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Personality Test

July 29, West Hollywood-based designer Thomas Schoos is making his San Francisco debut with two renovations for Personality Hotel Group, the city's largest privately owned boutique hotel operator. Set to open this fall, Schoos is turning the city's former York and Maxwell hotels into Hotel Vertigo-complete with celebrity TV chef Tyler Florence's first restaurant, Bar Florence-and Hotel Frank, respectively.

For the 153-room Hotel Frank, Schoos is going for a bold but classic look, using black-and-white houndstooth throughout the entire hotel-on the lobby and guestroom carpet, hallways, and floor-to-ceiling fabric in the elevators. "The clean and modern look of houndstooth has withstood the test of time and continues to re-emerge in fashion and design, which meshed well with the simple yet distinctive concept envisioned for the hotel," he says. Other highlights of the $10 million transformation include teal green crocodile print vinyl sofas in the lobby and matching headboards in the guestrooms; handblown hanging bulbous glass light fixtures torched with bronze detailing; vintage 1930s artwork in teak frames; and mirror-backed flatscreen TVs on rotating poles.

While the Frank will exude a timeless elegance, the Hotel Vertigo in Nob Hill will have a more playful design that incorporates the city's multicultural population. "San Francisco is a melting pot of cultures and varying global influences. Throughout it all, however, it retains its sense of neighborhood charm and comfort," Schoos explains. "We aimed to bring a sense of international appeal into a space that feels like home." The lobby boasts white Carerra marble floors, original 1920s columns with stucco detailing, and 25-foot high ceilings, while kitschy animal figurines line window boxes for a whimsical touch. Upstairs in the 97 rooms white and orange prevail: white bedding features orange piping, sheer orange drapes and plaid draperies line the windows, white tufted leather headboards, and glossy white lacquered nightstands and vintage furniture redone in glossy orange vinyl dot the room. And as a nod to the hotel's history and name-after Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 thriller starring Kim Novak, whose character lived in the York during part of the film-chairs emblazoned with the Vertigo logo intentionally sit lower.

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