Boutique hotels going strong in America
New York
JANE and Greg Hills were visiting New York City when they grabbed a drink in the lobby bar of the Dream Downtown, a boutique hotel in Chelsea. As the full room pulsed with music and guests, the couple had an epiphany: Dream should run their new hotel in Durham, North Carolina.
"We had been talking to all the major brands, but we wanted someone innovative, creative and entrepreneurial," Ms Hills said of Dream, a relatively small company that operates 16 hotels. "The banks wanted us to go with someone more well-known, but Dream was the right match for us." The result is Unscripted Durham, a hotel that will have its soft opening this month and the official opening in July in the centre of a revitalising downtown. With its rooftop pool and five restaurants on the premises - a considerable number given that there are just 74 rooms - it is the latest in a wave of new boutique hotels in the nation's smaller cities.
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Consumer & Healthcare
HCA beats first-quarter profit estimates on higher patient admissions
US FDA approves Pfizer’s gene therapy for rare bleeding disorder
EU toughens rules on Chinese fashion retailer Shein
Best World under fire from shareholders at AGM over dividends, director salaries
‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years
Sheng Siong Q1 net profit up 9.3% on higher revenue