LOS ALTOS, California—The hotel business is a local one, and the support of a community can form a foundation that’s often just as strong as concrete and steel beams when it comes to building a special property.
That’s been the case for Enchanté Boutique Hotel in Los Altos, California, a 19-room luxury boutique hotel in the heart of Silicon Valley that can best be described as a passion project for owner and developer Abby Ahrens.
Ahrens, a longtime real estate broker and interior designer for high-end residential homes, said the pull of community is what first made her think about dipping a toe into the hotel industry.
“Many people in California think about having a little place in the country, running away to a secluded spot and having a bed-and-breakfast, but I wanted to do it here, in my own community,” she said.
Ahrens, herself a resident of Los Altos, is the first to admit she’s not a traditional hotelier. “I made the mistake of thinking I could do this,” she said with a chuckle. “My family of course was ready to have me committed, and they retained that thought through the entire process.”
But with hard work, many years of real estate and community connections and a commitment to hospitality, Ahrens made her dream a reality. The hotel celebrates its one-year anniversary this February. In the short time since she first thought of the project, Ahrens said she has learned a lifetime of lessons about the hotel industry.
Ground-up development
Many factors fell into place early with the project, and Ahrens said history was on her side.
“Los Altos was first developed by a railroad company, which saw the opportunity of bringing people from San Francisco down to what would become Silicon Valley,” she said. “The president of the railroad convinced people to buy small lots, and he promised them a mercantile, a bank and a hotel. Turns out, the city had to wait more than 100 years to get the hotel.”
Enchanté is the first hotel in downtown Los Altos, and it sits on a 6,000-square-foot tract of land that had been vacant for 20 years.
“This was a ground-up new build,” Ahrens said. “Behind my back, the staff at City Hall were laughing at me, wondering how on earth I would get a hotel built on this itty-bitty triangle of land, but we did it.”
The project was approved in six months and development took about four years. Ahrens designed the hotel in partnership with San Jose, California, architect Jonathan Mansour, and together they incorporated details that evoke the hotel’s French feel throughout—from a slate roof to ironwork originally from France.
That old-world European style and charm characterizes the entire property, which is furnished in part with items from Ahrens’ own collection of French and European antiques. The design is another aspect that’s a first for the area as well. “This style allowed us to create something that truly didn’t exist in Silicon Valley, which is often more modern,” she said. “Every room is different.”
Building a team and an education
Ahrens knew she would have to work her connections and arm herself with knowledge to turn the project into a successful hotel.
She credits the startup mentality that characterizes Silicon Valley with helping her. (Los Altos is where computer mogul Steve Jobs created the first Apple computer.) “There really is a start-up mentality around here; everyone is committed to making a difference,” she said.
Ahrens took classes offered by California’s hotel and bed-and-breakfast associations to soak up as much as possible, and relied on the expertise of the people around her.
“I was very fortunate in selecting an amazing group of consultants and surrounding myself with a team of people that many small boutique hotels don’t have,” she said.
She worked with Waterford Hotels & Inns on the consulting and management side of the hotel and worked hard to find the best people to run the property. GM Josh Steinhart comes from Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, and the hotel’s assistant GM is from Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Ahrens said that many of her 20 employees might have experience in the foremost luxury hotel brands, but they wanted to come back home to the Silicon Valley area.
The guest mix
That commitment from the team is what has helped the hotel ramp up its operations in the less than a year, Ahrens said.
“The community was so supportive of the hotel opening, and I knew they would support us in terms of sending their family and friends to us,” she said. “I knew that since we’re not a branded hotel that it might be difficult to get business travelers, but I can tell you that in just over six months of being open, we have several guests who have stayed with us more than 60 times already.”
The hotel’s location in Silicon Valley’s tech corridor has created business demand from the get-go.
Hewlett-Packard’s David and Lucile Packard Foundation is located within walking distance of Enchanté and has been a supporter from the start—a business and personal connection Ahrens made early on.
Ahrens also sits on several local boards and encourages community business meetings at her hotel. So far, word-of-mouth has been the best way of promoting her business.
In the beginning, Ahrens said the hotel worked with HotelTonight for distribution help, and that led to other opportunities. “Expedia saw our photos there and contacted us,” she said. “I told them that I’d love to work with them but their commission was so high and we couldn’t afford it, and they said they would make an exception and they cut the commission in half.”
Occupancy of 100% isn’t an oddity for the hotel, Ahrens said. With strong corporate business during the week, the hotel’s team now is focusing on growing leisure travel business on the weekends as Los Altos becomes a growing tourist destination.
Ahrens said she has enjoyed the process of getting to know regular guests.
“My eyes are open to doing another hotel project,” she said. “I’d love to find something out there for a remodel.”