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Chip Conley

Chip Conely Unveils His BusinessWeek-Vanity Fair Hybrid Hotel

Where: 191 Sutter Street [map], San Francisco, ca, United States, 94104

January 10, 2007 at 1:52 PM | 1 Comment

Hotelier Chip Conley has shifted focus from Southern California back to his tried-and-true turf of San Francisco.

The $7.1 million renovation on the 95-year-old Galleria Park Hotel on Sutter Street has been completed. Conley, known for modeling his hotels after big magazine publications, has made the Galleria Park a "BusinessWeek meets Vanity Fair" type of hotel.

Previously known as the Sutter Hotel, the property was constructed in 1911 and had not been renovated since the 1980s. Joie de Vivre took over management from the Kimpton Group in June, 2005 and immediately embarked upon a soup-to-nuts upgrade. Amenities tailored to the needs of the sophisticated modern traveler -- including flat-screen televisions, alarm clocks with MP3 connectors and 300-thread-count Frette linens and bathrobes -- have been introduced to all 177 refurbished guestrooms.

Other business travel amenities include a Business Honor Bar where instead of candies and other snacks, guests will find office materials like a tech tool box, ergonomic desk chairs, free BART passes to the airport and a checkout packet complete with hotel bill and airline boarding passes.

That's the BusinessWeek part of it all. Now for the Vanity Fair. Rooms will incorporate a mixture of different design eras from  Art Deco to vintage and mid-century. In the lobby, "Bold gold tones, subdued blues and greens breathe new life into the lobby area" and artwork from San Fran's Lost Art Salon will hang from the walls.

And while the hotel's amenities will make you happy on the road, the hotel's introductory $139 a night rate should make the boss happy too.

Related Stories:
· Joie de Vivre Unveils Dramatic Facelift to Historic Galleria Park Hotel [Yahoo! Finance]