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The upcoming 221- room Recess Hotel & Club in Savannah, Ga., is being refashioned from the historic Manger building.
programs. Kully has been there before, having worked on many brand deliveries, including
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Hilton Brooklyn New York and Perry Lane Hotel, part of Marriott’ s Luxury Collection. |
Hotel Bardo Pittsburgh opening in 2026 is a conversion and adaptive reuse of the existing 40-story artdeco Gulf Tower.
He has a succinct answer for why he doesn’ t work with the brands any longer( one that can’ t be printed here), but it comes down to what he calls“ uncompelling offerings” and the myriad restrictions that he says are“ beyond insanity.” He’ s apt to point to brands as merely“ aggregators” now, able to sweep up smaller brands or competitors instead of competing on name and service alone.
One gets the sense from Kully that it’ s more than just that. He likes the thrill, the excitement, the satisfaction of creating something whole— and with a background in design, it makes sense.“ The process of actualizing and operationalizing the brand is a big deal to us,” he said.“ It’ s not only the interior design or the architecture; it’ s the playlist; it’ s the scent; it’ s the
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uniforms; it’ s the whole vibe.”
What he doesn’ t like is to be controlled, by brands or by management companies, a combination that he says results in a misalignment of interests, whereby much of the control of an asset is seemingly wrested from owners.“ The hotel management agreement essentially gives over control to the operator that doesn’ t share [ in the risk ],” he said. Typically, a manager is paid a percentage on their ability to drive top-line revenue, which doesn’ t always equate into bottom-line profit, which is where ownership makes its nut.“ Why deal with that friction?” Kully said. It’ s why Left Lane struck out on its own and is developing its own brands.
That intrepid spirit is pervasive. While many developers and brands are focused on acquisitions and repositionings, Left Lane is not shying away from ground-up builds. Details are exiguous as of now, but Left Lane is doing a new-construction Bardo in Bozeman, Mont., which will be hotel and condos, and a project that Kully calls“ really neat” because the front side touches Main Street and the backside abuts Yellowstone trailhead.
Left Lane is nowhere near the scale or AUM of the likes of Blackstone, for instance. To hear it from the aspirational Kully, he doesn’ t shy away from any comparisons to the heavyweights of hospitality investment. A mini-Blackstone?“ Wouldn’ t that be lovely,” Kully said.“ We’ re trying.”
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62 hotelsmag. com July / August 2025 |