Solage Brings Modern Luxury To Resort Market
By Karyn Strauss, Senior Editor -- Hotels, 8/31/2006 11:00:00 PM
 A vision of the first Solage property in Calistoga, California. |
MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA Riding the wave of new “affordable luxury” concepts, Auberge Resorts, owner/operator of a handful of ultra-deluxe boutique resorts in the United States and Mexico, is launching a new brand, Solage Hotels & Resorts. With Solage, the company is hoping to capture the discretionary dollars of a growing demographic of Gen Xers, who Auberge CEO Mark Harmon calls “modern romantics.” This customer, he believes, is still looking for a deluxe resort experience yet with a more fun, contemporary and active atmosphere than an Auberge resort offers—and at a lower price point (with an ADR of US$400 rather than Auberge’s US$700+). This, he says, is an underserved market, particularly in the Napa Valley, California area, where the first Solage property is set to open next spring.
This first Solage property, Solage Calistoga, came about not out of a master plan to launch a new brand, but rather is the result of an eight-year development process to get approval to build a cottage-style resort in the area. Unlike Auberge’s other resorts, which are situated in secluded areas surrounded by abundant natural beauty, Harmon explains that the property they wanted to develop in Calistoga was closer to town and “not in the truly exceptional categories of beautiful places.” But, he says, the only lodgings in the area were either bed and breakfasts, luxury hotels or of the limited-service, chain variety. So his goal was to offer something different and tap into pent up demand for a “fun hotel in a resort environment.” The plan also was to leverage Calistoga’s history as a frontier spa town (thanks to natural hot springs) and create a concept around spa and wellness. The reason the company then decided to launch a brand around this concept rather than building it simply as a one-off property, Harmon says, is that in researching the demographic the company wanted to target with Solage, they discovered this was an underserved audience in the resort space.
In fact, Harmon had a hard time naming any would-be competitors of Solage, as most of the upscale boutique offerings to date are concentrated in urban areas. The closest he could come up with was W hotels, which has ventured into the resort space a bit, but those properties are larger and a part of one of the biggest corporate hotel companies, and thus, not truly in the same category, he believes. In terms of growth plans for Solage, Harmon says the company is looking at other popular resort destinations, including Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and ski areas such as Vail or Aspen. But, he says, growth will be opportunistic. “We are thinking one or two a year at this point,” Harmon says, adding that they are looking at both conversions and new builds of around US$600 to US$700 per key. Unlike Auberge properties—all of which have unique names (other than Auberge du Soleil, the company’s first resort)—Solage properties will be branded. “We will use the Solage name on other properties, unlike Auberge, which are all about individuality. We want to have the same approach [to creating unique properties] but believe name recognition is more of an advantage here—as a collection of properties—to create some identity that way,” he says.
Solage Calistoga will feature 89 guestrooms in a cottage-style layout, a core philosophy of the company. “We believe luxury comes from having a sense of privacy,” Harmon says, “We avoid hallways if at all possible.” The modern design is described as “San Francisco loft meets Napa Valley barn.”
While Auberge resorts are known for their fine dining, the F&B operations at Solage properties, while still emphasizing the freshest ingredients, will be more casual. Calistoga’s dining concept, for example, will be centered on the small plates trend. The resort also will feature large outdoor terraces, bocce courts and a 130-ft. (40-m) pool. Complimentary bicycles will be available as well. The focal point of operations will be the Solage Spa, which will play up the area’s history with specialized treatments utilizing local ingredients.
On the Auberge Resorts front, meanwhile, the company also is growth minded. A new-build, 62-room project is under construction in Santa Fe and design development plans are under way in St. Kitts. But at US$1 million per key to develop Auberge properties, Harmon says it is difficult to motivate investors. As a result, these properties will feature a real estate component—the 70-room St. Kitts resort is part of a destination resort community that will include golf, a marina and residences. “We want to grow carefully in a way that produces returns,” Harmon says.
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