Every street corner in New York these days, it seems, has a dry cleaner, pizza joint, dive bar, and neighborhood designer hotel. New York has hundreds of hotels, including at least 50 luxury properties. So why, over the past year, has the city suddenly given rise to a slew of new high-end designer properties? After all, this is where the global financial crisis started
With more than 3,100 hospitality designers, hotel and restaurant owners and purchasing executives in attendance, Boutique Design New York (BDNY) debuted on a high note and an overwhelmingly positive response to its International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show® (IHMRS) adjacency. BDNY featured some 150 interior product manufacturers showcasing the latest high-end and innovative design products.
The International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show® (IHMRS) announced winners of the 30th annual Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design at a breakfast ceremony this morning. Honorees were selected by a panel of notable industry experts from a field of more than 180 projects representing 19 countries. The Awards are sponsored by Interior Design and HOTELS magazines and coincide with the 95th annual IHMRS, running through November 16 at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
I remember the days when New York City hospitality was defined by such institutions as the Plaza Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria. These hotels were regal, comfortable, and elegant. Today, there are new criteria on the table. The best hotels are about concept, creating a culture that incorporates glitz, fantasy, escapism and often social-decadence.
Renaissance Hotels (www.renhotels.com) understands its hotel guests are independent-minded and passionate about life. They are looking for hidden gems and to be “in the know” when it comes to culture and entertainment. To meet the needs of its hotel guests, today, Renaissance Hotels is ushering in a new era in hotel-branded entertainment with the launch of RLife LIVE (www.RLifeLive.com) a large arts platform dedicated to providing its hotel guests and local patrons an up close and personal look into culinary arts, design, entertainment and more. The program launches first with music and will feature an eclectic fleet of emerging artists on the verge of superstardom at various Renaissance Hotels throughout 2010 and into 2011.
Panel discussions featuring some of the most respected names in hospitality will provide attendees of the upcoming Boutique Design New York (BDNY) with insight into the minds of hotel owners, as well as establishing an international portfolio. The Educational Forum, taking place Monday, November 15 during the inaugural BDNY, will complement the fair experience for some 3,000 interior designers, architects and purchasing executives in attendance.
When Mike Depatie describes the typical Kimpton customer, he sounds like he wants to resurrect the yuppie. But the president and CEO of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants speaks of that customer not with irony, but with affection. Depatie is a moneyman. He also is adventurous, health-conscious and contemporary. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Michigan State University and a master’s degree from Harvard Business School. He became the third head of Kimpton in 2006.
Size doesn't matter. At least that's what a handful of hotels in New York hope lodgers will think when they stay in their small, yet functional and affordable rooms. At The Jane, a tiny red-brick hotel overlooking the Hudson River in West Village, Manhattan's ultra-bohemian neighborhood, space is at a premium. "In my room, I can turn around, and that's about it," said Kai Neuhaus, 33, of Germany. With their wood paneling, velvet benches and Oriental carpets, most of the 150 rooms occupy just 50 square feet (4.6 square meters) and recalls boat cabins. A large mirror hangs on the wall to counter any claustrophobic feelings.
Morgans Hotel Group Co. (Nasdaq: MHGC) ("MHG"), the groundbreaking innovator that introduced the world to iconic brands such as Delano in South Beach, Royalton and Hudson in New York City and Sanderson in London, today unveiled their irreverent take on hotel gift shops with the launch of Semi-Automatic at Hudson. Debuting just in time for New York Fashion Week, Semi-Automatic at Hudson has reinvented the hotel gift shop experience with the introduction of an oversized vending machine occupying part of a wall in the hotel lobby, stocked with a curated combination of everyday travel necessities and a myriad of luxury items at the press of a button.
The Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) and Hospitality Design Magazine (HD) are pleased to announce the first annual Boutique & Lifestyle Hospitality Awards, co-founded and produced by BLLA and HD.
