Keating Hotel

The new Keating Hotel ups the ante of the Gaslamp’s High-end lifestyle

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BOND Urban Habitat partners Robert Watson and Edward Kaen noticed there was something missing in San Diego's luxury hotel market and wanted to set a new standard for the hospitality industry. With this summer's opening of The Keating Hotel of the corner of F Street and Fifth Avenue in the hearth of the Gaslamp, developers Watson and Kaen just might raise the level of high-end sophistication while bringing the first true urban luxury hotel experience to San Diego.

"The inspiration behind the project was to bring something a little more high-end and a little more sophisticated," says Kaen, whose family acquired the Keating building in 2000. Kaen, who hails from the New York area, thought the historic building's position in the center of the Gaslamp Quarters was a perfect location to open a new type of boutique hotel.

Kaen and Watson, president of lifestyle development group BOND Urban Habitat, joined forces with world-renowned Italian design group Pininfarina, which has a line of work that includes some of the world's most popular luxury cars including Ferrari and Maserati, to set a new standard for the luxury boutique hotel.

"This is their first hotel project, and for them to choose Downtown San Diego to do it in is pretty impressive," Watson says.

The design of The Keating Hotel will bring in the architectural significance of the building and provide a modern Italian touch, withouth the expected minimalist feeling. Instead, The Keating will emit a European, soho-type vibe reminiscent of such luxe New York City hotels as Soho House and Bryant Park Hotel.

"You have this incredible product with the historic element and then you bring in the modern Italian design Pininfarina creates," says Watson. "It's going to have some character and blend in all that the building has to offer."

The Keating's intimate 35 rooms were designed to redefine standard hotel rooms with studio-like layouts featuring custom built-in furniture, high ceilings, exposed brick walls and oversized windows. "We are not buying off-the-shelf products and building the hotel," says Kaen.

Every detail has been thought out by Pininfarina and its developers. Each room's ample list of amenities includes Tempurpedic mattresses; Egyptian cotton linens by Matteo; 37-inch, high-definition plasma televisions; in-room Lavazza espresso machines; complimentary high-speed WiFi; and plush Boca Terry bathrobes.

Aside from all the in-room luxuries, guests can mingle and relax in the semi-private underground lounge with V.I.P. bottle service or cool off in style next to the rooftop pool.

When Kaen and Watson met with the design team at Pininfarina to discuss the feel of the hotel, they decided they wanted to engage visitors in a way few other establishments have in the past.

"We wanted all five senses to be touched during a stay at the hotel so that you remember us," says Kaen, who wants guests to feel like a Keating stay is a no-brainer when visiting San Diego.

Watson definately knows the significance of making every detail count when it comes to attracting and maintaining guests, especially high-end travelers whom he says are very sophisticated in this day and age. "You can't put the wool over their eyes anymore with, 'Hey we have cordless phones and HBO,'" Watson says. "It just doesn't work that way anymore." Watson says he wants The Keating to create an experience for guests that leaves them saying, "I can't pinpoint everything, but I know it was phenomenal."

One significant attribute that guests are sure to notice is the genuine personalized experience The Keating will provide to every guest that walks throught the lobby doors. Because of it's small size, the hotel's customer service will be unlike other establishments in the area. Watson describes the experience as seamless from the moment you are greeted in youre car to the moment you check out. The intimate environment will feature one-on-one, thoughful customer service from a personable staff and an on-call lifestyle consierge.

"You need to have a right way that your people are trained to give service, and it's certainly not white-glove stuffy, but there certainly is a level of preofessionalism that needs to be there," Watson says. "Oftentimes, with the hip, cool hotels, they lack a certain professionalism."

Regarding hotels in the area, The Keating's developers don't want to compete with the big chains and larger hotels. "You can't compete with the Hilton and the Hyatt because they are just too big," Kaen says. "We wanted to figure out a way we could differentiate ourselves from everyone else." That separation will come from a highly sophisticated yet urban environment integrated with the historic and modern desing while offering exceptional, personalized customer service.

With the scheduled late-summer opening of The Keating, Watson and Kaen see the hospitality industry in San Diego going to the next level, recognizing that there are large clusters of visitors who want and don't mind spending a bit more money if they feel that they will get an authentic experience. "There's a sophistication that is taking place in the city and I think for the longest time, restaurateurs and hoteliers could get away with being OK," Watson says. "Now, particulary here in the Gaslamp, your competitor is right next door to you or across the street."

Watson and Kaen see a trend in the city where restaurateurs, hoteliers and hightclub owners are beginning to view San Diego as a metropolitan city on the level of other major cities in the world. That type of mentality will bring an evident increase of sophistication to the downtown area. The Keating will undoubtedly be a major step in the process of San Diego's transformation into a genuine metropolis. Watson believes the product they have created in The Keating could certainly stand on its own in places like Milan, New York or anywhere around the world.

"What makes us so proud is that we are bringing in a very sophisticated, highly stylized, architecturally significant, full-service product to the city and I think it will take off," Watson says. "Maybe five or 10 years ago it wouldn't have worked, but now we think San Diego is sophisticated enough to accept our product and make it viable business that does very well."

For more information, visit www.keatinghotel.com