Laurent Gardinier, president, Relais & Châteaux |
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has been owned by the Fontana family since 1988.
One of LHW’ s newest additions is one of America’ s most storied hotels: The Hotel Chelsea in New York, whose hallways Bob Dylan once gallivanted through and
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where Sid and Nancy had their rows. Maybe not as rock star, but in September, LHW introduced a partnership with American Express that offers U. S. consumer and business platinum card members complimentary Sterling status in LHW’ s Leaders Club loyalty program, with perks including suite upgrades.
Not all representation companies are alike. At the other end of the spectrum is a company like Keytel, a
Xavier Cortés, managing director, Keytel
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Spanish service firm that, though it doesn’ t have the heritage or cachet of a Leading Hotels or Preferred, acts in a similar fashion to promote independent hotels through a suite of technology.“ Independent hotels today face a historic opportunity,” said Xavier Cortés, managing director of Keytel.“ Travelers are increasingly seeking authenticity, personalization and meaningful connections. Yet, turning those values into true competitive advantages often requires tools, expertise and global reach that are difficult to achieve alone.”
Cortés notes the engines powering the lodging behemoths, but said companies like Keytel have comparable resources that help hotels diversify their distribution, strengthen their direct sales and access international networks, while always preserving their
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unique identity. Keytel works with more than 3,800 hotels across 90 countries.
High-end independent hotels are big business. While lodging companies maintain their own collections in the space— for example, Marriott International inherited The Luxury Collection when it acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts; Accor launched Emblems Collection last year— some, like Hilton, have gone the partnership route to expand in the space. Hilton has LXR Hotels & Resorts, but in 2024 it announced a partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World. It’ s a classic quid pro quo: Hilton Honors members gain new options to earn and burn points; conversely, SLH gets exposure on Hilton booking channels.
At the time of the announcement, Shaun Leleu, chairman of SLH, speaking about the partnership, hit the nail on the head when it comes to the broader context of soft brands.“ It’ s a win-win relationship,” he said.
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Jan / Feb 2026 hotelsmag. com 19 |