Vanessa Thanh Vu

Commercial Interior Designer

Email:

vanessa.vu.idesign@gmail.com

About

Vanessa is a Chicago-based senior interior designer specializing in hospitality, with over a decade of experience leading projects for Hyatt, Hilton, and Marriott across the full spectrum of scale, from intimate renovations to ground-up new builds.

Born in Vietnam and educated in the United States, she brings a global sensibility and cross-cultural fluency to every project. Her early career was rooted in boutique hospitality and public space design, where she developed a sharp eye for experiential detail and guest journey.

Over the past ten years, she has gone deep on guestroom design, one of the most technically and spatially complex typologies in hospitality, mastering the balance between brand standards, operational efficiency, and the moments of warmth that make a room feel like a destination.

Her work spans branded full-service hotels, luxury independents, and mixed-use developments, and she is fluent in every phase of a project from concept through construction documentation. She leads with intention, bringing clarity to complex programs, building trust with ownership groups and brand teams, and elevating the details that guests remember long after checkout.

Work Experience

Before 2016

August 2016 - now

Student at Bellevue College - Summa Cum Laude

Intern at Five Ply Design Seattle

Senior Interior Designer - Senior Associate at DLR Group Chicago

Hospitality Designer

Technical Skills

Programs

Revit

Sketchup

Enscape Rendering

Rhino

AI Rendering - Vizcom

Designer Page Pro (Specs)

Adobe Indesign

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Fresco

Microsoft

Other Life Skills

Social Media Ambassador (Fun fact: just did a Collaboration with Interior Design Magazine and Design Milk)

Photographer

Graphic Designer

Painter

Project list

Hospitality

Others

Current Project

Completed

Current Project

Completed

In Progress

Completed

In Progress

Completed 2023

Current Project

Completed

In Progress

Completed

Current Project

Completed

Opened Summer 2022

Proposed

Completed

Hyatt Brands
Hyatt Lodge Oak Brook, a Hyatt Destination Resort; Oak Brook, IL
Hyatt Regency Irvine; Irvine, CA
Hyatt Regency, Madinah; Madinah, SAU
Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Chicago; Chicago, IL
Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk; San Antonio, TX

IHG Brands
Holiday Inn Resort Lumina on Wrightsville Beach by IHG; Wrightsville, NC
Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel; Omaha, NE
Voco Suites Cleveland Clinic; Cleveland, OH

Independent Properties
CatBird Hotel; Denver, CO
Surety Hotel by Aparium; Des Moines, IA
Riverside Casino & Golf Resort Renovation; Riverside, WA
Waikiki Malia; Honolulu, HI

Marriott Brands
AC Hotel St. Petersburg; St. Petersburg, FL
Autograph Collection; Boca Raton, FL
Courtyard by Marriott Miami Coconut Grove; Miami, FL
The Former House, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel; Eufaula, AL
Hotel ICON, Autograph Collection; Houston, TX
Marriott Cincinnati at River Center; Covington, KY
Moxy Charlotte Downtown; Charlotte, NC
Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel; Raleigh, NC
Sheraton Boston Hotel; Boston, MA

Hilton Brands
Embassy Suites by Hilton Asheville Downtown; Asheville, NC
Graduate by Hilton Syracuse; Syracuse, NY
Whitney Peak Hotel Reno, Tapestry Collection by Hilton; Reno, N

Cambria Brands
Cambria Hotel Burbank Airport; Burbank, CA

Hospitality Branding and Food & Beverage
Canal Street Market & Eatery; Chicago, IL
Afterbar; Chicago, I

Marketing

The Rivere - Friedman Properties

Dan River Resort & Casino

Wellness Resort & Spa Concept

Universal XXX (Confidential)

Racine Hotel & Conference Center

Project Habitat, A Boutique Hotel (Africa)

Moxy Hotel - St Pete Florida

Barrington Highschool

Google Cafe - Seattle Redmond

CWD Real Estate-The Helmer Building Renovation

Will County Public Safety Complex

Award - Community Engagement

Hospitality

Award

Panel Speaking

Marketing Design Collaboration

30/30 by Interior Design Magazine

SLHD Award - Sustainability Design for Hyatt Irvine Project

IIDA’s 30th-anniversary celebration Panel: "Tapping into Next Gen Design Wisdom"

NEWH Top ID Panel Speaking

Alis Design+ Sustainability in Hospitality with Mindclick

NEWH Green Voice 2025 - Minneapolis 2025

Earth Day Designer Mingle Panel 2026

NEWH Red Tape Hospitality 2026

IIDA Series 2026

panelist for The Design Career Starter Kit

Featured on: Interior Design Magazine and Design Milk 2026

BDNY Panel speaking

Highlight Projects

Cottonwood Hotel - Omaha

Award-wining

from botique design - gold key award-cottonwood.PNG

Full-service upper-upscale hotel with 204 guestrooms, two restaurants, two bars, a lounge, ballroom and meeting spaces featuring two outdoor terraces, a fitness center, and business center. Built in 1916, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, making this project eligible for historic tax credits.

Client: Clarity Development. 40M budget. 112,900 sq.ft

Project completed November 19, 2020

Involvement:

SD through DD
Public Space CD

Software used:

Revit for Drawing
Enscape for Renderings
Sketchup for Modeling
Indesign for Presentation

Surety Hotel - Des Moines

Award-wining

Client: Aprium hotel. $18M budget. 82,750 sq.ft

Involvement:

Space planning
Custom Lighting design (From Concept to shop drawing)

Software used:

Revit for Drawing
Enscape for Renderings
Sketchup for Modeling

BMO Restaurant| Bar | Market

Opened July 2022!

Involvement:

SD through DD
40%CD. 20% CA
Custom Lighting design

Software used:

Revit for Drawing | Enscape for Renderings | Sketchup for Modeling | Indesign for Presentation

AC ST PETE

BDNY - BOOTH

Completed

HYATT REGENCY SAN ANTONIO

opened 2022

$38 million renovations. 602 guestrooms and 28 suites

An upscale urban experience showcasing its location as a connecting feature between Alamo Plaza and the River Walk.

Involvement:

Virtual Model room design. Moodboard. Material Palette. In design Presentation
Virtual Model room build-out with VR experience.
Documentation: Test fit, custom FF&E, CD level of drawing FFE plan, RCP, finishes plan....

Software used: