Boutique hotel group acquires Park 968 in SLT

San Francisco-based hotel chain Joie de Vivre has taken over Park 968 in South Lake Tahoe.

With the addition of Park 968 and Monterey Tides, Joie de Vivre now operates 22 hotels in California. The boutique hotel chain also has properties in Chicago, Miami, Scottsdale and Washington, D.C., and soon will be in New Orleans and New York City.

Park 968 started as a Days Inn in the 1970s. In 2007, brothers Solomon and David Aflalo along with five silent partners bought the aging hotel for nearly $5 million. It took almost a year to renovate the 58-room hotel. It became the first eco-friendly hotel on the South Shore.

In summer 2016 there will be 164 rooms available because the Park Tahoe Inn, which is next door, is being combined with Park 968 to be one hotel. Those rooms will be completely renovated. A clerk at Park 968 said they will look different, but could not say how.

The décor at 968 Park is modern and rustic at the same time.

A new restaurant will service the combined property. There will also be an expansive outdoor terrace.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report