CEOs Speak Out At NYU Conference

It’s not even lunchtime on the opening day of the NYU Hospitality Investment Conference, and already news is being made.

This morning’s Wall Street Journal tells us that Hilton has hired away Starwood’s Ross Klein (he was president of the company’s luxury brand group and the man behind the W brand in the post-Barry Sternlicht era) and Amar Lalvani (formelry Starwood’s global head of luxury and lifestyle brand development). 

The hirings are part of Hilton’s plan to focus on the growth of its luxury portfolio while also creating an upscale lifestyle brand to compete with W Hotels and Marriott’s upcoming Edition brand. 

Jonathan Gray, senior managing director at Hilton parent The Blackstone Group, says that part of the growth in the luxury portfolio will come from integrating some of Blackstone’s LXR Luxury Resorts properties into Hilton’s Conrad and Waldorf=Astoria brands.

"The company is underpenetrated on the luxury side," he said at the opening session of the conference, noting that he and Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta see "significant potential worldwide" for the Waldorf=Astoria brand, but that "it will take time."

Meanwhile, Marriott International CEO Bill Marriott says his company continues to look around the world for opportunities for the Bulgari brand (prime locations only), and notes that Marriott currently is in active negotiations on four more Bulgari hotels. "We’ll probably do one every other year for the next four to five years," he said at a press conference this morning.

Mr. Marriott also admitted this morning that when it comes to his blog, he writes some of the posts, and his PR department writes and fleshes out some of the posts for him. But he says most of the ideas are his, and notes that he is "still waiting for my commission" on the US$4 million in business that has been booked from his blog!

Finally, Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, sees his Baccarat brand as "easy to get built" around the globe moving forward, as it already has solid brand recognition in Europe, the Middle East and even Japan. "Baccarat will be easier than Crillon," he says, which will require "the perfect location." And his "1" Hotels & Residences brand is strictly a domestic brand in the short- to mid-term, he says.