After graduating from Tulane University Klein returned to New York City and got his first job in hospitality, as a bellman at the Gotham Hospitality Group’s The Franklin Hotel. He went on to fill various positions within the hotels, including sales manager, housekeeping manager, front desk manager and eventually, general manager of The
Mansfield Hotel in 1998. He spent five years working with the Gotham Hospitality Group and its founder, Bernard Goldberg, and CEO, Stephen Brighenti, who later became mentors to Klein. In 1998 Goldberg sold the Gotham Hospitality Group and embarked on a project with Klein to convert a midtown office building into the City Club Hotel. In 2004 Klein purchased the
Sunset Tower Hotel in
West Hollywood. Designed in 1929 by
Leland A. Bryant, the building was a landmark from its debut. In 2005 Klein opened the Tower Bar and Restaurant, housed in
Bugsy Siegel’s old apartment on the property. He recruited
Dimitri Dimitrov as the Tower Bar maître d’ following an introduction from mutual friend
Tom Ford. Under Klein’s ownership, the hotel hosted the annual Vanity Fair Oscar Party from 2009 to 2013, as a multiple Condé Nast Traveler Gold List recipient, a Condé Nast Traveller Hot List winner, and many more. In 2009 Klein and former
Vanity Fair editor
Graydon Carter, became partners in the Monkey Bar, a New York City bar and restaurant eatery with a history dating to 1936. Both men sold their interest in the property in 2020. In 2013, Klein purchased the San Vicente Inn in West Hollywood and rebranded the property as San Vicente Bungalows, a private membership club. That same year he purchased No. 850, a boutique hotel. Both opened in late 2018. ==Personal life==