WICHITA, KANSAS—The next 18 months will be a redefining period for LodgeWorks LP, as it prepares for a foray into the boutique hotel sector while also re-launching its Sierra Suites Hotels brand as Hotel Sierra. The new Sierra, including four new properties, will be positioned between the select- and full-service sectors and designed to compete more directly with Embassy Suites.

With its other new brand, called Avia, LodgeWorks executives are about to step out of their comfort zone, as the 20-year-old owner and operator built its portfolio largely with mid-scale brands like Hyatt Summerfield Suites and Residence Inn. Avia looks to attract upscale travelers with authentic and imaginative boutique hotels offering upper-upscale quality with a sophisticated sense of place.

“We are focused on small, intimate settings—150 suites or less—with a very strong sense of local design essence to complement the sites we have chosen to launch the concept,” says Cheryl Doll, vice president of marketing for LodgeWorks. Avia is set to debut in Savannah, Georgia, in late 2008, followed by 2009 openings in Houston and both Long Beach and Napa, California. From there, LodgeWorks plans to grow the Avia brand by two or three properties per year, mainly in urban U.S. locations that have both weekday and weekend demand.

LodgeWorks President Tony Isaac likens the Avia experience to “a cocktail party thrown by a gracious local host.” Beyond atmosphere, Avia properties will have little in common besides a standard design essence: Boutique hotel designer Colum McCartan is helping design the brand in a style that embraces elegance, creativity and an air of relaxed refinement.

In the food and beverage realm, each property will offer a bistro and café serving European-inspired meals with quintessential local ingredients. Executives Paul Keeler and Adam Ghali are charged with bringing local flair to the hotels’ specialty menus. Additionally, LodgeWorks will work with tastemakers native to each market to create a sort of exaggerated local flavor at each Avia hotel—but without any notion of kitsch.

“We are not going to be the Disney of Napa—it is more sophisticated than that,” Isaac says. “If you think about what makes the boutique hotel sector special, it is that no two are alike, and they all have great service.”

Avia Napa will take its inspiration from the heritage of wine country, with an earthy palette and curvilinear design, and will embrace the area’s spa culture with oversized showers and soaking tubs in 58 of the 141 guestrooms. In Long Beach, an interior tree sculpture will replicate a mini-forest, while wall coverings will mimic the play of light and shadows, and indoor lounges will feature retractable walls. The 138-key property also will feature a rooftop pool deck and bar with cabanas.

At the debut property in Savannah, look for a fountain aesthetic: a second-floor pool deck will be highlighted by a fire pit, private cabanas and multi-level swimming pools fed by wall fountains. And at the 70-key Avia in Houston, the outdoor pool and forest greenery will serve as a central design theme, along with Spanish-style architecture.

The new Hotel Sierra concept trends toward the upscale lifestyle space, targeting the aspirational traveler with touches of luxury in an all-suite setting.

Sierra’s traditional evening social hour now will offer tasting flights of premium wines and beers along with fresh-baked gourmet pizzas. In the morning, the complimentary breakfast will include made-to-order omelets, and ubiquitous Starbucks coffee bars are coming.

New guestroom amenities will include high-definition flat-screen televisions, iPod docking stations, and Gilchrist and Soames bath products. Meanwhile, the overall hotel décor gets a more sophisticated and contemporary color palette.

All six existing Sierra properties will be re-launched by March, as will a Regency Suites Hotel in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and a Hallmark Suites Hotel in Rancho Cordova, California. A ninth Sierra property, in Dulles, Virginia, came online in October, and three more Hotel Sierras—in Bellevue and Redmond, Washington, and in Richmond, Virginia—are slated to open within the next year.

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