BLLA Partners with the greater boutique hospitality industry by working with the groups that have converted their brands and management companies

Life House and others are turning to BLLA to connect with distressed or opportunistic projects

The hospitality industry is clearly moving in waves while it is figuring out how to adjust to this new normal. Owners, developers, and boutique brands are taking this time to rethink their strategy, and some are clearly able to assist others in need. BLLA’s Boutique Lifestyle Digital Summit, being held today, has a Boutique Bootcamp session on Turning your Franchise into an Independent Boutique Hotel, clearly a sign of the times.

BLLA is one of those, as it is a clearing house of sorts, for connections inside the boutique lifestyle industry niche. It is an organization dedicated to helping match people to the exact resources they need, whether it is finding capital partners or management organizations or suppliers and vendors with boutique experience. BLLA is agnostic and is driven to properly introduce people to what fits. They are driven by their 11-year practice of authenticity, providing these services in a confidential, genuine, non-judgmental, and appropriate manner.

Owners and newcomers to the boutique hospitality industry, rely on BLLA to help steer them in the right direction. “It makes sense to ensure they’re properly matched up” said Frances Kiradjian, BLLA founder and CEO. “I’ve worked in the travel and hospitality industry my whole life and your reputation is what follows you along the way. I love the people and will take anyone’s call any time. My staff always wonders how I can manage that. It is about being real and ‘proving what you promise’. In 1990, I worked for Carlson Travel (CWT) and was given recognition for doing exactly that with my client, Toyota Motor Sales USA. This practice has stayed with me throughout my career.”

When Life House reached out to us, we were pleased to see how they were creating value for independents by leveraging a unique tech-enabled approach alongside flexible deal structures that cater to a wide array of owners – whereby they are able to both 3rd party manage a wide range of property types and/or bring in capital partners to acquire hotels alongside their platform. Working closely with Life House in recent months, we have been incredibly pleased to see how they have been able to marry such new ways of thinking, while preserving the spirit of boutique hospitality in their management services. Others are following with similar programs, such as Jurny.

Sage Hospitality is also situated to grow its boutique independent collection of properties and services. While they do also have a portfolio of branded and soft-branded properties, they are able to offer independent hotels an array of services including hotel management as well as servicing investment needs in select cases.

Palisociety also introduced a recovery fund for boutique and independent hotels. They designed the fund to help hotels with less than 100 keys recover from the effects of the global pandemic.

The concepts are all quite unique and different from group to group in the boutique space. While the brand chains and their soft brands continue to try and attract properties, clearly these new entrants (with shared services and operations) are driving interest, helping hotels to retain their independence while taking advantage of efficiencies and negotiated deals along with needed capital in some cases.

Many of these groups such as Sage, Valencia Group, Palisociety, BLVD Hospitality, Aimbridge, Davidson, Lark Hotels, Charlestowne Hotels, and others, are feeling confident in their position and taking that experience and resources to the industry. BLLA is by their side and when the shoe fits, it’s a winner. A good example of this is when the city of Ft. Wayne, Indiana called BLLA as the city was involved in helping develop a luxury boutique hotel in downtown. The special project was to honor the well-known Vera Bradley brand. So BLLA went to work, proposing recommendations based on fit and the marriage was soon underway. Provenance Hotels, who BLLA recommended among others, was brought on as not only the operator, but also an investor. The hotel is actually set for an April 2021 opening.. The city of Ft. Wayne loved working with us as you can see by their sentiments on BLLA’s sister organization page, boutiquemoneygroup.com.

The new groups servicing our special and unique boutique lifestyle community, are growing in numbers. This time of the pandemic is providing great resources and assistance and others are joining the wide array of services for this upscale and luxury hotel category.

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About the Boutique & Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA)

The official organization for the world’s boutique lifestyle leaders promoting connection, education, and advocacy. As a pioneer in forecasting the boutique movement, the BLLA’s network has grown beyond its hotel foundation to welcome more passionate entrepreneurs, businesses and purveyors that amplify the boutique lifestyle. BLLA is a catalyst for trends and the future of boutique. blla.org