Thursday, March 3, 2011

Marriott said to be Replacing Kimpton's Hotel Palomar in Midtown

Sources indicate Annapolis, Maryland-based Thayer Lodging Group will soon announce that they will convert the Hotel Palomar in midtown Atlanta into a Marriott property. Days ago, Thayer purchased the leasehold interest for the 21-story, 304-room hotel that was completed in 2009. Thayer already dismissed San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the management company behind the Palomar hotel as well as Pacci, the in house Italian restaurant and ALTOREX, the accompanying rooftop lounge. Kimpton's dismissal from the property, and with it likely the Palomar brand, left the door open for Thayer to seek Marriott's involvement.

Last month, Orlando-based Tavistock Group purchased the 151-rooms and 30 residences of the St. Regis Buckhead, a hotel that opened April, 2009. Last year, Bethesda, Maryland-based Pebblebrook Hotel Trust purchased the 422-room InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta. The InterContinental is the brand's North American flagship and was opened in November, 2004.

Late last year, I broke news that the planned Hotel Indigo in downtown Atlanta's Carnegie building would instead be opened under the Courtyard by Marriott flag. While the Indigo, the boutique hotel offering from IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) has been well received in most locations, the ownership group of the property decided they wanted the immediate brand recognition that comes with Courtyard. United Kingdom-based IHG is the largest hotel company in the world, by number of rooms with over 640,000, but clearly some investors prefer Marriott brands over IHG's size.

According to Thayer's website, they currently have 15 hotels in their portfolio, but 7 are Marriott brands. Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott International, appears to be a favorite of the group and may further explain their planned conversion.

While Pacci will supposedly close sometime late this month, no word as to what if anything will be made of ALTOREX. Pacci is helmed by Executive Chef Keira Moritz, who last week was said to have made multiple calls to local chefs hoping to secure jobs for her staff. The restaurant was named one of Esquire Magazine's best new restaurants when it opened in 2009 along with Paces 88, the in house restaurant of the aforementioned St. Regis.

With the openings of numerous Marriott brands in Indianapolis recently, each sporting sophisticated and updated looks, it will be interesting to see what brand the Palomar Hotel is reflagged. The Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Atlanta was built to be a Hotel Indigo, a boutique brand, but as I discussed was changed to the Courtyard at the last minute. Judging from what's already in the midtown area, my guess would be a Marriott Hotel, but official word should come by months end.

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope they keep their wonderful pet policy. That was one of the best things about Palomar in my opinion.

SB said...

Marriott base brand or a replacement for the old Renaissance nearby.

Atlantan99 said...

@SB,

Unclear at the moment but I'm thinking it will be the Marriott brand versus the Renaissance.

Thanks for reading and for the comment!

Laura said...

This is sad... I love the Palomar and they had stellar service. I'd so much rather have something fun and unique than another Marriott...

Unknown said...

This is horrible news. Palomar is a great hotel. Better service than a W.

Are they going to keep the lobby design? It's wonderful n

It's not like this hotel sits on top of an attraction. The reason people went was because it was a Kimpton hotel.

Unknown said...

Actually, wouldn't they turn it into their "Autograph" concept?

Atlantan99 said...

@Trent,

It's doubtful they would turn it into the "Autograph Collection." That group of hotels are unaffiliated , unbranded hotels. It's my understanding Marriott is being brought in to not only manage but to be the new brand.

Thanks for the comment and for reading!

Anonymous said...

Sigh. And it looks nothing like a Marriott... and there is already a Marriott in Midtown next to Four Seasons.

Carl said...

Really disappointing to hear this as well! Went to the Pacci opening and toured the hotel from top to bottom that night. Have enjoyed many events there, including the ATL Short Cuts Film Contest screenings the last two nights.

Atlantan99 said...

@Carl,

I too was at the opening of both the hotel and restaurant and throughly enjoyed the property. I had the opportunity to dine at Pacci on multiple occasions and truly enjoyed the food and staff. Hopefully Chef Moritz will find a new (Atlanta area) home for talents...

Anonymous said...

Pacci was sub-par at best, masquerading as Italian fare. Altorex was the opposite of Sybil, it had zero personality. Being on the 2nd floor patio isn't exactly "rooftop", I think it was originally planned for dogs to poop from the hotel.

Anonymous said...

This indeed will be the new Renaissance Midtown hotel .... to replace the one that closed last September. We have already started the process of converting this property. Palomar may not look like a Marriott but it does fall right in line with our boutique brand Renaissance. We should be up and running within months... I'm super excited about this. Marriott will also deliver results and profits... Our world wide reservations system alone puts our foot in any door.

Anonymous said...

Renaissance will never be a Palomar-Kimpton. Plus the Marriott Management transition team that is on property is terrible and they don't have a clue. If they only knew...

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