Just My Kind of Flophouse

You've gotta love when a good concept meets great design under the direction of a visionary. While artsy boutique hotels may be popping up left and right, not many can claim to have catalyzed the renaissance of an entire downtown area. Liz Lambert's Hotel San Jose brought about such change in Austin's South Congress Avenue or SoCo, an area becoming increasingly popular as a shopping and rental district. 

Lambert purchased the San Jose Motel in 1995, back when it was a seedy crack hotel in a neighborhood that had not yet been gentrified. Over years, Lambert was able to transform the dilapidated building into one of Austin's most successful establishments.

On any given night, the courtyard by the pool is inhabited by poets, designers, musicians, and more creative-types sipping on cocktails and what-have-yous. If you want to gauge just how cool this place is, get this: a polaroid camera and an old-fashioned typewriter are available for check-out at the front desk just so you can capture that spontaneous burst of artistic expression. That's reason enough for me to wanna fly down South.

When the hotel hit 90-95% capacity, Bunkhouse Management, Lambert's team, was put in somewhat of a good dilemma. Lambert wanted to raise prices to control occupancy rates, yet she was hesitant to out price her core customer base. Her solution? Diversifying her portfolio.

Enter Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin, TX, a bit more boutique, a bit more in price...

...and then El Cosmico, a high-concept trailer park in Marfa, TX...

...and then Havana, a historic boutique hotel in San Antonio, TX... 

Lambert is a serial hotelier who invests deeply in the concept of place. Each one of her establishments have retained all the sense, charm, details, and character of its geography even through the limelight. I'm keeping my eyes on this one... and perhaps making a trip down to Texas real soon.