Lofty Lodgings
A new class of airy, open and affordable hotels is springing up.
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With hotel prices surging, business travelers are taking arenewed interest in midmarket hotels, which usually tradeattractive price points for not-so-attractive design points.
A new hotel company, , is trying to change that trade-off. The idea,according to CEO John Russell, is to offer the chic style of urbanlofts and the amenities of boutique hotels at midscalerates–typically $115 to $135 per night. NYLO rooms will bespacious, airy, light-filled and slightly industrial. Each roomwill have a flat-screen TV and free high-speed internet; amenitiesinclude a 24-hour restaurant, business center, library, meetingfacilities and gym. The first NYLO properties will open nextyear.
NYLO’s intention, Russell says, is to do for loft hotelswhat W did for boutique hotels: Carve a new lodging category thatresonates with trend-conscious consumers, standardize it, and bringit to multiple markets.
For now, NYLO has few competitors. One is in NewOrleans, which originated in 1880 as a carriage and dry-goodswarehouse. It’s small enough–18 units–to assign a personalassistant to each guest; the rooms are a generous 600 square feet.The décor is luxury minimalist: bare walls and floors, sconcesrather than bedside lamps, but cushy Italian beds, huge bathrooms,two-headed showers and sexy freestanding bathtubs. Room rates startat $199.
Another competitor is , set in the LowerManhattan district that contains the city’s largestconcentration of residential lofts. The property, slated to openthis summer, has 45 rooms. In-room amenities include flat-screenTVs and DVD players, and the hotel offers a business center, Wi-Fiand a 24-hour concierge. Room rates start at $295.
With hotel prices surging, business travelers are taking arenewed interest in midmarket hotels, which usually tradeattractive price points for not-so-attractive design points.
A new hotel company, , is trying to change that trade-off. The idea,according to CEO John Russell, is to offer the chic style of urbanlofts and the amenities of boutique hotels at midscalerates–typically $115 to $135 per night. NYLO rooms will bespacious, airy, light-filled and slightly industrial. Each roomwill have a flat-screen TV and free high-speed internet; amenitiesinclude a 24-hour restaurant, business center, library, meetingfacilities and gym. The first NYLO properties will open nextyear.
NYLO’s intention, Russell says, is to do for loft hotelswhat W did for boutique hotels: Carve a new lodging category thatresonates with trend-conscious consumers, standardize it, and bringit to multiple markets.
