PERSONALITIES
entered the private member club space through an exclusive partnership with Gravity Haus . Through this access , guests can receive All-In Gravity Haus membership for a month , which includes access to Haus Quiver – a collection of premium outdoor gear in various locations from Denver to eight Colorado mountain towns , as well as Utah , California , Vermont and Whistler – in addition to savings at Gravity Haus hotels in Breckenridge , Vail and Winter Park , Colorado .
Diggins , founder of The Ramble Hotel , partner and CEO of Midnight Auteur and partner at Gravitas Development Group , talked to HOTELS about his plans moving forward and lessons learned over the past three years , especially following the COVID-19 pandemic , and how they are shaping decisions for what comes next .
HOTELS : What is the financial arrangement with Death & Co .?
Ryan Diggins : Over the past 15 years , Gin & Luck has specialized in developing the concept and executing cocktail anchored bar / restaurant ventures , one of which is Death & Co . My company , Gravitas Development , has been an urban infill developer in Denver for more than 10 years and most recently developed The Ramble Hotel , while also serving as the management company .
Our new company , Midnight Auteur , is a joint venture between Gravitas and Gin & Luck . This partnership combines our respective areas of expertise into a cohesive new company capable of developing , concepting and managing ‘ lifestyle hotels with cocktail anchored hospitality .’
H : What can you tell me about Midnight Auteur development plans ? Any deals yet , or close ?
RD : Our current property search is focused on the development and / or management of 50- to 125-room hotels in markets that support a healthy mix of business and leisure travel . While we ’ re skilled in handling the ground-up development and hotel management ourselves ( like we did at The Ramble Hotel ), we know it ’ s important to align with like-minded developers interested in bringing an independent hotel operator to their project . Securing foundational management contracts within projects that align with our commitment to delivering design-forward , highly intentional experiences will be critical to our growth .
We have a handful of active deals – some related to the acquisition and repositioning of an existing hotel and others are management agreements with new development projects . We ’ re being very selective with the first couple of properties we pour our time , creativity and passion into – as they need to be absolutely perfect .
H : Are you going to own or just manage ?
RD : We anticipate owning and managing about 25 % of our properties , but are equally excited about the management side of things , which will become a large portion of our business over time .
H : Do you have plans to bring in additional development partners for expansion ?
RD : We haven ’ t aligned with any specific developers yet , but we ’ ve
been proactively seeking companies that we feel understand the independent hotel market , and have a proven track record in high-quality developments . There ’ s certainly a value aligning with an expert in a particular market that has an amazing piece of land or building , and needs creative direction and operational expertise .
H : Where do you want to expand ?
RD : There are about 20 or so markets that we feel offer a healthy blend of business and leisure
76 hotelsmag . com September / October 2021