HotelAlessandra, Lucienne restaurant permanently close their doors downtown
Downtown’s chic HotelAlessandra and its highly rated restaurant, Lucienne, have closed.
The 223-room luxury property at downtown’s GreenStreet development permanently closed on Jan. 6, according to Valencia Hotel Group, whose collection includes Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio.
While Valencia’s website indicates the hotel is permanently closed, the project’s developer, Midway, issued a statement Tuesday indicating the closure may be temporary.
“With the unprecedented challenges faced by the hospitality industry in the COVID-19era, ownership and its capital partners have decided to temporarily closeHotel Alessandra, along with its dining concepts, Lucienne and Bardot Bar,” Robert Williamson, Midway senior vice president for investment management, said in the statement.
The closure comes as business at hotels across the Houston region, which thrived on corporate travel and big conventions, has been gutted by the pandemic. The virtual halt to corporate and leisure travel and the cancellation of conventions large and small has hotel owners facing seemingly insurmountable financial strain. Some are on the verge of losing their properties to foreclosure.
As the Chronicle reported last month, thousands of Houstonians who make their livings cleaning guest rooms, preparing and serving food and working behind the front desks of local hotels are out of work. The sector lost 9,100 jobs inMarch and April — about a third of allhotel jobs in the region. Some 5,900 people are still out of work, according to the Greater Houston
Partnership. The Alessandra was reported to have 26 employees; it’s not knownhowmany are affected.
When contacted Tuesday, Midway’s spokesperson did not know when the hotel would reopen. Valencia referred questions to Spector& Cox lawfirm in Dallas, which did not return a call.
The 20-story hotel, operated by Valencia and developed by Midway, opened in October 2017, after Houston hosted the Super Bowl and at a time when much of the citywas still struggling after Hurricane Harvey.
Alessandra’s closure includes the hotel’s boutique dining room, Lucienne, a modern French restaurant helmed by executive chef Jose Hernandez. While Lucienne was on hiatus during the pandemic, the official closure of the hotel means Hernandez, one of the city’s most accomplished chefs, is without a restaurant.