NEW YORK — The Gansevoort hotel brand was so strongly established here in 2004 that with only three properties in operation, its upscale, hip image has not faded after almost a decade.
Unlike many hotel brands, the Gansevoort Hotel Group has taken its time expanding. Besides its two New York locations, its only other property is in Turks and Caicos. A less successful endeavor, the Gansevoort Miami, dropped the Gansevoort name a couple years after opening.
Not dissuaded, the company said earlier this year that it was partnering with Caesars Entertainment to build a Gansevoort-branded boutique hotel in Las Vegas at the site of Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon. The Gansevoort Las Vegas will have 188 rooms and a 40,000-square-foot casino when it opens in early 2014, following a $185 million upgrade.
According to Gansevoort Hotel Group President Michael Achenbaum, the company has learned from its three hits and one miss.
Being both a hotel and condominium crippled the Miami Gansevoort, which opened in 2008 and ceased to be managed by the Gansevoort team at the end of 2009.
Achenbaum said the hotel was also a 259-unit residential condominium, which opened just as the South Florida condominium market collapsed.
"Despite incredibly challenging economic times, the hotel itself was financially profitable," he said. "[The] residential component of our cross-collateralized loan left us to rely solely on hotel profits to make payments on construction debt during one of the toughest economic downturns the U.S. housing and lodging markets have ever experienced.
"Ultimately, this load was too great for the hotel alone to support, despite our best efforts to restructure the loan/payment terms with our lender."
He said the hotel's brand expansion to Miami "was a success."
"Gansevoort South received rave reviews when it opened in 2008 and effectively introduced our brand to the Miami market, which exposed our product to Latin American customers who had not experienced our flagship property in the Meatpacking District," Achenbaum said.
Looking ahead, Achenbaum said the brand's goal "is to grow only to the markets that make sense without compromising our brand standards."
Its 2009 expansion to Turks and Caicos has been a success with staying power.
Miami "was a learning experience for all of us, and as the market recovered, we were able to expand again with our third-party management venture in Turks and Caicos," Achenbaum said.
Turks and Caicos enabled the brand to capture "an affluent mix of both European and American clientele," he said.
Achenbaum said Las Vegas had always been on the hotel group's radar because of the brand's entertainment and nightlife offerings.
"Given that it is a very competitive market, we were seeking a differentiated market entry with a unique product offering and are fortunate to have found that partnership with Caesars Entertainment," he said. "We've learned that great partners are a key element to the product and client experience and join forces with the best operators in the industry."
Achenbaum said the brand partners with groups that cater to a demographic similar to the Gansevoort's, combining to "elevate the overall hotel experience by offering complementary and highly demanded products and services under one roof."
He noted partnerships with Exhale Enterprises, which operates the Gansevoort's exhale Spas; the Cutler Salon at the Gansevoort Park Avenue property and the restaurant and nightlife groups at that hotel; the One Group for the popular restaurant Asellina; and the Crown Group Hospitality for the Windsor bar.
When asked where the next Gansevoort might appear, Achenbaum said the possibilities were wide open.
"When we evaluate our opportunities, we first look at key target markets where there is either an existing or imminent synergy with our current portfolio of assets," he said. "We classify these destinations as 'need' markets, as they are dictated by our dedicated customers' demands for a Gansevoort product."
He said those places include international gateway cities and resort destinations where the model of branded lifestyle hotels and resorts appeals to "international influencers and taste-makers."
He also said that over the next few years, hotel sites would open in "emerging neighborhoods throughout the U.S. and abroad where we believe business can grow and will flourish."
He added: "Gansevoort Hotel Group has always looked to the locations with revitalization potential, as we aim to be the catalyst for change and be the anchor of that future growth."
Achenbaum said that the Gansevoort would also establish a presence in urban business centers with vibrant social life where it will appeal to both business and leisure travelers as well as to social patrons and local crowds.
"This has been an incredible success for us in [New York City] at both hotels," he said. "Each with a unique personality, but both distinctly Gansevoort."
Follow Johanna Jainchill on Twitter @jjainchilltw.