Downtown Project unveils boutique hotel Oasis
Downtown Project on Tuesday morning unveiled a new 44-room, nongaming boutique hotel named Oasis at its Gold Spike property, creating the first hotel in its development portfolio.
The Oasis is the latest project for Downtown Project, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s $350 million initiative to redevelop the East Fremont area in downtown.
The multimillion-dollar makeover of the 44 rooms includes six suites, different decor and artwork for each unit and rotating closets. The rooms have new bathrooms, high-end laminate flooring and plumbing. The rooms are also nonsmoking and do not contain clocks or phones, though clocks and phones are available if requested.
“The rooms were taken down to the studs,” Downtown Project spokesperson Kim Schaefer said, showing one of the rehabbed rooms.
Rates will be comparable with those of other downtown hotels such as The D Las Vegas, Grand and Golden Nugget, said Mike Stoll, a Downtown Project staffer who works on the DTP operations team.
Stoll said midweek rates would be $49-$69, while weekend costs would be in the $79-$129 range. The suites would cost $20 more for mid-week and $40 more for weekends, said David Sosa, the Oasis general manager. The regular rooms are 260-275 square feet and the suites, created by knocking down the wall between two regular rooms, are double that space.
Rooms will cost in the $200 range this weekend, when the Life Is Beautiful music, art, food and learning festival is staged Friday to Sunday only a few blocks away. Hsieh is a partner of Life Is Beautiful, too.
Oasis was about 50 percent occupied on Tuesday but is expected to be sold out for this weekend, Sosa said.
Some Downtown Project visitors stayed in “crash pads” in rooms at the nearby Ogden residential building, but the Oasis will now offer alternative accommodations, Schaefer said.
The new boutique hotel quietly opened Sept. 15, about two weeks before Downtown Project announced 30 layoffs to streamline operations.
On Oct. 9, Downtown Project also opened The Market, an upscale grocery near Container Park.
Downtown Project hired 32 people for The Market, and another 11 jobs for the Oasis, Schaefer said. She noted the Oasis was not affected by the layoffs.
Downtown Project this year also opened a rehabbed John E. Carson Hotel commercial center and renovated Bunkhouse Saloon music venue.
Gold Spike also rents out another 42 rooms in its main tower to monthly residents.
Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Find him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel
