TRENDING
UNLIKELY
BEDFELLOWS
By BARBARA BOHN , MANAGING EDITOR
DAVID BOWD IS FINDING
SYNERGIES AND
CHALLENGES IN LEADING FURNITURE
RETAILER WEST ELM ’ S FORAY INTO HOTELS .
Last September , Brooklyn-based furniture retailer West Elm announced plans to open hotels in the U . S . with management firm DDK . One of the Ds is hospitality veteran David Bowd , also CEO of Salt Hotels , which got its start as a more upscale , community-focused bed and breakfast operator and recently added the 110-room Asbury lifestyle hotel on the New Jersey shore .
The full-service West Elm lifestyle hotels , which leverage the retailer ’ s furniture and design sensibility , and include F & B , “ thoughtful technology ” and West Elm Academy , an employee training program , are planned for Portland , Maine ; Oakland , California ; Savannah , Georgia ; Detroit ; Minneapolis ; and Indianapolis , Indiana , are on track to open starting in late 2018 . As retailers such as Restoration Hardware and Japan ’ s Muji become hoteliers , HOTELS talked to Bowd about how the partnership will differentiate .
HOTELS : How will the new hotels employ technology ?
DAVID BOWD : We have a couple of companies that we ’ re working with to create very interesting , very localized experiences through web-powered apps … It will have the capability of making reservations , directions to the hotels , but then it ’ ll also have what ’ s going on in the local environments , what ’ s going on in town , what ’ s going on in the hotels , and the ability to check in , check out and view your bill , and all of those things that , I think , often are missed and are quite frustrating . H : Are you considering a loyalty program ? DB : ( West Elm owner ) Williams-Sonoma is launching their loyalty program later this year . And when the hotels launch , they will be part of that loyalty program … It will be inclusive within the entire Williams-Sonoma loyalty base . What I think is very exciting and interesting is the ability to stay in a hotel and use those rewards towards a home good or a mixer in Williams-Sonoma , or a sofa in West Elm . It will be something that ’ s not out there right now because of the nature of the retail space of Williams-Sonoma . H : Are there other synergies ? DB : When you go to the West Elm Store in Miami and in New York , they ’ re very , very different … You ’ re not going to walk into these first five hotels and see the same furniture and the same design in each one . Savannah should feel very different to Detroit . And it ’ s going to . Not everything in your room has a price tag on it . But there are going to be certain things that you can look up and say OK , I love this tray , or I love this lamp , or I love this table . Click a button and it ’ s delivered to your house . H : How will you create a sense of locality ? DB : We have our local taste-maker in each area who is working with us , and ( says ) this is somebody you should talk with , this is somebody you should
12 hotelsmag . com September 2017