Independents' Day

Privately run boutique lifestyle hotels are finding their niche in the hospitality industry

- Boyd Farrow

POST-PANDEMIC, TRAVELERS are keener than ever on hotels that promise authenticity and adventure. So it's hardly a surprise that boutiques are driving the leisure hospitality market. And it's even less of a surprise that the big chains are aggressively trying to own that space.

The supply of "soft-brand" properties-industry-speak for affiliations between independent properties and large chains had already increased 19 percent over the past decade, according to a recent report. But in 2023, these mating urges are enough to make your average Tinder user blush. Accor has launched its Handwritten Collection, Marriott has announced an expansion of its Design Hotels, and Hyatt has acquired Mr & Mrs Smith, a booking platform for luxe boutiques that aligns well with the company's overall strategy. Yet according to some of the world's most idiosyncratic and influential lifestyle hoteliers, when it comes to growth, might is not always right.

Neighborhood Vibe

He might have bought Billy Joel's Miami home, but Andrew Zobler is really the Elton John of the hospitality business-famous for his extravagant lifestyle hotels and his equally colorful feuds. Though he lost his original NoMad hotel in Manhattan after a high-profile spat with Ron Burkle, his ex-partner in New York's Sydell Group, Zobler has kept the NoMad brand, which he has taken to London, and is planning imprints in Vienna, Copenhagen, Nashville and (again) New York.

Meanwhile, following investment from MGM Resorts International, Sydell has opened a NoMad inside the Park MGM in Las Vegas-a concept likely to be replicated at other MGM resorts-and a NoMad-branded residential property in Miami is in the works. And then there's the side hustle. Zobler also has grand plans to roll out Penny, the "art-centric hotel-meets-student-residence" in New York's Williamsburg, named after his pet Chihuahua.