PALM SPRINGS, CA—Palisades Hospitality Group (PHG), which operates more than 30 resort, hotel and restaurant properties across leisure destinations in California, Hawaii and Mexico, and CovoCapital, a boutique real estate investment company based in San Francisco, have purchased the Colony Palms Hotel here.
PHG will operate the Colony Palms under its hotel subsidiary, a group of individually distinct hotels that emphasize an authentic and local experience, according to the company. Other hotels in the collection include the El Dorado Hotel & Kitchen in Sonoma, California and the North Block Hotel in Yountville, with more hotels under development in Napa and Sonoma.
Located just one block off the city’s main downtown strip and built in the 1930s, the 57-room resort retains many charming features of the original Spanish colonial architecture, from arched entryways and coved ceilings to original Moorish floor tiles. It also features a full-service spa and the Purple Palm full-service, on-site restaurant.
Over the next several months, PHG will also undertake upgrades and enhancements to the property’s spa, guestrooms, restaurant and landscaping. In addition, the hotel will add 1,200 sq. ft. in meeting space under the new management, which can accommodate up to 50 people.
“The Colony Palms is a gorgeous, historically significant property in a fantastic location that offered us a perfect fit with our larger mission at Palisades Hospitality Group—to expand our boutique hotel presence in leisure destinations with truly special, individual properties that fit the way people want to travel,” explained Tim Harmon, CEO of Palisades Hospitality Group.
Originally built in 1936, the Colony Palms property was once owned by alleged mobster Al Westheimer and featured a casino, speakeasy and brothel that attracted such famous Hollywood guests as Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and Humphrey Bogart. Later in the 1940s, the hotel was purchased by the owners of famed racehorse Seabiscuit, Robert and Amanda Leeds-Howard, and was renamed the Howard Manor. In the 1970s, the property changed hands again and was reinvented as a popular health resort called The Palms. Most recently, in 2008, the hotel underwent a substantial $17-million renovation at the hands of interior designer Martyn Bullard-Lawrence, who is also known for his role on Bravo’s Million Dollar Designers.
CovoCapital is a boutique real estate investment company based in San Francisco that is currently focused on the acquisition of high-quality branded and independent hotels in the U.S. The company’s principals have more than 100 years of combined commercial real estate investment, management and finance experience and have managed $20 billion of commercial real estate investments, including hotels and retail properties throughout the U.S. and Asia.