p924s87

I received the below email today. I stay here quite often and really enjoy the facilities. I'm on a first name basis with a lot of the staff and they are all fantastic. Anyone have any info on who the new managers may be?

"As a valued member and important part of our extended family, I wanted to share some news about the Hotel La Jolla and Cusp. As of February 4, 2016, the Hotel La Jolla and Cusp will no longer be part of the collection of boutique hotels and restaurants operated by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. The Hotel La Jolla and Cusp will continue to have the same name and honor all existing reservations, but will be operated under new management.
Given the short notice, for reservations booked by today you will automatically receive Kimpton Karma Rewards stay credit for arrivals through February 11, 2016, which will be reflected in your member profile within 30 days. After this transition period, you will no longer be eligible to receive stay credits for future stays at this hotel. Any reward reservations already confirmed will be honored.
We're truly sorry to see this property leave the family and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We're committed to helping alleviate any issues to the extent we can, so please don't hesitate to get in touch with us."

dw

Hopefully this is just another routine change in management contracts, as we've seen properties come and go over the years, rather than indicative of something bigger, like with the SF properties last year.

SJC AA

Is anything a Kimpton anymore?

peetahvw

Odd though - its <5 years as being flagged a Kimpton. Also curious unlike the San Fran properties this hotel is keeping its name...

dw

Presumably Kimpton owns the rights to the Hotel Monaco and Hotel Palomar names, so those two SF properties had to change their names.

It looks like the Hotel La Jolla has not joined another flag (like some of the former Palomar properties: Atlanta, Arlington and Dallas) and is simply being operated as an independent property now.

Kimpton Karma Rewards

Hi Flyertalkers,

As ‘dw’ rightly recognized, this is just one of the transitions that happen occasionally in our industry, and not indicative of a larger trend.

We don’t own our hotels; we’re a management company and run the operation of them under the Kimpton brand. In La Jolla, the new ownership decided to manage the hotel independently.

And while these transitions are considered part of the business cycle, we’re Kimpton: we’re a tight-knit group. When we lose a property – when we lose a single employee – it’s hard for us. While we wish we could have kept Hotel La Jolla in the family, we wish them the very best and are confident that they will continue to run a great operation.

But don’t despair ‘SJC AA’, the great news is that we are on track for another banner year of new additions. We’ve either just opened, or are preparing to open, some incredible new hotels and restaurants in Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Nashville, Winston-Salem, Austin, Vermont, Sacramento and Palm Springs (among other cities). Oh yes – and Grand Cayman later this year, followed in 2017 by our first European hotel in lively Amsterdam.

So we have a lot of growth ahead of us, and there’s a lot of excitement in the air around here. We look forward to sharing the adventure with all of you. As always, I’m here to answer any questions or support you as best I’m able.

Susan

p924s87

The hotel staff told me that Hilton is the new management company. They are taking over in the coming weeks. I'm going to really miss the boutique touches that made it a Kimpton. They did honor my "raid the bar" when I checked out this morning.

I'm also disappointed Kimpton is losing the hotel in Aspen. It does need to be rebuilt, but will miss it being a Kimpton. Staff, and locals alike, have told me its joining Starwood to become a W hotel once it's rebuilt. Those are the two Kimptons I primarily stay at.

I am excited for the international Kimptons, so we'll see there.

baldthoughts

I had the pleasure of staying at the Hotel La Jolla the last night they offered Kimpton stay credits. I had booked in October during the double stay credit promotion, and I was relieved to see that my reservation still qualified for Kimpton stay credits.

While I was there, even though the property had technically already made the switch from Kimpton to independent, there was still Kimpton stuff everywhere... from the little sign in the bathroom (forgot anything?) to Kimpton pens and paper, etc.

The front desk people were awesome to me. They said that they LOVED Kimpton and wished it was still part of the program, so they still gave me a minor upgade even though they didn't have to. I was disappointed that there wasn't a Welcome Amenity waiting for me, but that's to be expected when they leave the portfolio.

I'm bummed because it is a great property and it was fairly economical (and generally lower in price that the Kimpton SD properties) given that La Jolla is a fairly ritzy part of SoCal. Hotel La Jolla will be missed!

dw

Looks like this property will in fact be joining another flag- Hilton's Curio Collection.

moze

Just my opinion, but I've always thought that this property never really had the 'Kimpton feel'. It was certainly a nice hotel and an amazing view; however, it stuck out to me as a Kimpton property who was halfway in it and took the required steps but nothing more.

I feel the same way about 70 Park in NYC. Pretty nice place and location, but they don't even participate in the Inner Circle welcome gift. They just hand out a credit to use at their shop or for breakfast. This always felt lazy to me. Coincidentally, I think 70 Park also recently separated from Kimpton.