Bed & Boast

Hotel ZaZa promises to bring a new feel to the Dallas atmosphere

Comments (0) By Mark Stuertz Thursday, Mar 21 2002

Charles Givens isn't worried. The Oklahoma City developer who specializes in office buildings, condominiums and retirement communities boasts that his Hotel ZaZa, taking shape near McKinney and Maple, will have a 72 percent occupancy rate when it opens in October. This despite a slump in the boutique hotel market, which was off some 16 percent in 2001 as measured by revenue per available room, according to The Wall Street Journal. This stat doesn't faze Givens. "I wouldn't call this one a boutique hotel," he says. "Boutique's not the right word, and hip's not the right word. I'm not sure what it is. Lifestyle hotel, possibly." Givens points out that his hotel has 146 rooms with meeting space, while boutique hotels are typically 50 to 70 rooms with small lounges. And while most boutique hotels tend to be dusky, edgy and snooty (à la Phillipe Starck), Givens describes his hotel as very comfortable and "real sexy and sensual." To help nurture those impressions, Hotel ZaZa will have a restaurant set apart from the main building near the hotel's pool and gardens. He describes the food as an eclectic melding of Asian influences with French and American touches. Givens says he is still looking for a chef to button up that part of the operation. Rates for Hotel ZaZa range from $178 per night all the way to $900 a night for the Monarch Suite. Why has Givens, whose only other hotel is the Waterford Hotel in Oklahoma City, focused his attention on Dallas? "It just felt like Dallas was missing this type of atmosphere," he says. "I just wanted something different that was a little bit younger, cleaner and with a more 'with-it' feeling."

Location Info

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Hotel Zaza

2332 Leonard St
Dallas, TX 75201-2020

Category: Hotels/Resorts

Region: Uptown & Oak Lawn

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All Good Cafe

2934 Main St.
Dallas, TX 75226

Category: Coffeehouses

Region: Downtown & Deep Ellum

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