Chicago : Hotel Sax is getting a new name

The Hotel Sax Chicago in River North is about to blow its last note.

The owner of the 353-room hotel at 333 N. Dearborn Parkway is dropping the name and bringing the hotel into Marriott International Inc.'s Autograph Collection, an assortment of properties that the chain runs like independent brands. A Marriott spokeswoman confirmed the switch and name change, saying the company will release more details in February.

It's the second name change in about seven years for the hotel, which opened as the House of Blues Hotel in 1998. Bethesda, Md.-based LaSalle Hotel Properties, which bought the property in 2006, then changed its name to the Hotel Sax about a year later.

The Sax has lacked one thing many hotel owners covet: a big chain's large reservation system that can bring in customers and allow them to pay for stays with loyalty points. Independent hotels may offer originality, cool design and cachet, but they don't have the marketing power or reach of hotel behemoths like Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott.

The Autograph Collection, a so-called soft brand, is meant to offer the best of both worlds: hotels that are part of the Marriott system but look and feel like independents. They all have different names, like the Henry in Dearborn, Mich., and the Blue Moon Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. The fast-growing chain has 57 hotels across the globe.

Joining the Autograph Collection makes sense to Roger Hill, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based hotel consulting and design firm the Gettys Group.

“It will just seem like staying at a world-class urban boutique hotel that's affiliated with a world-class reservation system and brand,” he said. “Executed well, there's absolutely no reason that (the move) won't create a lot of value.”

The hotel will be managed by HEI Hospitality LLC, a Norwalk, Conn.-based hotel owner and operator, the Marriott spokeswoman said. The Sax is currently operated by Texas-based Access Hotels & Resorts.
LaSalle Hotel Properties continues to own the hotel. A LaSalle executive did not return a call.