Newsmaker: Luxury Vet Set To Launch New Brand
<B> Newsmaker: Luxury Vet Set To Launch New Brand</B>
By Maria P. Vallejo
A new luxury hotel company is breaking into the market in response to industry consolidation and the branding of luxury hotels.
Foresthills Hotels & Resorts, based in Dallas, is planning to operate as a small luxury hotel company under the reign of Atef Mankarios, former chairman of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and past chairman of Preferred Hotels & Resorts. The company plans to own and manage 25 hotels within the next seven years, using its intimate size to achieve success against the competitors in its tier.
"In the past two or three years, there has been a great consolidation movement in the hotel industry. A lot of companies got acquired by REITs or bought or merged. It created a huge block of hotels and a vacuum," Mankarios said. "There is a niche for us as a small luxury hotel company because you cannot emphasize relationship and personal service when you own 50 or 100 hotels. At the same time, most companies are straying away from individual hotels and going into branding."
One example of that kind of branding strategy is the approach taken by Starwood with the Sheraton Luxury Collection, which it acquired during the ITT Sheraton acquisition last year. Starwood launched the St. Regis brand within the same luxury status as the Luxury Collection.
Foresthills expects to complete its first property acquisition this week and four more hotel deals within the next four months. Using a combination of new construction, renovation and acquisitions, the company is looking into opening properties in Boston, Chicago, Miami and New York. Internationally, it will focus on Europe and the Middle East.
With a staff of eight senior managers--all of whom worked with Mankarios in Rosewood Hotels--the company is prepared to take on the corporate market. Vice president of sales and marketing Michael Matthews will be responsible for corporate accounts.
Foresthills will provide corporate travelers with basic business amenities and services, such as ISDN lines, computer facilities, dual phone lines and portable printers. The differences between these offerings will depend on the room design. Such items will be incorporated into the room's furniture to prevent the intrusiveness associated with technology. "Business travelers do want to work with technology, but they don't want to have it in their face. It can be hidden from view when it's done right," Mankarios said.
In addition, spas will be located in every Foresthills property to meet the high demand among travelers for health-related services.
Foresthills also plans to retain property identities with individual hotel names and unique designs and services indigenous to the locale, Mankarios said. That individuality will lend itself to corporate amenities and business class services, giving each property its own unique set of programs geared to the business traveler. "They don't have standard services because people are different. Traditionally we have crafted each hotel based on its community," he said. "We intend to start from a blank page and craft each hotel from scratch.