By Dawn Gilbertson | The Arizona Republic
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the boutique hotel chain with a cultlike following, is bringing its animal-print robes, secret passwords and nightly wine reception to Sedona visitors.
The San Francisco-based chain this week acquired Amara Resort & Spa, a 100-room creekside resort in uptown Sedona, the tourist heart of the city. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Amara, which has stunning red-rock views from its back patio and pool area, opened in 2004, went into foreclosure in 2010 and was sold for $19.5 million to a Connecticut investment company in a trustee sale in 2011. The hotel’s developer and longtime owner was a group led by Scottsdale attorney and developer Al Spector, who also owned neighboring L’Auberge de Sedona and Orchards Inn until they were sold to one of their financial backers in March.
Amara, Kimpton’s 59th hotel and its third in Arizona, is already being marketed as a Kimpton hotel, with its trademark perks and a Kimpton-trained general manager already in place. The pitch on Kimpton’s home page earlier this week: “Rock it in Sedona.”
