SAN FRANCISCO -- Bill Kimpton, founder and chairman of the Kimpton
Hotel & Restaurant Group, died in Houston on March 30 from
complications of leukemia. He was 65.
Kimpton is widely regarded as the innovator of the boutique
hotel concept.
The Kimpton Group, based in San Francisco, owns and operates 35
hotels in North America.
Nearly half of those hotels (16) are in San Francisco, but in
the past few years, the firm has expanded to other markets.
Kimpton properties can be found in Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake
City, Seattle and Vancouver, with others on the way in Washington
and New Orleans.
Kimpton got a late start in the hospitality industry, following
a career as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers.
As part of that job, he secured funding for the Kapalua Bay
Resort Hotel in Hawaii and the renovation of New York's Palace
Hotel. A few years later, Kimpton tried his hand as a hotelier.
Kimpton's first property was the Bedford in San Francisco, which
he acquired in 1981.
The group's modus operandi was to purchase dilapidated buildings
and convert them into hotels. The Kimpton concept also stressed
successful restaurants attached to its properties.
Notable hotels include the Hotel Palomar, the Vintage Court and
the Hotel Monaco, all in San Francisco, and the Hotel Burnham in
Chicago.
The company introduced other Monaco properties -- the closest
thing Kimpton has to a brand -- in Chicago, Denver and Salt
Lake.
Kimpton is survived by his wife, four children and three
grandchildren.