ATLANTA— Leveraging the reputation and experience of former Ritz-Carlton executive Horst Schulze, West Paces Hotel Group LLC is looking to carve its niche in the highest tier of the hotel market. And the first signs are anticipated to take shape at L’Auberge de Sedona in Sedona, AZ, which the company took over in January.
The deal marks the second hotel managed by the young management company, with the first at Auburn University in Alabama.
Utilizing Schulze’s vast experience in the luxury hotel marketplace, West Paces has announced big plans to develop a hotel product in the emerging six-star category, as well as a second four-plus-star brand to be called Hemingway Hotels & Resorts, in addition to managing high-end boutique properties such as the 57-room exclusive L’Auberge resort. While the three products will differ, the service and attention to customers will be evident throughout.
It is anticipated that L’Auberge will be a springboard for much of the service ethic the executive team at West Paces hopes to infuse into its properties going forward.
According to Schulze, one of several veteran hoteliers that make up the brain trust behind this highly focused hotel management entity, executives at the company are currently evaluating L’Auberge’s facilities in order to make the necessary “recommendations” to its owners to polish its product and positioning.
Meanwhile, the company is working on finishing up extensive market research, which it is conducting with the top sliver of the travel market to help strategize its move into the six-star lodging segment.
“We are doing extensive market research to get into the workings of the top end of the market so we can create a market-driven hotel brand [in the six-star category],” said Schulze. The research is scheduled to be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2004, at which time West Paces will use the results to formulate its luxury hotel product.
So sure is West Paces of its strategy to take a leadership role in the ultra-luxury segment that the company has already laid the groundwork for new developments of that kind. According to Schulze, the company has established both formal and informal agreements with hotel developers who are poised to move on building high-end hotels for its six-star hotel brand.
“Simply put, it will be comprised of smaller hotels, distinguished by the highest service levels. We will use the research to decide where and when,” said Schulze.
But a few locations have already been identified as possible sites for the groundbreaking six-star hotel concept, including Cancun, Bermuda, Atlanta, and Brussels, according to the veteran hotelier.
“We have agreements with a few people who are interested in building in those areas, but they won’t go further until we establish a full picture of what we will be cultivating,” said Schulze. As such, these few locations will likely be the first venues West Paces moves on when the concept is complete, “but it’s never done until its done,” Schulze said.
Several other, yet unnamed locations are also being considered for the company’s six-star product. In order to ensure West Paces is able to establish a presence in the most viable markets for its placement in the segment, the company is willing to make sliver investments in new projects going forward, according to Schulze. Both urban and resort locations will be pursued, he said.
“We really want to create a brand that does something different and will design it to deliver such an experience,” Schulze said.
As for L’Auberge, activities such as wine tasting, as well as a new spa are in the resort’s future, according to the company.
