Queen Of Lo-Fi

Boutique-hotel guru Liz Lambert taps into the West’s iconic styles to transform the overnight stay.

 

- Brooke Porter Katz

The neighborhood was rough, the koi pond was disintegrating, the rooms looked like they’d been outfitted by a mishmash of designers, and the renovation budget was small. But to Liz Lambert, San Francisco’s 44-room Phoenix Hotel was all rock ’n’ roll. Bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and The Stone Foxes stayed there when they played in town; sometimes, they even hung out in the courtyard after shows.

So last year the 54-year-old hotelier got to work, giving the 1956-built lobby the air of a recording studio. She eliminated the pond and pasted band posters on the guest-room walls. “To me, the most interesting hotels are ones that are part of the fabric of a place,” Lambert says with a Southern drawl. “So we peeled away the layers that had been added over the years and took the Phoenix back to its essence—’80s and ’90s rock in San Francisco.”

Over the past 18 years, Lambert’s name has become synonymous with indie lodging that favors punchy colors, custom butterfly chairs, and amenities like Polaroid cameras and Shinola bikes. It’s easy to see why Lambert has a following among travelers who crave the curated and the boutique. Right now, the Bunkhouse hospitality group she cofounded manages seven properties , including the 21-acre El Cosmico (an evolving mix of stylish trailers, tipis, and tents in Marfa, Texas ) and Hotel San Cristóbal (a new build with a laid-back surfer vibe and furniture crafted by Mexican artisans in Baja’s sleepy Todos Santos ).