Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1137940
60 SLEEPING BEAUTIES THREE NEW DISTINCTIVE HOTELS ON HOUSTON'S HORIZON BY CHRIS BALDWIN A NEW WAVE OF SMALLER DISTINCTIVE HOTELS IS COMING. AMONG THEM ARE A COMPLETE REIMAGINING OF A 40-YEAR-OLD HOTEL THAT NEVER CAPTURED ANYONE'S IMAGINATION, A MICRO BOUTIQUE HOTEL IN THE HEART OF MONTROSE, AND A SPOT THAT WILL LET YOU LIVE IN ONE OF HOUSTON'S MOST AMBITIOUS NEW DEVELOPMENTS. HOUSTON IS SUDDENLY BECOMING A MUCH MORE INTERESTING PLACE TO STAY. O p e n f o r s u m m e r i s H o u s t o n 's n e w C. Baldwin Hotel — a complete reimagining of the old DoubleTree hotel at the Allen Center downtown. The metamorphosis is built around a new restaurant from San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino, a living green wall along the entry drive, and a light- filled golden lobby with a bar. The hotel, which is now under the Curio Collection by Hilton umbrella, is named for the woman considered the mother of Houston: Charlotte Baldwin Allen, married to Augustus Allen who, along with his brother John Kirby Allen, used her inheritance to purchase land for the townsite of Houston. The C. Baldwin celebrates women with a refreshing fervor. Many of its biggest influencers are female, including the hotel's designer, Lauren Rottet. Brookfield Properties acquired the hotel in 2016 and set out to make it memorable. There are not many hotels, after all, with a shop like Sloan/Hall in the lobby — a tightly edited version of the flagship store on Westheimer. Paloma nail salon is also on site, with owner Maryam Naderi's nontoxic nail treatments and products. Also upping the ante for the C. Baldwin is former Top Chef Masters winner Chris Cosentino's new restaurant, Rosalie Italian Soul, which recreates the red-sauce dishes that his great- grandmother, Rosalie, taught him to cook. C. Baldwin Hotel, 400 Dallas St., cbaldwinhotel.com. C. BALDWIN HOTEL T he new Thompson Hotel at The Allen development will reward patience. First teased in 2017, it won't open until 2022 at the earliest. Thompson by Hyatt is playing the long game, betting that The Allen — a new five-tower, mixed-use development that will rise up along Allen Parkway halfway between River Oaks and downtown — will be a game changer. The Thompson Hotel will have 170 hotel rooms and approximately 95 condos. You can stay at the Thompson or live there full-time, with access to all the hotel's amenities, including an on-site restaurant run by a local chef, as one of the Thompson mantras is tapping an established chef in the city to give its hotels more of an authentic flavor. Being in The Allen — a $454 million, six-acre complex next to the distinctive Federal Reserve Bank building and across from Buffalo Bayou Park — will give Thompson Houston guests something of a playground outside the hotel's front doors. Shops, restaurants, a residential high-rise, and 250,000 square feet of Class A office space will also be built. Thompson plans to open two other Texas hotels (one in Dallas in the iconic former First National Bank tower and another in San Antonio in a prime River Walk locale) prior to Thompson Houston. THE NEW HOTBED T he Montrose Hotel will bring a little piece — a very, very little piece — of luxury to the heart of Houston's Montrose neighborhood. The micro boutique hotel comes from Goodnight Hospitality, the force behind Goodnight Charlie's honky-tonk, home-goods store Biscuit Home, and the soon-to-open Montrose eateries Rosie Cannonball, March, and Montrose Cheese & Wine Shop. For the hotel, Goodnight is teaming with Houston architecture firm HR Design Dept; the new project is a nod to the booming trend of petite hotels with 10 rooms or fewer that are popping to the top of the world's best hotel lists. Scheduled to open late 2020, just a block away from Goodnight's existing concepts, at 2509 Dunlavy. Designer Bailey McCarthy, owner of Biscuit Home (who is married to Pete McCarthy, a partner in Goodnight Hospitality), is designing the space. Nine guest rooms, a patio with fountain, rooftop garden, and a small lounge/bar/ restaurant reserved for guests make up the hotel, with Goodnight's culinary team, chef Felipe Riccio and Master Sommeliers David Keck and June Rodil, creating the ambitious food and drink. Annie Gallay TINY LUXURY C. Baldwin golden lobby The new tiny Montrose Hotel