Source: TOPHOTELPROJECTS

Ace Hotels new brand Sister City is set to launch in New York in autumn of 2018. But what form will this brand take? The hoteliers have been keeping their cards close to their chest about what Sister City will offer, so details are as yet unclear. Here is what we know so far.

New concept in New York City

In this age of change and transition, the hotel industry needs to think outside the box even more if it is going to compete with revolutionary platforms like Airbnb that are taking valuable clients away from traditional hotels. The team behind Ace Hotels has done a good job of eschewing the traditional stereotype of hotels and establishing their brand as a leader in the contemporary lifestyle hospitality experience. Sister City seems to be aligned with Ace Hotels' values, but they seem to be stripping the lifestyle concept back to its core even more. While many hotels are trying to integrate themselves into the neighbourhoods they are a part of, Sister City seems to be aiming to offering the bare essentials of a hotel, one of which being that it is somewhere to escape from the outside world. The flip side of this is that is also claims to "give you shelter when you need it, but help deliver you out into the wider world, too". It remains to be seen how these somewhat contradictory values, at least in the sense of a modern hotel that is focused on local "experience", will play out in reality.

Trend-inspired lifestyle branding

Sister City definitely seems to be positioning itself to attract cool customers. Its marketing blurb says it is "inspired by Finnish saunas, Japanese bento boxes, the rock-cut cliff dwellings of prehistory and John Cage's 4'33". It is likely that this translates to being inspired by trends that New York City has been seeing in recent hotels openings. Public, Moxy Times Square and POD Hotel Times Square all offer guests smaller rooms and larger communal spaces, and Sister City could well be jumping on this bandwagon. Located in the Bowery neighbourhood of the Big Apple, Sister City also boasts a "roof, outlets, plants, soft feeling, courage, spirit", a list that "Sister City considers what's truly needed for the modern traveler". No doubt these buzzwords are designed to evoke a certain type of lifestyle, one that subscribes to the Danish concept of hygge and Japanese order in the home.

The current Ace Hotels project in New York will be the first Sister City Hotel:

Ace Hotel New York

The project involves the renovation of a 10-story building on the Bowery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan …[READ MORE]

More information on Ace Hotels can be found on TOPHOTELPROJECTS, the specialized service provider of cutting-edge information of the hospitality industry.

Jule Grass
Marketing Manager
+49 4261 4140 309
TOPHOTELPROJECTS