With around 350 member hotels around the world, and on every continent, Epoque Hotels is a collection of boutique and small hotels, tailored to meet the demand for a more ‘niche’ hotel offering. Clearly, there is a place for the more run-of-the-mill, cookie cutter-style brands, but it is not for everyone. Instead, Epoque offers a stylish alternative that is particularly appealing to the more artistically inclined.
That said, this is a truly worldwide organisation – but one that selects its hotels with great care, ensuring that each unique location is reflected in terms of design, style and charm. Each is individually-owned and therefore has its own personality and character.
“I would say it is this that defines our collection,” explains David Maranzana, President of Epoque Hotels. “People are attracted to our hotels very naturally.”
Of course, 2011 was a tough year for the majority of the hospitality sector, though the company certainly enjoyed continued growth with around 40 new additions to its portfolio. Amongst these are Hotel JL No 76 in Amsterdam, a very cool, design-oriented 39-room hotel with well-appointed guestrooms in five ambiances; La Belle Juliette in Paris, France is another new addition and is ideally situated in Saint Germain des Pres in the centre of Paris, one of the most beautiful areas of the Left Bank.
Located in the heart of Richmond in the UK, The Bingham Hotel features 15 individually designed guestrooms, an acclaimed restaurant, a striking cocktail bar and a beautiful Garden Rooms
events space.
In Budapest, Hungary, the Bohem Art Hotel opened in 2011, offering 62 well-appointed and elegant rooms, whilst The Grace, situated right in the heart of 798, Beijing’s modern art district, is a wonderful boutique hotel offering 30 elegantly appointed rooms with a combination of traditional and contemporary design.
So, with steady, if slow, growth across all markets in 2011, where does Maranzana believe the potential lies for 2012 and beyond?
“Like many others, we believe in the Asian markets,” he says. “We have an office in Beijing and are particularly interested in China. There’s a phenomenon of boutique hotels that’s really catching on in Asia, even in China and not only in larger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, we are seeing them appear in other cities, such as Shenzhen, Wuxi and Lijiang."
For the full article, please see the February 2012 issue.
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