We were looking forward to reading hotelier Jeff Klein's blog posts at the NYT The Moment blog. But unfortunately his third post had to be about something so tragic--yesterday's passing of actor Heath Ledger at age 28.
Klein writes that Heath, then-girlfriend (wife?) Michelle Williams and their newborn daughter Matilda spent four months living at the Sunset Tower Hotel. Some tidbits that Klein shares about Heath as a hotel guest.
My dealings with Ledger began when his agent called me personally -- they often do -- to make a reservation. Ledger was shooting a movie and wanted to stay in the Sunset Tower for four months. It was one of my first celebrities at the hotel and I was insanely excited for so many reasons. He was hot hot hot and fresh off "Brokeback Mountain," which everyone was talking about. He was sure to get an Oscar and soon! So I couldn't believe he wanted to stay at my hotel....
Ledger and Michelle Williams, his wife at the time, took a suite with their baby and the nanny. And he soon revealed himself to be one of the kindest, sweetest guests we have ever had. He had absolutely no pretention, was very chic (in a sort of bohemian way) and was always a gentleman to all the employees here, including me....
Heath Ledger was an extremely talented actor, a devoted father, and a very kind giving man. He was also the perfect hotel guest and he will be very missed by us all at Sunset Tower.
You can read Jeff Klein's full post on Heath Ledger here. He gets into a bit of tiff in comments with people who accuse him, a gay man, of being a homophobe. Seriously. But you can sort that out for yourselves. Now, excuse us now while we cry in a corner for Heath.
Our 2006 Hotelier of the YearJeff Klein has begun a guest blogging stint for the NYT mag's "The Moment" blog. As a blogger, he is going to be sharing some of his observations on the hotel world. But in his inaugural post, he dishes on why he got into the hospitality industry in the first place.
Ever since I can remember I have been freakishly obsessed with hotels, much more so than the average hotel geek who concerns himself only with bathroom products, bed linen thread count and front-desk service.
Then he recounts how this obsession got him slapped by his mother at age 15 in Rome when he preferred to check out the Hassler hotel than take a private tour of the Vatican's art collection. Ouch!
That's probably the most interesting bit in this blog post. Klein also talks about how he got into the industry (starting as a bellman!) and the troubles he had in opening City Club in the months after 9/11 (thisclose to bankruptcy), as well as how Sunset Tower has become his proudest achievement ("excellence without pretense".)
But what we loved about Klein back in 2006 is that he's not expansion crazy. Just the opposite in fact. He says:
I would rather have fewer hotels that are consistent with who I am and what my customer wants than compromise the freakish obsession that got me slapped on that trip to Rome when I was 15.
We applaud this but we are wondering--being the greedy hotel geeks that we are--maybe he could open just one more hotel soon?
Also when it comes to a hotel's nightlife, Klein's not going to be violating any drinking age laws soon:
I don't want 100 kids drinking $16 cosmos; I am my customer, and like me, my customer is an adult and wants an adult experience.
With the Plaza Hotel to re-open in January, it's getting to be crunch time for the famous Oak Room restaurant. Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair was looking to take over the legendary bar and restaurant last July but Page Six says that he has backed out.
Carter partnered up with Jeff Klein, of the City Club Hotel on West 44th Street and the Sunset Tower in LA, and Jeremy King, owner of the Woolsey restaurant in London. But a spokesperson told us, "Graydon Carter and his partners Jeff Klein and Jeremy King withdrew their interest Thursday." Peter Glazier, owner of Michael Jordan's and the Strip House steakhouse chain, has also pulled out, citing "environmental issues." Sources say he was referring to asbestos on the premises. But Lloyd Kaplan, a spokesman for Elad Properties, which owns the Plaza, called the asbestos allegation "totally absurd."
Whatever is going on in there, Elad Properties is having a tough time finding a chef and management group. Nello Balan and the Lesort brothers also took a pass. But the Elad spokesman insists the hotel is close to finalizing a deal with a top chef soon. Maybe they should hold a reality show competition for the position?