As the hotel industry begins to show early signs of rebounding from the economic crisis, cutting-edge developers are already making plans for the next generation of hotels. Hotel Design magazine, part of HotelWorld Network, offers these innovators a groundbreaking new summit on the future of hotel design.
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) today announced that it has named Rain Fletcher vice president of application development and architecture. In this new position, he will be responsible for the architecture and software development teams of the company's information systems, including ChoiceHotels.com, property systems, corporate intranet, central reservations, and customer information systems. Fletcher reports to the company's Chief Technology Officer Todd Davis.
Matt Greene likes to joke that he’s a short, middle-aged businessman and not especially cool, hardly the profile of someone you’d expect to be running one of the hippest hotels in town. But that hasn’t been a liability in Greene’s quest to ensure that the Hard Rock Hotel remains one of San Diego’s most inviting, swank and, yes, hip hotels
The Boutique & Lifestyle segment has emerged through a maze of big brands and frequent guest programs to become a prominent lodging category, highly sought after by consumers and investors alike. We recently met with FRANCES KIRADJIAN, Founder & Chair of the BOUTIQUE & LIFESTYLE LODGING ASSOCIATION, who answers some basic questions and then takes us on an extended tour of the segment.
Joie de Vivre is California's largest boutique hotel management company, operating nearly 40 boutique hotels, including a luxury lodging camp resort. The portfolio comprises a total of 4,500 guestrooms, including five spas and twenty distinctive restaurants. Joie de Vivre's growth strategy focuses on market penetration, to become the one-stop hospitality provider in California by creating multiple products in one geographic area.
The Gansevoort South hotel in Miami Beach is under new management -- and the founders aren't happy. William and Michael Achenbaum, the father-and-son New York developers who opened the Gansevoort in 2008, lost the 334-room hotel to the lender three weeks ago.
Putting a new spin on the term "designer hotel," boutique chain W Hotels is hiring a fashion director to amp up its style credentials and its profile within the fashion industry. After a two-year search, the chain is planning to announce next week—on Feb. 11, the opening day of New York Fashion Week—that it has hired stylist Amanda Ross in what is very likely a first for the hotel industry. W Hotels, which operates 36 properties worldwide, is a unit of Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
LG Hausys Surfaces and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) are now announcing the official call for entries for the 2010 LG Hausys Surfaces Student Design Challenge with Aloft℠ Hotels. The contest challenges students throughout North America to design solid surface innovations for the hospitality industry, capturing the theme “where life happens.“ Contestants are encouraged to utilize bold, modern design techniques that embody elements of Starwood’s style at a steal Aloft Hotels brand.
Andaz Wall Street, Hyatt’s first New York boutique hotel, opened this week (with a Midtown location to follow this spring), and if I’m reading the tea leaves about what this means for many of the nearly 50 hotels that will open in New York this year, one theme emerges: recession luxe. The Andaz property, part of an entirely new brand for Hyatt, is a far cry from last year’s extremes of old-school opulence and flophouse chic. In June, the unabashedly luxurious Pierre Hotel reopened, flaunting a $100 million renovation and posting room rates of the “if you have to ask …” variety. Then the Crosby Hotel opened, with each of the 86 rooms awash in bespoke fabric and art, and priced to match. Conversely, the aggressively gritty Ace and Jane Hotels, the latter featuring communal bathrooms, promised hipster cred on the cheap.
Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta sends a message to "team members" about Starwood's new claims. (See below.) As the hotel industry continues to struggle in a weak market, Starwood Hotels just upped the ante in its fight against rival hotel giant Hilton Worldwide. Starwood filed additional charges in a new court filing against Hilton yesterday in the U.S. Southern District of New York. The new filing claims that top Hilton officials - including Hilton Worldwide CEO Christopher Nassetta, Hilton's global development chief Steven Goldman and "at least five of the 10 members" of Hilton's executive committee - knew that Hilton possessed Starwood's confidential material.