A Home Run early three years after its conception, Senna House opened its doors with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony. The six-story complex, with 169 rooms along with upscale amenities, sits on the former site of the Don & Charlie’s restaurant. Phoenix-based investment and development firm Opwest Partners developed the property. “We’ve developed all over the country and this is the first property we’ve done in our backyard,” says Tyler Kent, managing principal at Opwest Partners. “It’s special to do what we’ve done across the country here in our backyard.” Kent says he feels fortunate to build on a
property that had a rich history. Don & Charlie’s was a premier Spring Training restaurant with walls covered in sports memorabilia and autographs. When the restaurant, a favorite among Cubs fans, closed in April 2019, it was a lengthy process to transform the grounds into a six-story hotel. “We were fortunate enough to acquire Don & Charlie’s and the city supported a redevelopment here to turn the restaurant into a hotel,” Kent says. The site was attractive because of its location along Camelback Road. “It’s very unique to have a Camelback Road address,” Kent says, calling it “arguably the most notorious thoroughfare in Scottsdale. Our hope is that guests and locals come to the property and feel a connection to Scottsdale
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Plush Senna House opens its doors to guests By Alex Gallagher
through our design which will translate to loyalty.” With the land cleared, Kent and his team retreated to the drawing board to devise a plan for the hotel. “Our vision was originally to create a high-end lifestyle boutique hotel in the entertainment district,” Kent says. “We saw a market opportunity to add to Scottsdale’s hospitality stock while creating an authentic product.” The hotel has a “soft brand,” one attached to large hotel company distribution systems that still allows the owners to create a unique name brand and design for the hotel. Senna is part of Hilton Hotels Curio Collection. “Launched in 2014, the purpose for Curio Collection by Hilton was to have an eclectic, high design and extremely special collec-
