When Ramon Zambrano first announced that he was going to create a serene boutique hotel next to the noisy Highway 101 in Mill Valley, people were more than a little surprised.  This derelict site, next to the Richardson Bay portion of the San Francisco Bay, had been sinking for years, so much so that the previous use, a restaurant, had to be condemned and closed because the sewers would not drain properly.  Furthermore, this

ACQUA HOTEL 555 Redwood Highway Mill Valley, CA

But, Zambrano, a well-respected Bay Area architect and developer (who also created the Mill Valley Inn and the Waters Edge Hotel in Tiburon with his wife Patience Moore and partners Paulo and Domenico Petrone), had a unique vision.  "I imagined creating a large, one and a half-acre garden at the back of the hotel fronting on the water with all of the guestrooms angled with views across the bay to Mount Tamalpais," he says.  "But, to provide that kind of serenity on the west side of the site, I needed to design the hotel so that the 'blank' side (the corridors and room entries) faced the freeway with appropriate landscaping, while the 'open' side with windows and balconies opened up to the spectacular natural environs.  It's a remarkable juxtaposition of intense civilization on one side and pastoral beauty on the other."

The engineering and design of the site was complicated.  The seawall next to the bay was raised four feet and the whole site grade was raised to the same height.  The new construction was supported by 73 piles drilled to and anchored in bedrock 50 to 85 feet underground -- quite an elaborate process for a three-story, 50-room hotel.  Furthermore, the typical hotel parking requirements risked asphalting over the entire site.  Instead, Ramon Zambrano was able to take advantage of the office building parking being developed next door since the office and hotel peak parking times were perfectly counter-cyclical.  This permitted a 20% reduction in required parking area and allowed more space to be devoted to the gardens and landscaping.

In sum, this project is a classic example of "necessity is the mother of invention."  This challenging, but unique building site led to the creation of one of America's most unique suburban boutique hotels -- a model that is quickly gaining notice throughout the American hotel industry.