Azul Hospitality Group has teamed up with Oram Hotels, both San Diego-based companies, to open a new luxury hotel, The Guild, in early 2019. Azul is the managing partner while developer Alvin Mansour from Oram has hired Incommon Design to oversee interior design, reports hotelmanagement.net.
The 162-room, seven-floor Marriott Tribute Portfolio Hotel will be converted from the Army-Navy YMCA building in downtown San Diego. The property, originally developed in the 1920s, will feature a lobby bar, outdoor restaurant, outdoor gardens, a private penthouse with a rooftop deck and a grand ballroom that was once the gym’s basketball court. According to a press release by HFF commercial real estate firm, which was posted in January on its website, the company secured $36.55 million in construction financing for the renovation and development project.
“The YMCA building has always been a jewel in the middle of a long-overlooked part of the city and I knew it had the potential to become something unique from the start,” Mansour told hotelmanagement.net. “Downtown San Diego has so much to offer, not only to tourists, but locals alike, and we are committed to creating something new, unexpected and authentic to the city we call home and its evolving cultural imprint.”
The Italian Renaissance-style exterior and the grand staircase will remain, while guestrooms of various sizes will feature European-inspired accommodations, reports the site.
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