On July 15, 2003, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants began managing the 188-room Doral Park Avenue Hotel.  In November of 2003, the hotel will close and undergo an extensive renovation and expansion into a 205-room hotel.  The dramatic transformation will also include a completely new restaurant and bar concept featuring a high profile chef. �We have been planning our entrance into New York City for many years and are extremely pleased to announce the plans for Kimpton�s

Doral Park Avenue Hotel 70 Park Avenue at 38th St New York NY

�New York is the country�s premiere travel destination for both business and leisure travelers and is the most requested destination by Kimpton customers visiting our other hotels.  We intend to offer New York a fresh approach to hospitality.�

Jeffrey Bilhuber, a notable New York City interior designer, has been selected to create the distinctive interiors for the hotel.  �Bilhuber is one of the most respected and recognized names in the field of design,� said LaTour.  �His unique interpretation of �American Classicism,� which combines expected tradition with an unexpected modern spin, has been widely acknowledged as a major design force of the new millennium.�

�The Doral Hotel will be an industry leader in redefining what essential luxuries should be,� said Jeffrey Bilhuber.  �The design takes its cue from the building�s significant and refined limestone façade.  We will establish an understated edited interior that handsomely combines the very best of traditional design with the optimistic addition of modern sensibilities.�

The New York office of Gensler, the nation�s leading firm, will provide architectural services.

Located on the corner of Park Avenue at 38th Street in heart of midtown Manhattan, the hotel is within short walking distance of Manhattan�s prime commercial office addresses, walking distance of Fifth Avenue shopping, Grand Central Station, the United Nations Headquarters, Rockefeller Center, Broadway, museums and nightlife.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is a San Francisco-based company known for its collection of stylish boutique hotels that are coupled with fine chef-driven restaurants. Founded in 1981, the company currently operates 38 hotels and 39 restaurants across the United States and Canada. Kimpton�s combination of boutique-style, four-star service and an adjacent destination restaurant has proven a great success. These popular pairings include the fashionable Hotel Monaco Seattle with Sazerac restaurant, the historic Hotel Burnham Chicago with Atwood Café and the sophisticated, chic Hotel Palomar with the award-winning Fifth Floor restaurant in San Francisco. The company recently opened the Topaz Hotel, the Hotel Rouge, the Hotel Madera, the Hotel Monaco and Hotel Helix in Washington DC; the Sky Hotel in Aspen; the Cypress Hotel in Cupertino, Calif; and the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge, Mass.  The Argonaut Hotel, slated to open in summer 2003, is currently under development in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf and the Onyx Hotel in Boston will open in the fall of 2003.