The Palisociety’s first lodging outside of LA aims for maximum comfort and coziness (with a dash of signature cheekiness) via varying shades of green and bespoke furnishings in its 96 guest rooms.
By Lauren Mang
Photographs courtesy Palisociety
OPENING A HOTEL IN SEATTLE WAS A NO BRAINER, ACCORDING TO AVI BROSH, FOUNDER OF THE LOS ANGELES-BASED REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT AND HOSPITALITY OPERATING COMPANY PALISOCIETY, WHICH OWNS AND OPERATES SEVERAL PALIHOUSE AND PALIHOTEL LOCATIONS AROUND LA. Seattle’s 96-room Palihotel, located at First Avenue and Pine Street near Pike Place Market, is the brand’s first outside the California region. “Seattle is beautiful and has evolved into a Mecca for food and culture, and [it has] the natural beauty of its landscape,” Brosh says. “It felt like a natural place for the brand to expand and evolve.”
The boutique lodging takes up all four floors of the historic building that once housed the Colonnade Hotel (most recently it was home to the Gatewood Apartments and ground-level retail shops). After making the necessary seismic upgrades, Brosh (who leads Palisociety’s concept creation, design direction, and development execution) and his team sought to infuse the property with both a warm and relaxing aesthetic and a moody and irreverent vibe, all while maintaining the structure’s original bones. The Seattle office of architecture and design firm Gensler was the architect on the project and assisted the Palisociety team with incorporating structural elements such as skylights and exposed timber beams.
Throughout the lobby and guest rooms varying shades of mossy green, meant to represent the lushness found in the Pacific Northwest, accent the walls, ceilings, tilework—the color even makes an appearance in a leather banquette in the first-floor restaurant The Hart and The Hunter. “There is nothing remotely austere about the property,” Brosh says. That rich palette plays off of striking black-and-white checkerboard floors in the lobby, anchored by a custom-made oak wood front desk, and in its adjacent lounge area, where 15-foot-high ceilings and a fireplace provide socializing space. In the guest rooms, the Palisociety crew designed each custom furniture piece, from the floral fabric headboards to desks crafted to mimic the look of a vintage leather travel trunk.
“We don’t take ourselves—or our design—too seriously,” Brosh says. “We want our hotels to be beautiful and comfortable, but in a way that feels unique and fun. That might mean a tongue-in-cheek piece of in-room collateral or a cocktail that’s infused with oyster shells and a record player in the lounge where you can spin your own vinyl. It’s all about taking the hospitality experience and elevating it, but in an approachable, easygoing sense.”
This article was updated since its original posting date to include the architect on the project.