A luxury hotel developer and prominent furniture gallery owner struck a partnership to renovate extensively the Georgetown Inn on Wisconsin Ave. in the coming months, bringing a new contemporary luxury hotel to the university neighborhood.

LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, a large private collection of hotels and resorts, signed the deal with Ralph Pucci, a well-known modern furniture gallery owner, to remodel the local landmark into a unique 96-room luxury hotel by the fall of this year. LXR officials say the project is still in its preliminary stages.

“Hotel Ralph Pucci will represent a new level of hotel experience in Washington, D.C.,” John Ceriale, chief executive officer of LXR, said in the project’s press release. “We are excited to have Ralph Pucci . to bring to life a new design concept, a stylish American hotel, in Georgetown.”

John Carns, general manager of the Georgetown Inn, said that the redesigned hotel will stand out in Georgetown. He added that LXR chose to place the upscale hotel in a neighborhood with mostly classical-styled buildings to bring a distinct, contemporary look to the area.

The hotel will improve the “already world-renowned spirit and heartbeat of Georgetown,” Carns said. “Our philosophical approach is to provide the luxury traveler to Georgetown a space that creates the feeling of being home, only better – comfortable, convenient, inviting but awe-inspiring to behold.”

The project would involve collaborative works from various artists and designers. Pucci’s design concept would involve redesigning the facade, restaurant, lobby, guestrooms and baths, according to the press release.

Pucci selected five of the artists from his gallery to provide furniture for the rooms, the press release said.

Each floor will feature modern lighting and artwork from prominent artists and photographers. Plans also include redesigning the hotel staff’s uniforms, which will be modeled after the “jazz greats of the 1950s” under the work of fashion designer TOMER, according to the press release.

Amanda Schinder, who represents Pucci, said that the project may also involve revamping the hotel exterior.

“It will be a completely different hotel,” Schinder said.

Carns said that the remodeling work is slated to begin this summer. He said it has not yet been decided if the hotel, which many parents and relatives of Georgetown students patronize while in the area, will be closed during the renovations.

Georgetown students and parents who have stayed at the Georgetown Inn expressed mixed reactions.

Victoria Harrison (COL ’09), who stayed at the Georgetown Inn last winter when her parents visited the school, said that she would prefer the current classical style of the Georgetown Inn over the modernistic changes.

“It should remain old-fashioned and traditional if it wants to be true to its name of an inn rather than a hotel or motel,” Harrison said.

But Ashley Wilson (MSB ’10) said that her parents would be more likely to stay in the new Hotel Ralph Pucci instead of the Georgetown Inn.

“My parents didn’t stay [at the Georgetown Inn] because they didn’t like the outdated and old-fashioned rooms,” Wilson said. “I think they would be more likely to stay in newly-renovated rooms.”