Jan. 15--The Mirabeau Park Hotel was built in 1969, during the height of geometric-patterned wallpaper, plastic chairs and color palettes that can only be described as "groovy."

The Spokane Valley hotel has shed much of that image, but its new owners, Spokane Hospitality LLC, are undertaking a $3 million renovation to truly modernize the 236-room facility.

Ironically, the new design is in some ways a throwback to the decade that launched the old look.

"It's kind of retro," said Gordon Sombrowski, one of Spokane Hospitality's three owners. "We don't want to be W Hotel, but we want to draw inspiration from that." W Hotels is a chain of modern, upscale hotels.

Guest rooms at the Mirabeau Park Hotel are getting cherry-wood furniture built with sleek lines and smooth hardware. Marble tiles and granite countertops are being installed in bathrooms. And The Vineyards, a large restaurant in the hotel that once was a destination itself, will be gutted and reborn as a hip, happening eatery, Sombrowski said.

"Our philosophy, as a company, reflects the honest use of materials," he said. "Food will be true to its flavors. It'll be simplicity over elaborate."

The restaurant's new chef is developing a menu rich in organic, free-range foods from local suppliers. It will have to use non-organic foods as well, though, to keep costs down, Sombrowski said.

Sombrowski wants the hotel to be a "hub" for the Valley community, where residents -- as well as visitors -- can appreciate food, socializing, and the work of local artists, which the hotel plans to hang on the walls.

"I don't want to go out and get cookie-cutter hotel art," he said.

On the building's exterior, light-green trim is being repainted copper.

"We're trying to make it less Don Johnson, 'Miami Vice,"' said Sombrowski, the project's interior designer and general contractor.

Some renovation work is under way, and demolition of the restaurant is awaiting a permit from the city. The first phase, which includes renovation of the restaurant, hallways, about half of the guest rooms, and a courtyard area, is expected to be completed within six months.

After that, the hotel will consider updating the lobby and convention space at an additional cost, he said. More guest rooms will be remodeled during the next five years.

The Mirabeau Park Hotel caters to a wide cross-section of guests, compared with urban hotels in cities like Seattle that can market themselves either to businesspeople, young professionals, families or other groups, he said.

Sombrowski wants the Spokane tourism industry to promote itself more to West Side residents, who might enjoy vacationing here to escape rainy weather.

"I don't think Spokane has exploited that sufficiently," he said.

The hotel's room rates range from $80 to $130 now. If it raises its rates in the future, it will be because of market changes, not because of the renovation, Sombrowski said.

The hotel said last fall that it was considering buying a franchise of a national chain such as Sheraton. Those plans are on hold, Sobrowski said.

"If we don't need to do one, we won't," he said. "We feel it's a good thing for the world to have independent operators."

The hotel was founded as the Lamp Lighter, but has changed hands several times over the years. At one time it was a Red Lion Hotel, and it was a DoubleTree until Spokane Hospitality bought it last August.

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