Country Hearth Inn Re-opens in Toccoa

By Charlie Bauder, WNEG Radio, Toccoa

One of five Toccoa Hotels cited by the City for unsafe conditions, has re-opened with a new look and new owners.

City and county officials gathered this week to celebrate a new beginning for the Country Hearth Inn.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Tuesday for the inn, which is located just off of Broad Street in downtown Toccoa. New owners Amarin Capital re-opened the hotel a few weeks ago after completely renovating it.

“It is a good day,” said Toccoa Mayor Terry Carter. “For so long, we have been needing a quality hotel that our residents can stay in as opposed to going to Habersham (County) or Lavonia, so it is exciting that someone had taken this property, has invested in it, and made it a quality hotel we can be proud of.”

Amarin Capital closed the Country Hearth Inn back in May following an inspection by city officials and the Stephens County Health Department, which found a number of health and safety issues.Amarin Capital president and CEO of Mario Sarkis, said crews lived at the hotel for three weeks while a complete renovation took place.

This past spring, the City of Toccoa conducted health and safety inspections on six hotels and motels as part of an ongoing community beautification and code enforcement effort.
Five of those were closed, either for good or until necessary repairs are made, while only the Toccoa Inn remained open.
Carter says conducting those inspections has paid off for the city.

“This is a pleasant byproduct of that,” said Carter. “Had that not happened, I do not think we would be here today.”

Meantime, Toccoa City Manager Billy Morse said the other four motels remain closed, though renovations are underway on both the Budget Inn and the Toccoa Motel.