Chip Conley of boutique hotelier Joie de Vivre likes to use specific magazines as inspirations for his hotels. After he's picked a magazine, he and his staff then come up with five adjectives that describe the mag, and by extension the hotel concept. For example, the buzzwords associated with a hotel ostensibly inspired by National Geographic Traveler were "enchanting, international, cheerful, bohemian, eclectic." Another is equal parts Giant Robot and Lucky: "inventive, warm, optimistic, practical, quirky." Yet another property takes Wired as its muse, though your guess is as good as ours as to their keywords. Saddest of all, though, is San Francisco's Phoenix Hotel:

When [Conley] first saw the space, Rolling Stone came to mind, and so did the adjectives "funky, hip, young-at-heart, irreverent, adventurous." Now the property offers free massages to band-tour managers and can boast that David Bowie, Linda Ronstadt, Faye Dunaway, Johnny Depp and John Candy have slept there.

Hard to say which is less "funky, hip" — Rolling Stone or Linda Ronstadt. And we're not sure how much more mileage Conley can get from "John Candy slept here."

Magazines as Muses: Hotelier Finds Inspiration in Titles such as 'Wired' [Ad Age]