Hospitality Design - December 2024 - 50

LIZ LAMBERT
Partner, Lambert McGuire Design + MML Hospitality
Founder, The Bunkhouse Group
Prolifi c hotelier Liz Lambert grew up as part of a seventhgeneration
ranching family in West Texas. As the self-proclaimed
bossy younger sister, Lambert and her three older brothers were
allowed to wander and explore. She got her love of hotels from her
grandfather and her mom (he used a local hotel as his offi ce, and
she loved visiting cities and staying in hotels as a homebase), while
her dad taught her to break the rules and question authority.
Aſt er moving back to Texas from Manhatt an, the poetry majorturned-lawyer
decided to redo the dilapidated San Jose motel in a
not-so-great area on South Congress that ultimately helped redefi ne
the Austin neighborhood. " I never knew aſt er the San Jose that I
would want to do another hotel, but I learned how much I love the
process-the design of it and how I would want to do hospitality
diff erently, " she says.
That was the beginning of her hotel career with her company,
the Bunkhouse Group. Next came the Saint Cecilia, a secluded
Estate in Austin; the 27-room Havana in San Antonio; Hotel San
Cristóbal in Todos Santos, Mexico; and El Cosmico, the nomadic,
immersive camping experience in Marfa, Texas, which has been a
living laboratory for artists, creatives, and musicians alike.
Lambert has been a champion for the arts, sustainability, and
local voices along the way. A passion that " came from a group of
people who were excited to share their community, who were
happy to welcome you in, who were enthusiastic about hospitality,
and we were learning as we went, " she says. Her success led to
Standard International's acquisition of Bunkhouse in 2015.
She isn't slowing down in her next chapter. With her new
company MML, Lambert has opened the Hotel Saint Vincent
in New Orleans and is working on a renovation of the Mountain
Chalet hotel in Aspen as well as Sixth&Blanco, a 57-key hotel with
10 private residences in Austin alongside Herzog & de Meuron and
executive architect Page.
El Cosmico 2.0 is also underway. Set on 21 acres just a few
miles away from the original, the new compound will include
a restaurant, bathhouse, and central pool. The most interesting
detail, however, is that it will be the fi rst 3D-printed hotel, boasting
revolutionary rooms and residences courtesy of architecture fi rm
Bjarke Ingels Grooup (BIG) and innovative construction company
ICON, which is also doing work for NASA.
" I am blown away by how lucky I am, " Lambert says. " I'm
working with people I never dreamed I would be working with on
projects that are beyond what I could have imagined. I don't know
what I'll do next, but I'm very excited by the prospects. " hd
" I'm working with people I never
dreamed I would be working with
on projects that are beyond what I
could have imagined. "
- Liz Lambert
Hospitality Design - December 2024

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