Florida company buys Ice Palace, Fire Island’s largest hotel

A Sunshine State company has reclaimed the largest resort and hotel in a famous LGTBQ destination.

Florida-based hotel company Bowline Hospitality Group has bought the Ice Palace resort on Fire Island for $7.2 million, according to the New York Business Journal reported. The sale includes the Ice Palace nightclub and the 63-room Grove Hotel, the largest on the island, accessible only by boat.

The seller was a veterinarian, represented by Mitch Muroff of Muroff Hospitality Group. Muroff also got the buyer. First National Bank of Long Island was a lender in the deal, but the amount of its loan was not disclosed.

The resort is close to the Cherry Grove wharf, allowing ferry guests quick access to the property. The nightclub opened in the 1950s and hosted Judy Garland, her daughter Liza Minelli and Lady Gaga.

The hotel is much older and opened in 1885 as Perkinson’s Hotel. It has undergone many name and ownership changes since then and was rebuilt in 2018 after a fire destroyed most of the property.

Bowline plans to do renovations and upgrades for the island’s offseason. The company owns and operates boutique hotels in various Florida cities, including Key West, St. Thomas and Marathon.

The Palms hotel in the Ocean Beach section of the island went on the market late last year for $14 million. The listing includes a lease of the restaurant that is part of the hotel, which is run by the same owners.

The Palms Hotel is an assemblage of properties. Rooms owned include a 20-room main building on Cottage Walk, 13 bungalows on Bungalow Walk, and six rooms and one suite on Bay Walk. Leased properties include the Presidential Suite above the Flair House boutique and two guest suites at the Palms Bay East.

In recent years, a number of investors have purchased outdated hotels and motels in Long Island’s vacation communities with the intention of upgrading them and raising rates.

—Holden Walter-Warner