Hyatt House New Orleans/Downtown, owned by Waypoint NOLA, LLC, opened in downtown New Orleans this past November. The property, connected to the neighboring Hyatt Regency New Orleans by a second-floor sky bridge, is an adaptive-reuse of an office building, occupying seven floors of the 24-story structure.
Chris Robertson, owner and developer, Waypoint NOLA, LLC, noted that New Orleans has successfully reused condominiums in the past, leading the company to reuse the office building for the new hotel. Additionally, “given the prime location, and our expected synergy with the existing Hyatt Regency, it really seemed an almost natural decision to utilize the existing beautiful building for this mixed-use development. By having an existing structure already in place, it certainly did save the hotel construction budget some dollars,” he added.
It was a challenging task to create a new hotel out of the building, as Tom Hogan, owner of HC Architecture, Inc., explained: “Creating a hospitality feel out of a fairly bland-looking, 1980s office building was probably the most challenging design aspect. Heavily tinted windows were replaced with clear glazing at the street-level lobby as well as the 11th-floor lobby to provide visual connection from the outside to the hotel functions inside.”
However, working with the building’s standing design also had its perks. “The use of an existing structure while building within the brand standards of what a Hyatt House is had its unique inspirations,” Robertson said. “We were able to keep the integrity of what Hyatt House is as a brand and highlight it with existing building aesthetics like the almost floor-to-ceiling windows in every room. The building’s layout and structure did allow for an easily usable hotel floor plan, with two hallways and rooms on each side. Having a rectangle allowed for a far more efficient design than if it had been a square.”
In addition to providing ease of design, the old structure also imbued the new design with key elements. “Floor-to-floor heights in the building are much taller than standard hotel rooms, so the guestrooms enjoy a taller finished-ceiling height,” Hogan said. “The windows of the existing building are full curtain wall. This provides for full wall-to-wall windows in each guestroom.”
The property’s 194 guestrooms include 114 residentially inspired rooms, including one-bedroom suites and studio-king guestrooms with kitchens and living rooms, as well as 80 Den guestrooms with a seating area.
The floor-to-floor heights, while successful in the guestrooms, proved challenging for the lobby areas. “Compounded by the need to run HVAC ductwork, we had to carefully balance soffit areas with cove lighting to maximize ceiling heights wherever possible,” Hogan said. “Due to the fact that the hotel resides in the middle seven floors of a 24-story office building, moving guests from a motor lobby at street level up to the main lobby and registration areas on the 11th floor became a priority.” The team converted one of the building’s elevators into an express elevator to facilitate movement.
“The biggest challenges existed in trying to keep all the spaces open around the columns supporting the hotel’s structure,” said Robertson. He also noted the challenge in the 11th-floor design. “It might have been the most intense with all the moving parts that had to be incorporated to accommodate the lobby; bar; kitchen for breakfast and dinner service; the front desk area with market; administrative offices and, at the other end, 14 guestrooms all around elevators; and back-of-house service areas.”
An additional challenge was designing the hotel while the office building remained open, explained Hogan. “Special noise and dust-control measures had to be put into place along with restricted work hours for construction,” he said. “We took special measure to waterproof the
bottommost floor of the hotel so as not to allow any water from potential leaks from hotel guest rooms to impact technology and equipment on floors below.”
Since the hotel opened, customer response has been positive, according to GM Jane Tebbe Shute. “The customers love the convenience of the location to both the city and the connectivity to the Hyatt Regency next door. They also love the open-floor lobby and panoramic views. The locals, especially other building tenants and nearby office buildings, have been enjoying our H-Bar and lobby. We have all the comforts of a Hyatt House with all the benefits of the downtown urban experience.” HB