Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1525827
in 1884 in Margaret Place, a park near the hotel in the Lower Garden District. After a few weeks in Tallahassee, I made my way back for a girl's weekend at Hotel Saint Vincent. There were so many impressions when checking in … There was that jet-set- insiders cool vibe that reminded me of how I felt, decades ago, when entering an elevator at one of the first boutique hotels (before that term was batted around with utter disregard for the holiness of the connotation). You likely had a similar experience in the '90s at an Ian Schrager NYC outpost or when the Mercer Hotel opened in 1997 in SoHo and you found yourself in an elevator with some German- speaking art-world type in black Jil Sander, as well as a skate-rat young woman (actually the progeny of a Waspy family on the Upper East Side) wearing an X-Girl (Kim Gordon's '90s cult-label brand) T-shirt and well-worn Stan Smiths, perhaps on the arm of Spike Jonze, while Massive Attack's "Teardrop" played on repeat without apology. The Saint Vincent building and grounds feel like the love child of an illicit affair between Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles and The Colony in Palm Beach. The hotel was created and restored by Austin hospitality group McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality, whose founders are industry veterans Larry McGuire, Tom Moorman, and Liz Lambert. The reimagination kept much of the original architecture but incorporated a thoughtful, elegant, modern design that complements the campus' vintage character. The exterior has verandas with sky-blue ceilings, hanging ferns and looming palm trees on the balconies, an interior courtyard with a Saltillo-lined swimming pool, a quirky neon sign visible from the street announcing you've arrived, and dramatic wrought-iron gates to make an entrance to the property even more dramatic. The 75 guest rooms, chic bars, two restaurants, and a boutique were designed by Lambert McGuire Design, the sister component of McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality. The 20th-century Italian design elements mix with mid-century furnishings, '70s Murano glass chandeliers, artwork commissioned from local visionaries, and covetable custom furniture. I was fortunate to find myself in one of the largest guest rooms: the Superior Suite. As my bags were brought up in the elevator, I made my way to the second floor via the building's original grand staircase; walls layered with paintings that might have starred in a Tim Burton film, hung in a haphazard (yet intentional) salon style. Each floor has wide hallways painted in moody shades. My suite was everything I could have hoped for and more. There was a parlor-like area with a bar and enough seating for four to six (if your guests are extremely slender and frail, or perhaps an Olsen sibling). Down the hall, I found a closet perfect for an extended stay, then the doorway to a sizable bath with vintage tub, shower, and enough room to Clockwise from top: Neon sign at Hotel Saint Vincent. Doors to Chapel Club, a bar/ lounge at Hotel Saint Vincent. Chapel Club. Virgin Mary statue in her garden grotto. 121