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If You Can Name a Tech Company 'Google,' 
You Can Name a Hotel 'ZaZa'
By Richard Mize, The Daily Oklahoman
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News 

Oct. 19--ZOWIE! The name Oklahoma City developer Charles Givens gave his latest project, an upscale hotel in uptown Dallas, is a real zinger: Hotel ZaZa. 

He points out that it's pronounced "Za-Za," with a hard Z sound, not "Zsa-Zsa," as in Gabor, as in ancient history when it comes to American pop culture. The headline-grabbing femme fatale is definitely old news -- and Hotel ZaZa, Givens said, is "stimulating and fresh." 

The $32 million, four-story "urban lifestyle" hotel, with 146 oversize guest rooms, will open next month at 2332 Leonard, a mile north of downtown. The project, 13 months in the making, is a venture of Givens and investment banker Jeff Records, chairman of Oklahoma City's MidFirst Bank, and is Givens' first project in Dallas. 

"I went through a lot of different names, experimenting and bouncing ideas off of people," Givens said this week on a rare day in Oklahoma City. "If you can name a tech company 'Google,' you can name a hotel 'ZaZa.' The name has been a big hit." 

The overall look of Hotel ZaZa, in a rich yellow with "eclectic, casual and seductive" interiors, is "South of France with an Asian twist," he said. Each room has a sitting area, vaulted ceilings with corbels, baths with lighted marble vanities and the latest communications technology. Rates range from $175 to $245. 

Amenities include 13 individually designed suites, with themes including "Texas," "Out of Africa," "West Indies," "East Indies," "Zen," "Bohemian" "The Medusa" and "Shag-a-delic." In addition, there is the ZaSpa, Club ZaZa and Dragonfly, a Mediterranean-Asian restaurant featuring renowned Southwestern chef Stephan Pyles. 

"We're aiming for interesting people, interesting, fun-loving people. We're really going after business clientele. Jeff and I both wanted a place where people could work hard, but they'd have a place where they could be refreshed," Givens said. "It's in the hottest area of Dallas, (where people are) thinkers, fun-loving, with good disposable income." 

Givens' developments in Oklahoma City include the Waterford hotel-office complex, the adjacent Waterford Gardens residential neighborhood, The Vineyard Residential Resort in The Village and other resort and garden home communities. He said developing Hotel ZaZa has captured his imagination like nothing else. 

"I've put my heart and soul into this, and so has Jeff. It takes a lot of energy," he said. "I always wanted to be a Broadway producer, and this is a lot like that. This is about as creative as you can get without being an actor or painter or something like that." 

Hotel ZaZa was constructed by El Paso, Texas-based C.F. Jordan, out of its Dallas office. Management company is Gemstone Resorts International, Park City, Utah. Interior designer was Kimberly Miller of Duncan & Miller in Dallas. 

Givens said he and Records, of MidFirst Bank, kept Oklahomans involved, as well. Architectural services were provided by Richard R. Brown Associates in Oklahoma City. Financing was by BancFirst in Oklahoma City. 

"Jeff Records and Charlie Givens are Oklahomans through and through," Givens said, noting that Dallas, "big on business and big on fun," was begging for a hotel like this. "We're looking at expanding this ZaZa concept, and Oklahoma City is definitely on our radar," he said. 

-----To see more of The Daily Oklahoman, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsok.com 

(c) 2002, The Daily Oklahoman. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. 


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