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Publication Date: Friday, October 26, 2001

The return of the Rose

Mike Madden's new Rose Hotel will open in mid-December, a multi-million-dollar venture that promises to add to the economic vitality and holiday sizzle of Pleasanton's downtown.

The three story, 38-room, Victorian style hotel, now being completed at Main and St. John streets, will be Pleasanton's first new downtown hotel in more than 100 years. Modeled and named after the historic old Rose Hotel, it has been architecturally styled to enhance the renowned turn-of-the-century image of Main Street. But there the comparisons stop as Madden and his architects employ 21st Century designs to make the new Rose Hotel what Madden calls "a truly spectacular boutique hotel designed to cater to the business or leisure traveler."

Guests will enter into a lobby off Main Street that will feature dazzling varieties of marble, granite and wood with a circular staircase leading to second floor meeting rooms and guest rooms. A two-story atrium soars to a decorative, reflective crown. Marble and custom carpeted floors continue down second and third floor hallways and into rooms ranging from two bedroom suites to deluxe rooms that are as much as 200 square feet larger than typical hotel rooms.

"We think this will be a great addition to an already exciting downtown," said Madden, who is president of Red Bear Property Management in Pleasanton. He and his brother Joe, a partner in Red Bear and also the owner of Goal Line Productions, are the sons of popular sports commentator and former Raiders coach John Madden. The Madden family has lived in Pleasanton for 35 years.

Red Bear is building the hotel on the site of St. Vincent de Paul Society's thrift store, an 87-year-old corner building that the company acquired several years ago. Mike Madden is currently involved in a redevelopment project in downtown Livermore, where he learned about a hotel project that was once planned there. Surveys showed a need for a fashionable downtown hotel in the area, so when the Livermore plans were withdrawn, Madden brought the idea to his hometown of Pleasanton and his newly acquired St. Vincent de Paul site.

"Hotel designers told me that the site measured perfectly for what we are building - a hotel in the heart of Pleasanton with an upscale residential flare."

Madden said that with just 38 guest rooms, he doesn't expect to compete head-to-head with the hundreds of first class rooms available in large corporate-owned hotels in the I-580/I-680 corridor. Nevertheless, based on those Livermore and more recent surveys, he expects to eventually reach full occupancy with the large number of travelers who come to this area and want the ambiance of downtown Pleasanton and the wine country.

Rates for rooms at the new Rose Hotel will start at $225 for a deluxe room, $345 for a fireplace suite, and from $575 to $625 for the grand two-bedroom suites.

Some business might even come from the "hotel" next door. Bill Laube said his Pleasanton hotel hasn't booked a room since the 1960s, yet people still carry their suitcases in the front door and ask for rooms.

The new hotel is also seen as a catalyst for stimulating retail and restaurant traffic on north Main Street.

"South Main Street is active and vibrant with many restaurants and stores," said Otis Nostrand, incoming chairman of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce. "This hotel will help bolster the north end of the street and make all of our downtown even more vibrant. It will also bring an entirely new upscale hotel to Pleasanton that will make this city even more of a destination for visitors."

Jeff Leuchi, president of the Pleasanton Downtown Association, agreed.

"The new Rose Hotel will bring an economic boost to Main Street just in time to encourage even more shoppers to come downtown for the holidays," he said. "I think it will become a big attraction."

Why build a hotel instead of apartments or a restaurant? Madden, 37, who is a well-known property investor and developer, including building senior housing units on old Stanley Road, said, "It's just something we wanted to do in Pleasanton."

He admits that the current economic downturn makes this "a less opportune time" for a new hotel, but said he and his partners are in this venture for the long haul.

"This hotel is not about quick profit or consultants or surveys," he said. "The Maddens have been in Pleasanton for 35 years. This is totally a big picture project for our town."

As part of the "big picture," Madden has also involved his new hotel in the $10 million capital fundraising drive under way at ValleyCare Health System. His wife Noel gave birth to their son Jack Michael on Sept. 7, giving the Maddens a first-hand look at the Pleasanton hospital.

"I've always been healthy, but also knew how good ValleyCare is," Madden said. "But having a baby and spending three days at the hospital gives you a whole new appreciation for ValleyCare. It's a real positive for our community."

