Dec. 29--Capping off an action-packed year for the city's hotel business, a Charleston hospitality company has snapped up a 66-room boutique lodging in the heart of the historic district.

Avocet Hospitality Group said Friday it has purchased the Vendue Inn near East Bay Street and Vendue Range.

Financial terms were not disclosed. The seller was Vendue Associates LLC, which affiliated with a Southern California company that had owned the property in 1998, when it had 45 rooms and suites. The inn opened in 1978 with 18 rooms.

"We are excited and thankful for the opportunityto provide our guests a truly great hotel experience in the heart of historic Charleston," said Jonathan Weitz, president of Avocet Hospitality Group.

Locally, Avocet also owns the 132-room oceanfront Tides Hotel, BLU Restaurant and Bar, and a vacation rental business, all on Folly Beach. Elsewhere it owns a vacation rental company in the French West Indies.

Avocet's Vendue Inn acquisition included the Library Restaurant and the Rooftop Bar overlooking Charleston Harbor.

The sale comes on the cusp of a major growth spurt within the hotel industry in downtown Charleston, which draws about 4.5 million tourists a year. About 1,500 new hotel rooms are either being built or are in the planning stages for sites around the peninsula, a nearly 44 percent jump for the downtown area.

Contact John McDermott at 937-5572.

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