Leslie Doggett Buys St Regis Houston

The storied St. Regis Houston has a new owner — and a new identity — as local businessman Leslie Doggett moves deeper into hospitality with plans for a ground-up refresh of the luxury hotel between River Oaks and the Galleria.

Doggett, whose family empire Leslie Doggett Industries spans industrial equipment and car dealerships, acquired the hotel at 1919 Briar Oaks Lane and is planning a multimillion-dollar renovation over the next two years, the Houston Business Journal reported. The seller was not disclosed, and Doggett declined to share the purchase price.

The acquisition marks a personal and strategic pivot for Doggett, who said the hotel’s revival is as much emotional as it is financial. He and his wife spent their wedding night there in 1984, when the property was known as The Remington. “The hotel has excellent bones,” Doggett told the outlet, “but it just needs a few upgrades.”

As part of the deal, the hotel will exit the St. Regis flag — operated by Marriott International — and rebrand under Marriott’s Luxury Collection as The Houston Grand Hotel — River Oaks. Doggett told the outlet that the property is not affiliated with the nearby St. Regis Residences Houston condo project.

Opened in 1982, the hotel later became Houston’s first Ritz-Carlton and famously hosted Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 before losing the Ritz flag in 1997. Doggett’s vision is to restore what he calls the city’s “grandest hotel experience,” with a family-owned approach.

Renovations are expected to be designed this year and completed by the end of 2027, overseen by Saddlebrook Equity and Management, an arm of Doggett’s broader business. Connecticut-based HEI Hotels & Resorts has taken over management.

Plans start with a dramatic lobby overhaul: tearing down walls, restoring 12-foot ceiling heights by removing the current drop ceilings and opening up back-of-house space to create a more theatrical arrival. The reimagined ground floor is slated to include a coffee shop, a barber shop, a restaurant replacing The Remington, a gun shop, a spirits-heavy lounge and other experiential touches Doggett believes guests are craving.

Doggett told the outlet that the location is nonnegotiable. “This area is ground zero for Houston hotels,” he said.

Guest rooms across all 12 floors will be renovated in phases to avoid a full closure, while the property’s event spaces, fitness center and pool deck are also in line for major upgrades. New York-based designer Charlotte Moss is leading interiors.

Doggett is also partnering on a planned mixed-use development nearby that could bring a 50-story condo-hotel tower and office space to Post Oak Boulevard.

— Eric Weilbacher