when we travel.

Our love of art and collecting has spilled over into the hotel and we have found some wonderful antique posters, paintings, prints, and stained glass pieces. It also helps that the architects are just fantastic. We try to add special details that go above and beyond our guests' expectations and showcase the history of the area as well. We purchased the historic Wilson Chapel from Worcester City Hospital as the hotel’s wedding chapel and reception area. Guests can get married in a 1901 chapel filled with stained glass and wooden arches.

Beechwood Hotel's recreation of the historic Wilson Chapel

SW: You have undertaken massive renovations to get where you are. The journey in a project like this is never easy. What motivated you to continue to expand?

JB: Nothing is static in this world, as you know, and our property like everything else continues to evolve. It has been a work in progress since the beginning. It is a lot of hard work but it is a labor of love for us all.

SW: What did you hope to add to the Worcester restaurant scene with the addition of Ceres Bistro? Do you think you have accomplished it?

JB: I think so. It has become a wonderfully warm and welcoming space with special architectural details. The access to an outside eating space and the floor to ceiling windows bring the outside in. We have a creative menu with classic and new American cuisine that is popular with our guests and the community.

SW: You have been actively involved as a volunteer with the Worcester community for many years. We first met when you volunteered for Audio Journal, where I served as executive director of a radio reading service for the blind and print-handicapped. What other organizations have you been actively involved with?

JB: I am very involved with Preservation Worcester. I just hate to see the buildings that have had such an impact on the city’s history deteriorate. The Worcester Auditorium is such an Art Deco jewel. We held the Aud Ball to bring the community in to see the building and all the history that it houses.

SW: On a personal note, what is something that few people know about you?

JB: That's a hard question. I am pretty much an open book. People would probably not know that I wrote filmstrips for Encyclopedia Britannica or that I owned an antique shop in Stonington, Connecticut.

SW: People seem to either love or hate Worcester. You obviously have invested a great deal of time and resources into the city. What are your feelings about where the city is now, where it is going, and where it needs to go?

JB: I think Worcester has such a wonderful opportunity right now to build on what it has started. It is important that people living here invest in the city. I would love to see the city create an environment designed to retain more of the graduates for all of our area colleges. We offer a high degree of livability for a reasonable cost. I would also love to see more corporations brought in to expand our job base.

SW: What future plans do you have for the Beechwood Hotel and Ceres Bistro?

JB: As the only four diamond hotel between here and the Berkshires, we want to stay ahead of the curve. Meeting the current and future requirements of our hotel guests, whether business or social, is so important to us. When we first started, we needed to add more pay phones and now we recently added iPads to every room.

We are also very excited about the addition of “The Farmhouse” to the Beechwood. Located next door, the building was where the farmer lived who supplied food for the former State Lunatic Hospital, as it was called then. We will connect both buildings with a glass climate-controlled walkway, creating a private courtyard. With the addition of a porch, oversized rockers, and a breakfast nook, we can capture the feeling of a country inn in the middle of the city. Perfect for the comfortable extended stay suites with kitchenettes that we will be putting in.

“There is nothing so powerful as a new idea in the hands of a first class entrepreneur.” With more than 25 years of leadership experience, Susan Wagner has been known for driving events, initiatives, launches, and openings through her company SusanWagner PR. In this challenging economy, she has begun a new division to offer affordable start-up packages to new and emerging small businesses and non-profit organizations that include professional writing services, websites, collateral, marketing, social media grassroots outreach and regional PR campaigns.