Thompson checking out at Hotel Sax

28-Mar-12 – Little more than two years after it was hired to manage Marina City’s Hotel Sax, Thompson Hotel Associates is moving on.

The New York company, known for its luxury hotels on both coasts, took over management of the 353-room hotel on November 30, 2009, replacing Gemstone Resorts International, which had managed Sax since March 2006.

Thompson co-owner Stephen Brandman (left) told Loop North News on Wednesday, “we will be leaving mid month of April.”

Brandman declined to comment on why Thompson is leaving. HotelChatter, a web magazine “chronicling hotel stories worldwide” recently quoted an unnamed source at Thompson who said Hotel Sax was “not up to brand standards.” HotelChatter is reporting that Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants will take over on April 27. Another source has said April 16 is Thompson’s last day at Sax. The public relations manager for Kimpton also declined to comment.

Kimpton manages about ten hotels for LaSalle Hotel Properties, owner of Hotel Sax. Thompson still has five hotels in New York, two in Los Angeles, including the historic Roosevelt Hotel, and one each in Washington, D.C., London, and Miami Beach. In Chicago, it manages The Sutton Place Hotel in the Gold Coast neighborhood.

John Price, who worked at the Marina City hotel when it was owned by House of Blues, and came back as general manager of Hotel Sax last November, is now managing director at Sutton Place. Meanwhile, Sax’s previous general manager, Michael Carsch, who was transferred to Sutton Place, is back at Marina City to oversee the transition.

Related stories…

• Hotel Sax joins Access Hotel family (17-Apr-12)
• New management at Hotel Sax (2-Dec-09)
• Former HOB hotel GM back at Sax (12-Nov-11)