Following a New Year’s blowout bash that was framed as the end of an era, it looks like the Tenderloin’s Phoenix Hotel isn’t dead after all, and, in fact, remains open for business.
When the impending demise of the Phoenix Hotel was being discussed last summer, particularly around the Pride events that regularly happen there, I was skeptical that the place was really going to shutter so fast — just given that any development plans a property owner might have for the place are bound to take years to take shape. And, I was right to be skeptical, because Mission Local is now reporting that the hotel did not close, and its landlord is keeping the place open with a new operator.
That landlord is owner Michael Suas, of Thorough Bread & Pastry and b. Patisserie fame, who has owned the Phoenix Hotel since August 2024. And the move comes after some failed lease negotiations with the former operator, a partnership that was lead by managing partner Isabel Manchester — who joined the group in 2011 and opened Chambers Eat + Drink. It’s unclear what the ongoing business involvement of Phoenix founder Chip Conley was, though he maintained some stake and presided over the hotel’s closing events, speaking about the closure to the Chronicle last June.
“Maybe if I had been smart, I would have bought the land a long time ago, but, at the end of the day, sometimes you have to say, ‘It’s been a beautiful experience and it’s time for it to have its fat lady sings opera moment,'” Conley said.
Conley left open the possibility that the Phoenix brand might be sold to a new proprietor, and said that lease negotiatons were only one reason he was giving the place up.
“To be quite honest, it’s not even just the lease terms, it’s the nature of the neighborhood,” Conley said, adding, “We have come to a place where after 39 years — and I am turning 65 later this year — maybe it’s time for the Phoenix to retire.”
Whatever the terms were, it seems that Suas was able to reach a last-minute agreement with hotel operator Binoy Patel, whose holdings include properties in Texas, and who earlier ran the now shuttered Civic Center Inn, closed since 2023.
Conley and his team’s lease ended on January 31, and apparently the hotel has remained opened since then. Conley posted a series of limericks about the rock-and-roll hotel’s closure on LinkedIn (One example: “Rockers, writers, and sinners alike/ Found refuge beneath neon light. / No pretense, no gate, / Just a come-as-you-are fate, / Where the real beat the curated and trite.”), and Patel commented on the post, saying, “The Phoenix is alive and well!! Can’t wait for you to come and see what I will do next.”
The restaurant, Chambers, does not seem to have live reservations available, and a booking link on the Phoenix website is broken. But Mission Local reports that the restaurant and bar appear to be chugging along.
Bookings at the hotel are live online, and you could get a room there tonight for $164 with a pool-party package that includes a bucket of beers and two koozies.
When the Phoenix property went up for sale in early 2024, it was listed for $15 million and its listing noted it was zoned for up to 80 feet, and could be developed into 450 residential units with the state’s density bonus. At the time, the management was under the auspices of Bunkhouse Hotels, the youthful sister brand of The Standard, who reportedly had a lease running through September 2025.
Stay tuned for some sort of official relaunch of the Phoenix, which will no doubt occur before Pride season.
Previously: Phoenix Hotel Calling It Quits After 39 Years, But Will Remain Open for the Rest of 2025
