A FORMAL APPROACH For years , Aspen Skiing Company , owned by the Crown family , a diversified company that beyond hotels has interests in sports ( it owns stakes in the Chicago Bulls and New York Yankees ) and trophy real estate ( the family co-owns Rockefeller Center in New York ), focused most of its attention on ski area operation . But it had an ace up its sleeve in The Little Nell , which opened in 1989 and , with further hospitality investments in 2009 up until today , it made sense , according to Azevedo , to splinter off a group focused solely on hotel ownership and operations . ( In April , plans were announced to transform 10 floors of empty offices at Rockefeller Center into a Little Nell hotel .)
“ They said , ‘ Look , there ' s something here that we ' ve been growing , let ' s start to think about this in a more professional , organized way ,’” said Azevedo , who came onboard in 2017 . Now , the group isn ’ t just settling for mountain and ski areas , but branching out with its brands in urban markets , like with Denver .
Aspen Hospitality is something of a unicorn in the hotel industry : it owns , operates and brands all assets it has interests in . It ’ s highly unusual : more and more , companies specialize on one thing , whether it ’ s branding / franchising ( Marriott , Hilton , IHG , Wyndham , for example ), owning ( real estate investment trusts , such as Host Hotels & Resorts ) or operating ( third-party management companies , such as Aimbridge Hospitality ).
“ It doesn ' t mean that we ' re 100 % owners in everything that we touch , but it does mean that we ' re not a 0 % owner in everything that we touch ; we like exposure to the real estate side of the business ,” Azevedo said . The idea behind this structure , according to Azevedo , is that it cuts down on the conflicts that can crop up when there are too many hands in the cookie jar .
“ We are building a connected platform of properties , both of the Limelight and The Little Nell brand ,” he said .
Five years into his tenure , Azevedo said there is now a platform in place that is fully organized around hotel investment and management . Fueling them both is a massive customer database and following . Turms out , the affluent ski community isn ’ t always skiing and is seeking out experiences — both leisure and corporate — beyond Aspen . “ There ' s a ton of people with high-disposable income that come through this place every year ,” Azevedo said . " We have a relationship with them and the idea is how do we serve them in other places ?”
The Denver deal was an offshoot of this . There are only 200 miles between Aspen and Denver and many travelers who stay at Aspen Hospitality properties in Aspen are Denverites . “ Being that Denver is kind of the connection and way through the mountains , it makes a lot of sense for us ,” Azevedo said . The other benefit of the hotel is its attachment to Union Station , which is connected to Denver International Airport .
The Limelight is Aspen Hospitality ’ s anchor brand with six hotels and three residences carrying the moniker . While Little Nell sits in the five-star luxury stratosphere , Limelight is more approachable , what Azevedo called “ elevated casual .”
Limelights , for example , don ’ t offer room service in their current form , but do feature live music programming as part of its amenities . However , as Aspen Hospitality does expand the brand , Azevedo said they could flex to serve the needs of specific markets , such as Denver , which will have distinct services and amenities from the flagship Limelight Aspen . “ We ' re trying to not play the corporate strategy where everybody gets a SOP to follow — copy and paste ,” Azevedo said . “ We want to make decisions and make the properties as local as possible .”
Like with Denver , Aspen Hospitality ’ s expansion of the Limelight brand will go back to linkages . “ There ' s a lot of connectivity between skiers and surfers or people that kite surf ,” Azevedo said . “ We ' re looking to capitalize on those opportunities .”
S The Little Nell in Aspen is a luxury ski-in / ski-out getaway . It originally opened in 1989 . E Alinio Azevedo was named CEO of Aspen Hospitality in January 2023 with a mandate to professionalize and grow the portfolio .