Photograph of the Majestic Hotel's entry by Susie Biehler
By Chris Barnett
Owners of the 58-room, 116-year-old Edwardian style Hotel Majestic at Sutter and Gough have filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy to keep creditors from checking in and padlocking its ornate, cut glass front doors.
Under Chapter 11, the hotel and its Uptown Joe’s restaurant and Butterfly Bar remain open for business.
There is an upside for locals: The hotel has cut its neighborhood rate to a bargain $79 a night plus tax. Out of towners can book a room starting at $89 a night plus tax, says Paulo Monte, the current general manager. Occupancy is running at 60 percent, he says. A year ago, rooms were fetching $150 nightly.
An estimated 106 hotels in the Bay Area were either in foreclosure or default on their mortgage financings in the first quarter of 2010, up 10 percent from a year earlier, according to Atlas Hospitality Group, a consulting group that tracks hotels in financial trouble.
Coque Dion, an attorney from the Majestic’s law firm, Manasian & Rongeau in San Francisco, would not disclose the creditors or the claims against the Majestic. “We haven’t been able to ascertain a total,” Dion said. “We’ve seen different numbers. But the Majestic is not the only hotel having this problem.” Dion said he is “not aware of any plans to shut it down.”
Majestic LLC is owned by Joe Pinsonneault, chief executive of Security Asset Credit Corp., a San Diego real estate developer with holdings in Phoenix. But he’s something of a mystery man. The staff knows little about him except that he may own a yacht and an airplane. Reached twice on his cell phone, Pinsonneault both times said he was in meetings and could not answer questions about the hotel’s status and future. He promised to return the calls, but never did.
In less than a year, Pinsonneault has gone through two general managers.
Last November, Pinsonneault won a highly publicized lawsuit filed by the owners of Original Joe’s, the venerable Italian restaurant, against the Majestic. When the hotel’s restaurant bombed after an extensive and expensive transformation of its Cafe Majestic, Pinsonneault figured it might fly as a casual Italian eatery with a name familiar to vintage San Franciscans. He branded it Uptown Joe’s and successfully defended his right to use the name.
Uptown Joe’s has gotten little notice from restaurant critics, but the plates are still piled high with Italian comfort food. Since the bankruptcy filing, Uptown Joe’s has closed for dinner on Sunday and Monday nights, but an a la carte Sunday brunch is served.
Hotel Majestic was built in 1902 as a home for state Senator Milton Schmidt and converted into a hotel two years later.
EARLIER: Living up to its name
Filed under: Food, Drink & Lodging, Landmarks