Hampshire Hotels Management has launched a new hotel company called Début Hotel Group. Début will oversee the development and launch of two new lifestyle hotel brands, Augustus Hotels & Resorts and Unscripted Hotels, as well as the global expansion of Dream Hotels and the repositioning of Night Hotels and Time Hotels.
Début will bring to market five different tiers of lifestyle brands with about 12 new hotels slated to open in the next year. The business plan calls for 300 hotels within 10 years. The five brands include:
Augustus Hotels & Resorts – Augustus is positioned at the top of the brand portfolio as the group’s only 5-star, luxury brand. Target locations include New York, London, Paris and Rome. The existing Chatwal in New York will not be rebranded as an Augustus property, according to Eric Danziger, president and CEO of Début Hotel Group.
Dream Hotels – Representing the 4-star, lifestyle segment, Dream Hotels are individually curated properties that focus on nightlife and experiential dining. Founded in 2004 with five locations in New York, Miami, Bangkok, Thailand and Cochin, India, Dream Hotels will soon add Chicago, Dallas, Hollywood, Washington, D.C., and Long Island City, New York, to its portfolio.
Time Hotels – Hampshire Hotels opened the Time Hotel in 1999 in New York. As part of the company’s new strategy, Début will transform Time into an upper-upscale brand Time Hotels that will focus on more of a refined and elegant atmosphere, without the “scene,” according to Danziger.
Unscripted Hotels – Unscripted is a new brand for the 3-star, full-service upscale segment. The brand will focus on comfort and value. “Full-service, 3-star hotels are too homogenous for owners and consumers,” Danziger added. The first Unscripted hotels is expected to launch within 60 days and another 60 days later.
Night Hotels – For the limited-service space, Début is repositioning its Night brand to be a design-focused, non-traditional, convertible room product that transitions from day to night. Danziger expects to franchise this concept first, suggesting there are some 25,000 existing hotels that could fit into this brand.
“Début is about wanting to create a lifestyle product in every market segment for every level of consumer,” said Danziger. “I believe every traveler should have the right to stay in a cool, fun, dynamic place.”
Danziger added that Hampshire hotels will remain and stand on its own as a third-party management company.
Danziger also said his biggest challenge with this launch is to balance growth with the promises to deliver. “We have to execute first with the flow of new deals,” he said.