Commune Hotels & Resorts is busy tightening up the narrative for its historically wide-ranging, 28-hotel Joie de Vivre portfolio because the company’s brain trust believes based on very current thinking among owners and developers, a concept with more of an independent feel, very focused on its neighborhood has room to grow in primary, secondary and even tertiary U.S. markets, and especially more so on the East Coast.
Commune CEO Niki Leondakis told HOTELS on Thursday that a handful of additional deals should be announced in the next few months, adding to recently announced deals in Chicago, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
“When I joined Commune (November 2012) we took a step back to make Joie de Vivre tighter and pointed in terms of its description,” Leondakis said. “Going forward, it will remain a collection brand – not hard branded or a specific style and look, but more of a soft brand. The tone and thread across Joie de Vivre is that it is very focused on the neighborhood, which is what a lot of people are saying. The difference is in the execution through design, F&B and things like a locally stocked minibar.”
Leondakis referred to the neighborhood-centric Hotel Lincoln in Chicago and Epiphany in Palo Alto, California, as models for the future of the brand. From the front desk in Chicago that has dog bones for locals who want to come in for local coffee with their dogs, to the Epiphany’s very adaptable and non-traditional meeting spaces conducive to tech-industry brainstorming, the model encourages creativity. “Let’s make it relevant and work collaboratively to create something special for the area,” she says. “It’s not over-thematic; it’s more of a modern interpretation with design and experiences… The brand will also be evolved and edited to offer a more consistent experience and level of service for our guests.”
Of the 28 hotels open today, Leondakis said various owners are renovating or planning to update with this unique and individual mission in mind. “We are working with them. It is not a difficult task as most owners are now savvy to fact they need to create unique and individual experiences,” she added. “Owners are keeping the brand because they want flexibility and the creativity it provides to do something different. It’s not a rigid program and it’s not about being creative for creative sake.”
At one of the more recent acquisitions for the brand, LaSalle Hotel Properties’ 343-room Liaison Capitol Hill in D.C., Commune is busy installing its cultural and experiential elements to what is now the biggest hotel in Joie de Vivre’s portfolio. Leondakis said it is more soft things and detailing like music, lighting and uniforms that need attention there. A similar program is in process at LaSalle’s Hotel Vitale in San Francisco.
Next up are refurbishments at the newly acquired 149-room Talbott in Chicago by new owners Wanxiang America Real Estate Group, Geolo Capital and Sterling Bay. It will encompass all of the property’s guestrooms and suites, a new retail concept and café bar with outdoor seating. In New Orleans, Commune is converting the former Rault Center into a 184-room boutique hotel set to open next fall. In addition, a new-build, 229-room hotel located on the Bowery in New York City is getting ready for its 2016 bow, and an as-yet-to-be-named Midtown Manhattan hotel is on its way.