Hospitality Design - July 2024 - 66

hd expo recap conference highlights
FORWARD MOTION
Panelists on the Brand Identity: Hotel Execs Take on the Future shared new launches,
development trends, and their favorite recent openings
On exciting new brands
Stephanie Smith, executive director, interior design, ultra-luxury and luxury,
Accor: The Emblems Collection is a new luxury boutique soſt brand. Most
of my career has dealt with hard brands, so it's exciting to not have the
guardrails. It's going to be global.
Larry Traxler, senior vice president, global design services, Hilton: We've opened
two Tempo by Hiltons and we have [about] 63 in the pipeline, so that's the
shiny new toy. We've also recently added AutoCamp, NoMad, Graduate, and
Small Luxury Hotels brands. There's a whole lot of work ahead, and I'm
excited about all the diff erent divergent paths.
Linda Laucirica, senior director, global design U.S. and Canada, Marriott: It's not
so much the newer brands that I'm excited about, it's the evolution of W-
one of my old favorites. We're looking at repositioning and reinvigorating
that brand. We want to place it in a new space, which is in between the highend
luxury and the boutique lifestyle brands. The fi rst one is the W New
York - Union Square.
Alvaro Montoya, regional vice president, lifestyle studio head, Hyatt: More
than a new brand, [it's] how we've been evolving from what Hyatt was 10
years ago, going through the lifestyle period of integrating brands like Two
Roads and Dream and taking them where the market is going.
On growth and development
Traxler: We have 4,000 [properties] in the pipeline. A lot of those are
prototypical, but our luxury pipeline and lifestyle portfolio will double
over the next three years. Saudi is booming. Greece is on fi re. I got back
from Southeast Asia and Japan, [and there are] amazing new properties
coming up. Italy and Spain are booming for the fi rst time in a long time.
Mark Eacott, global vice president of design, Ennismore: There are a
lot of opportunities in Mexico, which is great across all brands. In the
Middle East, and that's why I'm based there, money's no object. [We are]
using it as an incubator to evolve brands. You can do things you can't do
elsewhere, which then spill out to other regions of the world.
On the branded residence boom
Montoya: We are seeing them in all our brands, [but we have been doing
a] bunch of Thompson residences. We are pushing the amenities that
a specifi c [Thompson customer] is going to need in a property. It's been
a very creative exercise. In two years we will open three properties in
Mexico with residences-one in Puerto Vallarta, one in Guadalajara, and
another in Monterrey.
Laucirica: [Branded residences have] always been very entrenched in the
luxury market. But we're seeing it expanding into our premium brands.
Moderator Stacy Shoemaker Rauen, HD, with the Brand Identity
panelists: Mark Eacott, Ennismore; Stephanie Smith, Accor; Larry
Traxler, Hilton; Linda Laucirica, Marriott; and Alvaro Montoya, Hyatt
066
July 2024 hospitalitydesign.com
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Hospitality Design - July 2024

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