Developers Hope Star Is Born Of ‘Affordable Luxury’ Concept

By Adam Kirby, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 5/1/2007

Onestarisborn will use pre-fabricated construction to keep room rates low.

AMSTERDAM Michael Levie believes there is a glaring hole in the European hotel market. Road warriors are generally faced with the choice of overpaying for an upscale hotel experience or skimping on amenities to get a reasonable room rate, and in either case, the hotels often fail to meet their technological expectations. Levie and his investor group are poised to unveil a new “affordable luxury” hotel concept that combines 4-star amenities with cutting-edge technology at 2-star prices.

The Amsterdam-based company calls itself Onestarisborn, though it will market its hotel brand under a different and presumably simpler name when the first 220-room hotel opens this winter at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. The chain is aimed squarely at business travelers who want upscale surroundings but who have little need for spacious rooms, says CEO Levie. “People are looking quite differently at luxury these days,” he says. “Road warriors want a king size bed, they want a nice rain shower, they want some technology to be available, and they’re willing to pay for that. But they’re not necessarily interested in a lot of space, because they’re arriving late at night and leaving early in the morning.”

As a way to keep down construction costs, Onestarisborn is partnering with Dutch architecture firm Concrete to create pre-cast building materials for the hotels. Levie compares the custom con struction process to using toy building blocks, and says the process will allow the company to erect 200-key hotels within two months. Between that and cutting out superfluous space, Onestarisborn hotels will be able to maximize economic efficiency in the building process, which means room rates stay low, too.

The hotels, of which 35 to 40 are planned by 2015, will be located alongside 4- and 5-star properties in major European cities, but Onestarisborn room rates will hover around €100. “Because we are so efficient with pricing, because construction costs are kept low, we are able to settle at A-1 locations,” Levie says. We are not a 2-star hotel. From the price, yes, but not from the product.” The company is not targeting any particular brand from which to capture market share, since business travel is expanding enough that another major brand can absorb excess business, he says.

Straying From Convention

In designing the hotels, Levie and his partners ignored traditional notions about star ratings and instead focused on creating spaces their target customers want. “We felt it was time to develop something significantly new and not repeat what the industry was doing year-in and year-out,” says Levie, who previously worked in corporate roles with Sonesta International Hotels and NH Hoteles. “We felt it was time to look at a specific niche and figure out how we can meet the needs of that particular traveler. We looked at the 4- to 5-star traveler who is paying about €175 and ending up in a dated hotel.”

Technology being a focal point of the hotels, Onestarisborn is planning an innovative integration of radiofrequency identification technology with customized room settings. When booking online, guests will be invited to set their room’s temperature, lighting and entertainment preferences, and upon check-in they will receive RFID key fobs with their preferences encoded. The key fobs are theirs to keep, and the information is stored for use in future visits to any Onestarisborn property. In the rooms, ambient technology includes a handheld mood pad to control just about anything electronic. And since Onestarisborn expects considerable patronage from Americans and Brits, rooms will be outfitted with U.S. and UK electrical outlets, along with European outlets.

The hotels will have a limited F&B component. Pre-packaged, grab-and-go meals will be offered, but most properties will not include full, sit-down dining options. The company figures the lack of a restaurant will suit its on-the-job clientele just fine, as they often have little time or interest in an elegant meal. Levie predicts the Onestarisborn concept will revolutionize the hotel industry in the same way that budget airlines changed the travel industry—that is, travelers can be budget-conscious without having to sacrifice too much comfort. “Frequent travelers are savvy,” Levie says. “They know and recognize good value. They understand what they want and what they need.”

Besides Schiphol Airport, the other location already announced for the new chain is near Amsterdam’s World Trade Center. Levie calls the two sites “the best two locations available” in the Netherlands, and he says enthusiasm for the projects has prompted Amsterdam officials to speed the approval process. “We see good possibilities for locations and enthusiasm for our projects. Local municipalities are excited about our product and to work with us.”