COVER STORY
trace back to the mid-1940s. That’ s when brothers Laurence and Robert Tisch, backed by the largesse of their parents, acquired a hotel in New Jersey and, from there, expanded the business. By 1956, they had their capstone: the Americana hotel in Bal Harbour, Fla., designed by renowned architect Morris Lapidus.
Loews Corporation started with hotels but became a highly diversified company thereafter— look no further than its name. In 1959, the Tisch brothers purchased a controlling interest in movie chain Loew’ s Theatres, adopting the name as its investment vehicle moving forward. It grew from there, acquiring interests in everything from watches to insurance. One can even make the argument that Laurence Tisch was responsible for the infamous“ Late Night Wars,” when, after he acquired a large stake of CBS through Loews and was made chairman, he approved the deal that brought late-night host David Letterman to the network from NBC in 1993.
The passage of time for Loews Hotels has been entrusted to two men: Robert( née Preston Robert Tisch, but better known as Bob) and his son, Jonathan Tisch, who became CEO of the hotel group in 1989. Like his father before him, Jonathan Tisch is a passionate promoter of travel and a heavyweight champion of New York. He serves as chairman emeritus of the U. S. Travel Association and, in a move that could only be made in Manhattan, had a cameo— at his hotel— in the Showtime series“ Billions.”
Tisch judiciously steered the company through a gauntlet: 9 / 11, global financial crises, pandemic— and a host of other quotidian slings against the hospitality industry. In 2022, he transitioned to the role of executive chairman, leaving a vacancy at the top. Loews did not go outside the family to fill it.
YOUNG BLOOD Alex Tisch isn’ t old, which is to say he is younger than his predecessor. A thick, black
Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel is one of 11 Loews properties at Universal Orlando Resort.
mane atop a low hairline is proof. In fact, one wouldn’ t be faulted to assume that Jonathan Tisch is Alex Tisch’ s uncle, but it’ s incorrect. Jonathan Tisch, as a matter of fact, is Alex Tisch’ s cousin( Alex’ s father is his first cousin). Never mind the family tree, Alex views the relationship on more of an avuncular level, referring to Jonathan as both mentor and dear friend. The elder Tisch’ s confidence in Alex has nothing to do with familial favor; rather, it has everything to do in in his performance across various aspects of the business, from acquisitions and development to commercial disciplines.( He joined Loews Corp. in 2010 and has spent the last eight years with Loews Hotels & Co.)
Alex Tisch assumed the president and CEO position on the first day of 2023. The new year did not bring new change. Consider its business model: Loews Hotels is an owner and operator, which is to say it’ s avoided the siren song of asset light, a model that derives fees by lending name and network through a franchise approach. From Marriott and Hilton to IHG and Wyndham, it’ s all the rage. Not that Loews, which manages and holds equity positions in all 27 of its hotels, never thought about it, Tisch said. In the 2010s, it considered a pivot to an asset-light model to potentially quicken the pace of growth since, as Tisch
pointed out, distribution in major markets is important and acts as a multiplier of every other hotel in the network. Loews elected not to.
GOING LIVE It proved a sagacious decision. The decade ending 2020 was a fruitful time for Loews, with a string of projects that personify its brand promise and illustrate the ingenuity of partnership. Live! by Loews is a premium, sports-resort hotel brand developed through a partnership between Loews Hotels & Co, The Cordish Companies and local sports entities. Projects of this scope are intense, but result in destination anchors for decades to come. In 2019, Live! by Loews – Arlington, Texas opened, a 300-room hotel with multiple F & B outlets, 35,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, an outdoor infinity pool and, what makes it unique, direct access to Texas Live!, a district that constitutes Globe Life Park, home of the Texas Rangers, and AT & T Stadium, home field for the Dallas Cowboys. Five years later, Loews opened the 888-room, $ 550-million Loews Arlington Hotel— a skybridge connects it to the Live! by Loews— in what Tisch calls one of the great public-private partnerships with the city of Arlington.( Loews Miami Beach, which opened in 1998,
52 hotelsmag. com May / June 2026