NEW YORK -- Marriott's 4-year-old joint venture with Italy's
Bulgari Group will bear its first fruit in May with the opening of
the Bulgari Hotel in Milan, a property flagged with a brand best
known for its line of jewelry, watches, fragrances and accessories
for the rich and famous.
Mark Hendricks, managing director of Bulgari Hotels &
Resorts, said the hotel's design is driven completely from the
Bulgari side, while service standards, sales, marketing and
reservations support comes from Marriott's Ritz-Carlton luxury
division.
The Milan hotel, a renovated nunnery, is small -- only 52 keys
when it opens -- but will add six rooms when an annex is finished
before year's end. The rack rate begins at $750.
On the grounds is a 13,000-square-foot private garden, a small
spa, a restaurant and a cafe. The property is located adjacent to
the city's shopping and cultural districts.
Both Bulgari and Marriott executives took pains to say that the
properties would not simply be Ritz-Carltons with a designer
label.
"This is a different product for a different customer,"
Hendricks said. "We're beginning with Ritz-Carlton principles, but
the service and culture will be different, with its own
identity."
The Milan property, according to a Bulgari spokesman, is unique
in that one architect, Antonio Citterio, was responsible for every
detail -- "from doorknobs to faucets to ashtrays. This really
hasn't been done on this scale since the 1930s."
The spokesman described the design vision as "contemporary
luxury."
"It's not avant-garde, it's not simply a classic look put into a
present-day hotel," he said. "The materials are classic -- rich,
warm fabrics, thick doors and marble slabs -- but the treatment of
the material will be modern, with very little decoration."
While the Bulgari brand sets the ambience, the spokesman said
its presence will otherwise be "very discreet."
The joint venture plans to open only seven or eight hotels, at
the rate of one per year. The proposed sites -- Beverly Hills,
Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, Bali -- were selected because they
are locales where the Bulgari brand is well known and, according to
Bulgari CEO Francesco Trapani, where its other luxury lines could
get a boost from buzz surrounding the hotel.
"The public-relations benefits are as important as any financial
benefits," said Trapani.
The marketing plan calls for targeting executives in "fashion,
publishing, media, design, architecture" and, of course,
celebrities. And included in the property will be "touches picked
up from our celebrity friends," including meditation alcoves in
five of the rooms.
"When we first considered the [hotel] concept, we were not
concerned about coming up with great designs -- we knew we would --
but our concerns centered around our ability to deliver the
appropriate level of service," Trapani said. "Hotels are not our
core business."
It appears that service will not be in short supply. The hotel's
work force will number 110, or about two employees for every room.
Among staff positions will be a personal trainer and a personal
shopper. Service amenities will include complimentary
packing/unpacking and private, in-room check-in.
Of the future properties, only Bali is currently under
development. That hotel will have 58 villas, each measuring 3,000
square feet and with its own plunge pool. The site will be atop a
seaside cliff, with an elevator to the beach.
As in Milan, the property will not be owned by the joint venture
but will be managed by it, the Bulgari spokesman said.
Hendricks said Bulgari Hotels & Resorts will have its own
dedicated reservations staff and will not participate in Marriott
or Ritz-Carlton loyalty programs.
He added that the venture's values will be the same across all
locations.
"True luxury is doing the basics well," Hendricks said. "We'll
impress you but not overwhelm you. When you go to the restaurants,
you're going to have a great meal, but there's not going to be
anything on the menus that will have to be explained."
To contact Editor-in-chief Arnie Weissmann, send e-mail to
[email protected].