After spending a few minutes at Plano’s newest hotel, Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West Hotel, you might forget that you’re in a suburban setting. The development is a project of Dallas’ Moon family, the same family that owns Sam Moon Trading Co., a wholesale accessories and handbags retail store, with locations in Dallas, Frisco, Arlington, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. The $131 million hotel is the family’s first foray into hospitality development. The family worked with architecture group HKS to design the property.
The 15-floor, 288-room Legacy West property officially opened its doors to the public Monday. John Klukan, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, has known the Moon family for 15 years and helped the Moons meet with Marriott International about selecting a third-party hotel management team. Marriott International owns more than 30 hotel brands, including Renaissance Hotels, and, after doing its research, the hospitality company recommended the Renaissance brand to the family.
“This part of north Dallas or Collin County was ripe for a lifestyle space hotel,” said Klukan. He said they expect most business to be a mix of corporate transient guests (those with short stays or last-minute bookings), combined with group bookings, which is expected to account for 40 percent of the business. The hotel is also doing its fair share of work to attract the local guest, projecting weekends to bring in a significant number of “staycationers.” Among the 225 employees at the hotel will be a number of “navigators”—employees whose job is to look for local attractions in four categories: sip, savor, shop, and see. These provided experiences are meant to attract another segment of guests, the “social discoverer.”
While owners typically don’t have much say in the final design of such hotels, you will still see nods to the Moon family throughout the space. Chris Judy, a Dallas-based artist, completed Korean calligraphy artwork that translates to the names of the patriarch, David Moon, and his two sons, Sam and Daniel. (David Moon was born in Seoul, South Korea.) Additionally, as guests walk in the door, they are greeted by a large Austrian crystal chandelier in the shape of a half-moon in honor of the Moon family. Guests are then greeted at the reception desk, where the LED wall behind it outlines the non-stop air routes from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Dallas-based design firm Looney & Associates completed the vision for the interior design and pulled out all the stops in creating its “juxtaposition of East meets West.”
Foregoing a national coffee shop, the hotel includes the Texas Tea House, featuring custom-blended Asian teas and Illy coffee. OMA, the in-house Asian-fusion restaurant, will include service for the day’s three meals. The pool area will also include a full-service bar and grill.
Klukan has been selling since September and already has several large hotel buyouts on the books for the fourth quarter of this year. The Moon family has two more hospitality projects in the works: a Hyatt Place in Alliance and a second Marriott product in Legacy West.
