[7] Conley raised $1 million in 1987 to buy the decrepit Phoenix Hotel in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood,[8] where he opened the landmark restaurant Miss Pearl's Jam House with Joey Altman.

[5] With support from investors, Conley bought a series of moderately sized, often run-down buildings, which he turned at low cost into boutique hotels, in each case creating a different "psychographic" concept such as new age wellness, men's health, romance novels, New Yorker Magazine, or luxury camping.

[7] With 22 capital calls from investors and cuts in executive salaries, the company survived and, rather than closing poorly performing properties or laying off staff, took advantage of lower commercial real estate prices to expand throughout California.

[18] In 2010, a majority stake of Joie de Vivre was purchased by Geolo Capital, the private equity firm founded by Hyatt Hotels heir John Pritzker.

[3] In September 2010, Joie de Vivre announced Gary M. Beasley, a partner at Geolo Capital, as its interim chief executive officer.

[24] In November 2012, Commune appointed Niki Leondakis, previously president and chief operating officer of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, as CEO of the company.

[27] In August 2013, John Pritzker purchased the rest of Commune's stake from Jason Pomeranc through Geolo Capital, for an undisclosed sum, thereby gaining full control of the company.