Les Mars Hotel Officially Open

June 16, 2005 -- David and Sarah Mars, owners of the Les Mars Hotel, just announced the newest entrant among Healdsburg’s increasingly sophisticated array of luxury hospitality offerings is officially open for business. The couple will operate the hotel, designed to recreate the gracious ambiance of the classic European family owned inns, with their daughters, Christina Mars Sharp and Gretchen Anne Mars, and son-in-law, Grant Sharp.

Les Mars has been designed to evoke the charm and style of a classic French Chateau, with wrought iron window work and a high pitched slate roof with zinc dormers. The hotel will offer unobtrusive yet highly personalized service in the time honored tradition of Europe’s boutique hotels and country inns.

Located just steps from Healdsburg’s historic Town Plaza, the hotel is ideally situated for Wine Country excursions as well as for exploring the town’s many appealing shops, culinary attractions, and cultural offerings.

“Each member of our family has been exposed to experiences with European lifestyle and culture, whether through business trips, educational endeavors or leisure travel,” said David Mars. “It became our goal to recreate that guest experience where we felt it would be most likely to flourish, here in Northern California’s Wine Country. Healdsburg, with its elegance and charm, ideal location and rich wine country heritage, was unanimously our first choice.”

Les Mars features 16 rooms; each individually designed in the style of an elegant European country house and furnished with personally selected 18th and 19th century antiques and fine reproductions. Custom designed four-poster beds, draped and dressed with the finest Italian linens grace the bedrooms; the bathrooms are clad in European marble with walk-in showers and hydro-therapy airjet soaking tubs.

The family has assembled a top-notch management and design team that includes Philippa Perry, formerly of Auberge du Soleil, as general manager and Helga Horner, furniture consultant to the Ann Getty House Collection and Sandra Jordan Collection, as designer.

Maitre d’ Nick Peyton, from Gary Danko and The Ritz Carlton, will operate the fine-dining restaurant, Cyrus, named after Cyrus Alexander, who founded the Alexander Valley. Chef Douglas Keane, formerly of Gary Danko, will create the restaurant’s menu of contemporary world-class cuisine.

Guests can enjoy a book or sample local wines in the library, lounge by the pool, relax on the sun deck, or exercise in the fitness center. Other hotel amenities include a conference room and business centre, and the Peyton/Keane-run destination restaurant.

Healdsburg, located only 67 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, is the quintessential Wine Country town, combining the best of small-town America with upscale boutiques, restaurants, art galleries and local micro farms and gardens. In addition to the many amenities available at the hotel and in the town, more than 60 wineries are located within a 10-minute drive of Les Mars, including award-winning wineries in the celebrated appellations of Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley.

Les Mars is located at 27 North Street in Healdsburg, California. The hotel can be reached by calling (707) 433-4211 or toll free (877) 431-1700Les Mars can be visited on the Web at www.lesmarshotel.com.

SOURCE Les Mars Hotel