RANCHO SANTA FE — When the last guest checks out after Labor Day weekend, the renovation of the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe will begin.
Jim Chatfield, senior vice president of JMI Realty, the new owners of the Inn, gave an update about plans for renovation.
Chatfield said there is a $12 million budget for the project and work should begin Sept. 12 and be finished by Memorial Day 2013.
He said the work would be done by small crews that will not disrupt life in the Village.
“We won’t bring in a big crane. You will hardly know we’re here,” he said.
He said the renovation would respect the heritage of the property.
“We feel it is important to embrace the community,” he said.
Chatfield said the spa will be expanded and four treatment rooms added.
The pool and Jacuzzi will be enhanced with the hot tub being slightly enlarged.
The lockers will be removed; new landscaping and trellises will be added.
He said the guest rooms will be standardized, but 10 of the lawn cottages will offer the “heritage experience.” The rest will offer “country elegance.”
Chatfield told the board that the landscaping will be enhanced and the upper lawn leveled so that events can be held there more easily. More pockets of scenic seating will be offered outdoors.
“We want to say come and relax at the Inn,” he said.
The kitchen will be enlarged and take over the Garden Room at the front of the Inn. The outdoor dining area will be covered.
The new chef Todd Allison has big plans for the orange grove behind the
Inn. He plans to use it for growing some of the food used in the kitchen.
When guests reach the Inn, a new portal, decorative paving, landscapes and signs will give them the feeling “they have arrived,” he said.
The Art Jury is in favor of the proposed revisions conceptually, but want JMI to provide more details and alternatives for the design of the entry elements off Linea de Cielo and to provide story poles on that site.
TheArt Jury would also like them provide alternates for the shade element at the dining court.
JMI is well known for its work in the ballpark district in downtown San Diego and it has several hotels, including the Omni, the Hotel Solamar and Paseo Del Mar.
Its brand “Benchmark,” has the same character found in all of their hotels. They are comfortable, romantic, are the heart of the community; they are intimate, and in this case captures the essence of Rancho Santa Fe, Chatfield said.
