Hospitality Design - September 2011 - 137

2003 HONOREE

Dodd Mitchell
Founder Kept Hotels & Resorts New York
After years of designing—and living in—hotels, designer Dodd Mitchell is taking the next step and wearing a new hat: developer. Pairing up with Sonesta International Hotels Corporation, he’s setting out to create Kept Hotels & Resorts, a family (don’t say brand!) of hotels that is truly all about the guest and the city they are in. “I want my hotel to reﬂect the city or town I am in, to feel like the place I am in, not another brand I am in. It is such a simple thing when it comes down to it. It’s not about me, but it is

about putting smiles on people’s faces. I really believe I have been put on Earth to make people smile. I love taking care of people.” When asked about the design, “the name says it all,” he says. “Who doesn’t want to be kept? It means pampered, it’s unique, special. The hotels are going to be a home away from home, innovative, and timeless.” Think Mitchell’s signature dramatic style, with a mix of found and local pieces. And as a guy who has been staying in hotels for the last 19 months while working on the concept, he says “if anyone should know this business, it’s me. I know it from the consumer end.” Expect Kept in places like New York, Chicago, Cabo, and the Dominican Republic, in both conversion and new build properties. “Ground up is okay, but reposition is what I am born for,” he says.

2007 HONOREE

Jason Pomeranc
Co-Founder Thompson Hotels New York
Thompson Hotels is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Did you ever think you would end up where you are now, a brand of 10 hotels with one more on the way in London? I think you have to evolve organically with what opportunity the situation has presented. 60 Thompson was meant to be a small, intimate, luxury boutique hotel. And I think small and luxury were the key words in there, not necessarily boutique. It was meant to be a special project for New York and for a certain niche. And once we were ﬁnished, and once the place had been open for a couple of months and the 9/11 mourning period had passed (our ofﬁcial opening of 60 Thompson was the day before 9/11) and we were really focused on growing, it was interesting to see how we organically took root in sort of this fashion and entertainment social marketplace. And from that was born the idea of maybe this is not just particular to this. And the growth process was interesting because then the next step was okay, how do you go from one to two? And how do you translate this to another city? And how do you translate from two to three? In retrospect, it would have been illogical for us to lay out the groundwork for how it ended up happening, because the economy wasn’t the same., the industry wasn’t the same. People didn’t look at boutique hotels as brands. Recently some of your properties went through a renovation— the addition of a rooftop at 6 Columbus in New York, and many changes at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Roosevelt has gone over some major changes. New cabana rooms and suites [shown]; a new restaurant, Public Kitchen and Bar; Spare Room, which is our gaming concept lounge bar; and Beacher’s Madhouse, which is our cabaret in the basement. It’s always evolving. The great thing about the Roosevelt it is a convergence of individual creativity and interests that come together to make the property just a monster. And it’s a great Toronto was your ﬁrst international property, and now London is next. Why London? I’m an Anglophile a little bit. A lot of my inspiration for 60 Thompson came from spending time in London and just kind of picking up on nuances in hotels and restaurants and just walking the streets. For me, it’s kind of coming full circle to be able to put our interpretation of what a British luxury, lifestyle hotel will be. Being in Belgravia is a privilege, because it’s the kind of thing where companies can spend years and years trying to get into that side of town. And Tara Bernerd, who is our designer there, is a dear friend of mine who I’ve known since I was 16. She is our prototypical guest—she understands our psyche, and her designs reﬂect that sensibility. So it’s a really nice ﬁt. What else do you have up your sleeve? I have been thinking of developing a 3-Star brand, a product that is for the XY-focused international traveler, and have it be like a brother to Thompson. In its design approach, technology plays a big part in it. I think that it’s less about a residential feel and it’s really more about exploration, less about suites and more about public spaces. It’s a reorientation of what Howard Johnson was. And eventually, we’d like to push the boundary internationally. I also think that there are a lot of American cities that have been ignored in this expansion that really need this product. building with such a great history. We just keep adding more and more layers to it.

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