Global Update
Danziger ’ s new script
Rendering of the transformed Time lobby
After nearly tripling the size of the organization during nine months at the helm of Hampshire Hotels Management in New York City , President and CEO Eric Danziger in January launched Début Hotel Group with five different tiers of lifestyle brands and a dozen new hotels slated to open in the next year .
“ Début is about wanting to create a lifestyle product in every market segment for every level of consumer ,” Danziger says . “ I believe every traveler should have the right to stay in a cool , fun , dynamic place .”
Danziger adds that Hampshire hotels will remain and stand on its own as a third-party management company . He says his biggest challenge is to balance growth with the promise to deliver , which he says calls for 300 hotels within 10 years . “ We have to execute first with the flow of new deals ,” he says .
Début will oversee the development and launch of two new lifestyle hotel brands , luxury Augustus Hotels & Resorts and mid-market Unscripted Hotels , as well as the global expansion of Dream Hotels and the repositioning of Night Hotels and Time Hotels .
• Augustus has a New York hotel in its pipeline ( not its existing luxury Chatwal there ) and is targeting London , Paris , Miami , Venice and Amsterdam .
• Nightlife-focused Dream Hotels , which currently has five hotels , will soon add Chicago ; Dallas ; Hollywood ;
Washington , D . C .; and Long Island City , New York , to its portfolio .
• The existing Time brand will be transformed into an upper-upscale brand that will focus on more of a refined and elegant atmosphere without the “ scene .”
• Unscripted Hotels is a new brand for the 3-star , full-service upscale segment , focusing on comfort and value . The first Unscripted hotels is expected to launch within 60 days .
• Night Hotels is also being repositioned to be a design-focused , non-traditional , convertible room product that transitions from day to night . Danziger expects to franchise this concept first , suggesting there are some 25,000 existing hotels that could fit into this brand .
ViVe la Las Vegas
Bardot Brasserie , Michael Mina ’ s new French concept at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas , has a French-inspired beverage program featuring its own signature French beer , Hors D ’ âge , brewed exclusively for the restaurant in the northern hills of France . Guests will be able to select from vintage cognacs dating back to the 1800s as well as Las
Vegas ’ largest collection of Chartreuse .
Parisian-inspired cocktails include the Voltaire , a concoction of Eric Bordelet cider , Grey Goose L ’ Orange vodka , housemade ginger syrup and baked apple bitters . God Created Woman mixes Citadelle St . Germain , Angostura bitters and egg white with the wine-based aperitif Byrrh .
The “ And God Created Woman ” signature cocktail mixes Citadelle St . Germain , Angostura bitters and egg white with the wine-based aperitif Byrrh .
20 HOTELS March 2015 www . hotelsmag . com