HotelsMag November 2016 | Page 18

HOTUSA ' S HOT STREAK
COMMUNITY-MINDED
TRENDING

HOTUSA ' S HOT STREAK

Grupo Hotusa ’ s 2015 sales of more than € 955 million ( US $ 1.07 billion ) set a record for the Barcelona-based company , which includes a hotel consortium along with tourism and hotel arms .
“ Our priority objective is to increase the Eurostars Hotels portfolio , which has 90 hotels ,” CEO Amancio López Seijas says . “ We have decided to embark on a new line of growth based on hotel franchise .” So far this
year the company has added 25 hotels in Europe , Central and South America – it created a foothold in Bogota with a hotel scheduled to open in a few months . It also opened its first hotel in Africa , the Eurostars Sidi Maarouf in Casablanca , Morocco . And it has designs on the U . S . market , where it has two New York hotels , and in China and Japan .
The company ’ s Hotusa Ventures , Hotusa Venture Builder and Hotusa Travel Lab are
looking for new business models that can work in parallel to the hotel company and consortium , Lopez says . “ We believe it is worth investing in startups that provide those projects with financial resources and strategic capabilities , whether they are detected by our team of experts or driven from our own business incubator .”
As for the ripples in the region in the aftermath of the U . K .’ s vote to exit the European Union ,
Lopez is mostly confident . “ Even in one of the worst scenarios , like the 2008 economic crisis , our company didn ' t record losses but even grew , and this has generated confidence in our resilience . It
may be a bit early to forecast the scope of the impact . What is clear is that the most important thing is security , meant in the widest sense . And if this security is endangered , investments falter .”

COMMUNITY-MINDED

The Arlo has squeezed into the crowded New York market . The micro hotel in Hudson Square was originally slated to be a Tommie until a deal with Commune Hotels & Resorts fell through , so developer Quadrum Global created its own brand instead . The 325-room hotel takes its “ nothing to excess ,” minimalist attitude seriously , especially in the guestrooms , where the bathroom sink is
conveniently located just a few steps from the snugly tucked bed and a fold-down desk . Public areas , including a rooftop bar with indoor and outdoor spaces and communal tables , and two other lounges , one of which doubles as co-working space during the day , focus on inclusion and interaction . Two ’ s company : The Arlo NoMad , on East 31st Street , follows in November .
14 hotelsmag . com November 2016