But on Jan. 1, the Phoenix\u2019s Instagram account put out a very different statement: \u201cRolling into 2026 like we always do. Good music, strong drinks, NO freaking regrets, and the kind of energy you can\u2019t fake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mission Local has learned that Michel Suas, the French baker who purchased the property in 2024 for $9 million, unexpectedly stepped in to continue operating the decades-old hotel in recent weeks, according to the Phoenix\u2019s former managing partner Isabel Manchester. Manchester said the change happened \u201cvery quickly\u201d and \u201ccame out of nowhere\u201d at the 11th hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It appears that Suas, who owns the property, found a new hotel operator: City business filings from earlier this month show that an LLC named \u201cPhoenix Hotel TL\u201d took ownership of the address at 601 Eddy St. That LLC is associated with an address for Binoy Patel, a local hotelier and investor who once managed the nearby Civic Center Inn<\/a>, once notorious for being one of the cheapest \u2014\u00a0and most chaotic \u2014\u00a0hotels in the Tenderloin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Manchester declined to offer details about why the team that created the Phoenix decades ago is leaving, or why it never closed, but suggested that lease negotiations between the team and Suas did not pan out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Suas, a James Beard award winner, owns popular bakeries b. Patisserie, Thorough Bread & Pastry, and founded the San Francisco Baking Institute. He purchased the hotel through his baking institute in August 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reached by phone, Suas said he was busy in a meeting, and was subsequently unreachable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Patel also did not respond to Mission Local\u2019s requests for comment. He did, however, reply to a heartfelt sequence of limericks posted to LinkedIn<\/a> this month by Phoenix hotel founder Chip Conley. Patel indicated that he intends to keep the Phoenix open.\u00a0<\/p>\n The hotel, which opened in 1987, was a destination for the stars, drawing guests like Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Keanu Reeves. It was also a fixture in the Tenderloin\u2019s political life \u2014 a place where nonprofits would host galas and politicos<\/a> would participate in an annual charity dunk in the courtyard pool<\/a>. Before it was purchased and redesigned as the Phoenix, the Caravan Motor Lodge, built in 1956, operated there.<\/p>\n News of the Phoenix\u2019s closure last year came as a blow. Randy Shaw, the executive director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic affordable housing nonprofit, blamed the city for its demise: \u201cCity-promoted drug tourism has claimed another victim,\u201d he wrote on his website<\/a>, Beyond Chron.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whether chaotic street conditions were a factor in the closure is unclear. Many businesses in the neighborhood have struggled to stay afloat since the pandemic, and the Phoenix was one of the primary plaintiffs in a 2024 lawsuit claiming that city officials were using the Tenderloin as a \u201ccontainment zone\u201d for drug activity that they wanted to keep out of other parts of the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n By Jan. 30, court filings show that the LLCs associated with the Phoenix and the bar inside, Chambers, had dismissed their claims and withdrawn from the lawsuit, which is still ongoing. That same day, the Phoenix\u2019s Instagram account put out a statement suggesting an uncertain future. \u201cFor the time being, our doors are still open and reservations are available to book. What the next chapter looks like is still being worked out, but for now, we\u2019re here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Manchester, who has been with the Phoenix since 2011, said that her team\u2019s 40-year lease on the hotel ended on Jan. 31, but that she was \u201cthrilled\u201d that the Phoenix would remain open.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a complicated story,\u201d Manchester said. \u201cBut we are excited to have been part of the amazing legacy that we were a part of for the last 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Patel, for his part, seems to want to continue that legacy. \u201cYour heart still beats here \u2026 Good things are forthcoming,\u201d Patel wrote in his reply to Conley\u2019s farewell poem on LinkedIn. \u201cThe Phoenix is alive and well!! Can\u2019t wait for you to come and see what I will do next. Blessed to have opportunity to continue your legacy. The Phoenix lives\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But as Conley wrote in his farewell post:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNow the keys change hands, seasons turn,\u00a0<\/p>\n But the soul? That\u2019s a harder thing to earn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_8815-853x640.jpeg\")
The Phoenix Hotel at 601 Eddy St. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/p>\n