Since then, the Maddens have joined in the support of ValleyCare's $29 million capital fund drive. Two weeks ago, they donated a night's stay in one of the hotel's large guest suites at the recent Ruby Hill Giving Thanks charity ball auction, which brought a winning bid of $4,000 for the ValleyCare fund. Now, Madden has agreed to turn over the hotel on opening night on Saturday, Dec. 15, to the ValleyCare Foundation. Proceeds will go to ValleyCare with top contributors "earning" the first overnight stays at the hotel.

"We appreciate Mike Madden's help," said Ken Mercer, head of the ValleyCare Foundation and former mayor of Pleasanton. "This hotel will become the real anchor for downtown Pleasanton. It's unique, it's beautifully done inside and it offers the special charm of being able to stay downtown and go out at night and enjoy the shops and restaurants of Pleasanton."

The ambience that downtown Pleasanton offers is what Madden believes will attract guests who prefer special locations. With Main Street brimming with top rate restaurants and shops - including Barone's and the Pleasanton Hotel within a few steps of guest rooms - Madden believes the Rose will actually offer more than the larger hotels along the freeways.

"The hotel could not be a better addition to downtown," said Deborah Acosta McKeehan, city manager. "It helps that end of Main Street and adds some more life and activity. It will be a tremendous addition for many years to come."

"We are thrilled that the Maddens decided to invest such quality in downtown Pleasanton," she added. "We think we deserve it and we think they will be happy with the results."

Take a tour of the new hotel with Mike Madden and you'll see his excitement and enthusiasm.

"I've been hands-on all the way," he said. "I've looked at color boards, fabrics, carpeting, swatches, drapes, patterns, you name it. You build a hotel from the inside out, making sure that you have just the right room first, and then put the walls and building around it."

"It's been a learning experience like none other," he added. "I found, for instance, that you don't just go to Breuner's and order 60 or 70 end tables. You get prototypes and then more prototypes, examine them, measure them and then place your order. Each piece of furniture is very specially custom made."

From his own travel experiences, Madden had his own priorities: ¥ Make sure laptop modem connections are conveniently accessible from desktops, not underneath where he used to crawl on his knees to find the plug. ¥ Just like at upscale homes, make sure all showers are separate from the tub with their own enclosures. A major aggravation: Paying top dollar for a hotel room only to have a shower curtain that wraps itself around you. ¥ Shower heads that are not just head-high, but "way high" to provide a comfortable soaking.

Madden also insisted on abundant parking for guests and visitors. Sharing parking lots with the Pleasanton Hotel, which has 86 parking spaces, Madden's hotel has its own required 42 spaces. Then Madden combined some easements and driveways to add still another 10 for both hotels to use.

Also, rather than just meet basic hotel requirements for the handicapped, Madden asked his architects to do more. As a result, showers in rooms designed for handicapped guests are twice as large as those in other rooms, with marble floors and walls, large glass entryways, built in seats and multiple shower heads.

"This was something that we wanted to do for our handicapped guests," Madden said. "It was an opportunity to create a pleasant surrounding for those who can really benefit from it."

For Madden, helping the handicapped is part of his overall and longstanding commitment to Pleasanton service and nonprofit agencies. He holds leadership positions with the GASIT golf tournament that raises scholarships for Pleasanton high school students, the Tri-Valley Sports Hall of Fame and the annual dinner that supports Kaleidoscope in Dublin for severely disabled youth.

"I'm especially proud of my association with Kaleidoscope," he added. "That's very important to me,"

A 1982 graduate of Foothill High School, Madden played a number of positions - including quarterback, tight end and linebacker - for the Foothill Falcons and today, along with brother Joe Madden, coaches the Foothill freshmen football team.

The name Madden, of course, is almost synonymous with football.

"When you're growing up in the house of the coach of the Raiders and at a time when the Raiders over a 10-year period only lost 32 games with my dad at the helm, that's a pretty exciting time for two boys who were then between the ages of 5 and 15," Madden recalls. "It was the very best that football had to offer, so it was kind of impossible not to fall in love with the game."

Although John Madden probably won't be in town for the ValleyCare party, Mike Madden plans to hold a second grand opening party when his father returns after the Superbowl in February.

"For now, though, I am back to being hands-on and focusing on getting the hotel opened on schedule, and that's something else I've learned," he said. "You don't open a hotel until there's soap in every soapdish!"