Originally Posted by sfpaul900
I was at the PH SF last weekend and, although quick to point out that no official date was given, several employees seemed to think the changeover to Meridien would be by the end of May. I stole a 'Do Not Disturb' as a souvenir.
As for building a new hotel from the ground up, that would be difficult given the tight San Francisco real estate market. One of the people I talked to said that Hyatt International didn't want Park Hyatts that were over 250 rooms (PH SF is 300+) so that would really limit them. One possibilty would be to do what the Mandarin Oriental has done in SF (and the PH Tokyo) and occupy the top floors of a new office building. Where that would be is anyone's guess.
And what the MO did in New York, as well.
I think that will probably be the way forward for new construction in the hotel market for "intimate"-feeling luxury hotels in tough markets like NY, SF, and Tokyo--the hotels can't afford a whole building for a 200 room hotel, and the businesses often aren't willing to pay premium rent for top-floor office space any more. I'm not familiar enough with the SF real estate market to know where, or whether, any big new towers are going up soon, though.