Thom Filicia, the design guy from ‘Queer Eye,’ checks in, pours himself a stiff one, and reinvents the suite life for a string of W Hotels. This spring, Thom Filicia—best known for delousing bachelor pads on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”—got in bed with W Hotels, the luxury lodgings chain, to oversee a multitiered project far more expansive than the suburban ranch houses he helped make over on the popular Bravo reality series. The Emmy-winning host and star of the Style Network’s “Dress My Nest” is designing a new Atlanta-based W (set to open next year), while renovating and rethinking existing properties in Los Angeles and San Diego. He’s also filming the new season of the enduring “Queer Eye.” Will cocktail hour ever come?

What’s the budget on something like this, doing a W from scratch? Are you given free reign with the corporate plastic?
Thom: With every project there’s always a budget, even if it’s a big one. But if you’re designing a luxury-brand hotel with a destination bar and a name-chef restaurant, you’re definitely going to need a couple of Black Cards to make it work.

How much of your personal vision were you able to incorporate into the W brand?
When I work on various design projects, it’s always my point of view, my style, my aesthetic. What’s really exciting, though, when you’re working with a brand as opposed to a residential project, is the challenge of understanding the brand and what it represents, while keeping it true to your creative integrity.

Do you hate all the “Queer Eye” references?
No, not at all. I love “Queer Eye.” We have another season, another 10 episodes coming out this summer. “Queer Eye” is, was, and always will be one of the best things I’ve ever done.

But on the flip side, how difficult is it to retain your credibility as a designer? The show has its share of hokum.
That’s a super-valid question. The thing is, I studied interior design in college, have worked for major firms in New York, and I’ve had my company [Thom Filicia, Inc.] since 1998. While I was shooting “Queer Eye,” I was also running a business, working on the World’s Fair in Japan, and doing residential projects with celebrity clients.

On the show, your task is to imbue straight guys with metrosexual savvy. Is it an altogether different task to revamp an already luxurious hotel chain?
When you look at it, fundamentally, it’s kind of the same concept. I always look at the guys on “Queer Eye” as “make-betters” rather than “makeovers.” With W, we’re taking existing properties and some new ones, and we’re reinventing the brand, coming up with fresh ideas. On “Queer Eye,” you’re dealing with clients who don’t have a clue. But W has always been about pushing the boundaries, sparking your imagination, and making design and luxury accessible and beautiful at the same time.

In terms of the Buckhead, Atlanta hotel, what does a New Yorker know about Southern comfort?
Um, I like it on the rocks? [laughs]

What would you do with a Holiday Inn?
It’s funny you say that, because the W Buckhead space used to house a Holiday Inn. So, I guess, I’d turn it into a W.

Where does a designer hang his Emmy?
Actually, I use my Emmy as a toilet-paper holder in my powder room.

I knew you were going to say the bathroom.
It’s not my bathroom! It’s my powder room. People go in, and a few minutes later I’ll hear bursts of laughter. To be honest, I think “she” likes it in there.