If you know a wealthy hotelier, you might want to start buttering them up right now. And if you are related to a hotelier, well shoot, you better think of some way to make sure you're in their will. Leona Helmsley left her fortune to her dog Trouble and not to any of her grandkids or great grandkids. We knew she was mean but whoa. That dog is kinda cute though.
The hotels below would not be caught dead wearing the uniforms above.
Los Angeles magazine has a quick write-up of the latest area hotels to get in on the hotel designer uniform craze.
Jason Pomeranc hired stylist to the stars Rachel Zoe and fashion designer Jenni Kayne to creat unis for the Thompson Beverly Hills Hotel staff (the hotel is expected to open this summer, our sources say.) The waittresses at Teddy's in the Hollywood Roosevelt are already sporting Diane Von Furstenberg dresses.
The Peninsula Beverly Hills puts the spa staff in blue and beige pants and sweater sets by luxury knits line St. John's.
The Sofitel LA employees get "gray pin-striped dresses with matching scarves" by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, a French designer.
And Jeff Klein's employees at the Sunset Tower sported Ted Baker uniforms until Klein reverted back to standard suits and polo shirts. Apparently, these staffers were so well-dressed, "everyone thought they were fellow guests." Ahh...the dangers of designer uniforms.
Socialite-turned-hotelier Jeff Klein's first project, New York's City Club Hotel, which opened back in 2000, was met with a bit of ho-humness by guests and media alike. We checked in back in April and were equally nonplussed. However, earlier this year Mr. Klein reopened the Argyle hotel as the Sunset Tower. Before Klein this once proud, historic hotel was just as polluted with Lohan's and Hilton's as any other Sunset Strip hotel, but Klein promised to change all that.
Back in 2005 Klein was quoted saying things like, "I'm the new Merv Griffin", as he moved into Howard Hughes old suite at the Argyle with his beagle. We figured this socialite was in over his head--the Argyle was a massive project. It would only be a matter of time now--then something strange happened--Klein started talking with vision.
I think the whole trendy nightclub lobby ridiculousness is so over, and people are so over it. I don't want to be the next Ian Schrager. I don't want to be known as trendy or hip, that's not what I'm doing. My market is someone who used to stay at a Schrager property, but wouldn't anymore.
My goal with the whole property (the Argyle) is to return it to its rich, turn-of-the-century past but infuse the design with a modern twist.
And finally, he dropped this:
I don't believe in buzz. Word of mouth is the buzz I want, but not by creating a fake scene. Consumers will be fooled by that for a couple months, but eventually you need to deliver good service, good food and good beds -- and you just can't mask it with ridiculousness.
2006 was the year Klein had to put up or shut up. And he put up. Though the Sunset Tower Hotel had its share of troublesearly in the year, by the time we visited in November, it afforded us one of the most memorable hotel experiences we had this year. Unfettered WiFi, turn-of-the-century architecture with a modern twist, a calm, sceneless lobby with super helpful staffers, and the place somehow felt elegant in a town of excess.
Rumor is Klein's next project is in Paris, another location where "design without service" hotels have frustrated plenty of guests. At this point, we are not going to bet against Klein coming through.
When it rains, it pours in hotelier world. Page Six reports on some of our favorite hoteliers today:
Jason Pomeranc, who owns 60 Thompson, is opening a branch in Beverly Hills, that will have Jonathan Morr's Bond Street as its restaurant. The Gansevoort Hotel - which is moving into South Beach and Los Angeles - is opening a second New York location on Park Avenue South and 29th Street. The hotel is in negotiations with restaurateur Myles Chefetz to open a Prime 112 - the hottest steakhouse in Miami....
Also, looking for some hotel love is Jeff Klein, he of Sunset Tower and City Club fame, who wants to open another NYC property.
Not that anyone asked, but our advice to Gansevoort is to slow it down. While Gansevoort is always first to market with artist renderings and ambitious plans they may be biting of more than they can chew. The sheer size of Gansevoort South would make even the most ambitious hotelier pause a bit.
As for Pomeranc, we are this close to slapping an embargo on Thompson hype until he finishes Six Columbus.
All that said, believe it or not, downtown Manhattan is ripe for another hotel or two. The smart money is on Klein--because he actually finished the Sunset renovations.
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