The connection between design and hospitality entranced Jon Kully from a young age. Kully, managing partner at the hospitality development firm Left Lane, grew up traveling frequently with his family, and all those trips offered up opportunities to observe how the two realms “go hand in hand,” he says. “The greatest design impact is in a hospitality space. Your eyes are wide open and you’re taking it all in. Your senses are on high alert.”
Among Kully’s early hotel stays, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France, as well as the Italian properties Il San Pietro in Positano and Belmond’s Hotel Cipriani in Venice left the most memorable imprints. “These destinations were transformative, transcendent, and filled with fantasy. The effortless quality of the totalizing guest experience was a foundational element in starting Left Lane,” he explains.
In 2019, the Hansen Architects- and AvroKO-designed Perry Lane Hotel, developed by Kully’s former company Flank, opened in Savannah, Georgia. It proved a professional turning point, when he “recognized the necessity of combining concept and execution,” Kully recalls. “Operationalizing a brand is only truly possible when authorship and execution reside under one roof.”
Greenery wraps a wrought-iron winter garden courtyard at the Hotel Bardo in Savannah
The insight led Kully, who holds a master’s of architecture degree from Columbia University in New York, to establish the vertically integrated Left Lane Development in 2021 with partners Ash Shaaban, Andy Bernard, Jon Bloomberg, and Pritpal Singh.
Hotel Bardo, Left Lane’s inaugural offering, debuted in Savannah in 2024, complete with members only Club Bardo, a pretty-in-pink social club inspired by the tradition of early-20th-century salons.
It’s a city that the New York-based Kully adores for its “rich culture, literary history, and arts scene,” he points out. Indeed, the 149-key urban resort, designed in collaboration with Thailand-based Atelier Pond with a “riot clash” aesthetic, is a transformation of the historic Mansion on Forsyth Park, revealing Left Lane’s flair for adaptive reuse.
Hues of pink, yellow, and coral lend a retro touch to Bar Bibi at the Hotel Bardo
Come 2026, the Hotel Bardo brand will make a splash in Pittsburgh, another city with a rich and diverse history. Spearheaded by New York firm Inc. Architecture & Design, the property will take over the Gulf Tower, a downtown Art Deco skyscraper, with 130 guestrooms and 220 residences. That same year, Left Lane will introduce the first outpost of Recess in Savannah.
A lifestyle-focused sibling of luxurious Hotel Bardo, the Recess brand is driven by the notions of surprise and revelry. Set in the Manger Building—which debuted as a hotel in 1912 before converting to offices in the 1970s—the 221-room Recess Hotel & Club will feature a retro-futurist design scheme via tactile elements like natural wood, marble, and tile once again brought to life in partnership with Atelier Pond.
Slated to open next year, the 11th-floor Kilter Rooftop & Pool at the Recess Savannah, shown in a rendering
“Recess is for a modestly different demographic that allows us to be even more whimsical. When you were a child, you had all this unstructured time. You got to see friends in class and make up all these games. It was a new hierarchy that didn’t have a bunch of adults around,” Kully says.
Reviving that carefree spirit is the aim of Recess, accomplished through hangouts like a sprawling clubhouse, the lush 11th-floor Kilter Rooftop & Pool, the buzzy brasserie Le Flâneur, and the Rumpus Rooms that invite socializing on each guestroom floor. Saltgrass, the spa found at Hotel Bardo, will open another location at Recess, with a focus on recovery, thanks to a sauna, steam room, and cold plunge circuit that foster relaxed gatherings with friends.
Following Savannah, Recess will head to Phoenix as a seven-acre resort, complete with a massive beach club and lagoon pool.
“Recess is the party,” as Kully puts it. It’s also another manifestation of his desire to explore the intersection between travel, design, and development. “What is more satisfying than leaving a lasting impression on kindred strangers?” he says. “You can create beautiful spaces, but true luxury is when it all pairs seamlessly with flawless, anticipatory service and dynamic programming.”
A rendering of the Recess Savannah lobby, which showcases natural wood, marble, and tile
The coastal Italian restaurant Saint Bibiana at the Hotel Bardo
This article originally appeared in HD’s October 2024 issue.
