I first took notice of Keir Weimer when his hospitality brand, Weekender, bought Shaheen’s Adirondack Inn in Tupper Lake in 2022. Then I saw that Weekender was also buying the hotel formerly known as the Copperfield Inn on Main Street in North Creek—the hotel where I worked my first job (and where my friends and I may or may not have taken an unauthorized, nighttime skinny dip when we were in high school). The hotel has been largely moribund for years.

And then, Weimer went and scooped up the St. Charles Motel, the humble two-story building at the corner of South Broadway and Lincoln Avenue right here in Saratoga Springs, where Weekender is headquartered. Unlike most renovations in this ever-evolving city, where a building permit usually portends a Hulk-like transformation, Weimer is leaving the dimensions and unassuming design of the hotel alone. 

Intriguing, I thought. Who is this guy?

A native of the Syracuse area who grew up summering at his family’s camp in Old Forge, Weimer’s rise to the top of the boutique hotel game began when he hit rock bottom. In 2006, when he was 23, Keir was drunk at the helm of a motorboat on Fourth Lake after leaving a bar with friends. That night in July proved fatal. He crashed the boat into an island, and one of his passengers, Tiffany Heitcamp, was thrown from the boat and died.

Weimer pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and served three and a half years in prison. When he was released, he committed to sobriety and began rebuilding his life. He finished college, but, unable to find work on a traditional path because of his record, he became an entrepreneur. He started several businesses, mostly focused on real estate sales and investment. He became a life coach, and to this day promotes a “live free lifestyle” program designed to help people shed bad habits and live with intention and purpose. He tries every day to live up to the promise he made to Heitcamp’s parents on the day of his sentencing to “lead a more purposeful and productive life and contribute positively to society.”

Weimer’s first big real estate purchase, before he founded Weekender, was Great Pines, a venerable camp in Old Forge. He remodeled the rooms and shook the dust off the marketing, leaning into a strategy that aimed to attract customers in search of adventure. Locals might have called it slick, but Weimer put heads in beds.

Then came the pandemic, and the exodus from the cities. Weimer was on the cusp of buying the Alpine Lodge, his first property in North Creek, when COVID-19 closed in. Friends and colleagues tried to stop him from making the purchase.

“People thought I was crazy, but I saw what had happened in Old Forge,” he says. 

He knew people craved simple comforts and quiet joys—as long as there was WiFi. (Weimer often starts Weekender’s ownership of a new property by upgrading the technology on site.)

After buying the Alpine Lodge in 2020, Weimer founded Weekender in March 2021 and bought up more properties in quick succession: Lake Placid’s Placid Bay Hotel in 2021; Peterborough, NH’s River House (formerly the Jack Daniels Inn) and Manchester, VT’s Aspen in 2022; and Lake Placid’s Town House Lodge and Tupper Lake’s Trailhead (formerly Shaheen’s) in 2023. Weimer’s MO? Locate two-and-a-half or three-season markets that are less than a three-hour drive from a large population center and close to outdoor activities such as skiing, snowmobiling, boating, and hiking. When he finds a market that meets his criteria, he looks for owners who may be open to entertaining offers.

“We’ve strived to create these settings and experiences anchored in world-class, iconic destinations that resonate with travelers seeking adventure, the great outdoors, and a novel approach to independent hospitality,” says Weimer, an avid traveler and outdoorsman himself. (Though I’d hoped to meet up with Weimer in person, he was traveling, exploring options for his first hospitality purchase in the western US.) 

By the end of 2025, Weimer expects to have 12 hotels in Weekender’s portfolio, and 15-17 by the end of 2026.

But back to the St. Charles. The longstanding Saratoga motel will be renamed The Ambler and have an atmosphere Weimer describes as “Palm Springs meets urban New York.” The exterior brick will be painted white and there will be a rooftop lounge. But, just like the other Weekender hotels, Weimer is not rehabbing the property as a destination in itself. Instead, he expects guests to drop their bags and explore all Saratoga has to offer. He plans to be open for guests in July. Room rates will be in the $200 range, depending on the season.

Darryl Leggieri, president of Discover Saratoga, the city’s tourism bureau, is pleased to see a motel getting a makeover. “It enriches our already diverse selection,” he says. “It’s a perfect location for guests to experience everything we have to offer.”

While Saratoga Springs is an established tourist destination, North Creek struggles to draw visitors, even during ski season. Skiers and riders flock to Gore but often return home without going into the little village just down the hill from the ski area. A few things underway may change that: The town is investing in a municipal sewer system, crucial for developers eyeing property that hugs the Hudson River; and the Olympic Regional Development Authority, the state agency that owns Gore, is building a new lodge and recreation center at the Ski Bowl, next to Gore’s main base area and near downtown. 

Weekender’s investment in the Copperfield fits perfectly, says Chuck Barton, CEO of the Warren-Washington Industrial Development Authority. The IDA granted Weekender an investment incentive package, which included a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement. Barton says he’s enthusiastic about the company’s ownership because of its record of success. The shuttered hotel is a blight on North Creek’s small downtown, and Barton is optimistic not only for the future of the Copperfield, but for what it might spark in the community. 

The news of the Copperfield purchase—at 30 rooms and 32,000 square feet with two restaurants, the hotel is Weekender’s largest property by square footage yet—was also met with enthusiasm online in community Facebook groups. Weimer says the question he gets asked most often is, “Are you going to reopen the pool to people from town?” 

While Weimer’s not ready to reveal that hotel’s new name just yet—it won’t be the Copperfield or the Phoenix, the name given to the property by a previous owner—he is planning to upgrade the entire pool and gym area and, yes, make it available to the community. Swimsuits required.