In what might best be described as a cross between the
sharing economy, pop-up ventures and executive housing, a new hospitality
company, WhyHotel, announced Thursday it has secured $4 million in seed money
to expand its venture, which creates temporary luxury hotels in new but
not-yet-fully-leased apartment buildings.
The company, whose first project successfully operated for
about five months in 2017 with 50 units at the Bartlett in Washington D.C.,
will open its second pop-up hotel with 158 apartments at a new high-rise
apartment building on North Calvert Street in downtown Baltimore, near the
Inner Harbor.
Bao Vuong, president and co-founder of WhyHotel, said that
with the new funding from a group of real estate investors, the company plans
to expand to most major cities, establishing long-term operations that will
move from building to building as the apartments get leased.
"Our plan is to go national," he said. "We're
opening in a few other cities later this year, although we're not ready to disclose
where yet. We expect to open four or five WhyHotels in 2018, each in a
different city, and then have a much larger expansion plan for 2019."
In establishing operations in different cities, he said, the
company will look at the pipeline of new luxury apartment developments to
ensure there will be long-term sustainability.
"The idea is as North Calvert starts to wrap up, we
roll into the next development," he said. "So from our guest
perspective, they may not be coming into the same hotel year after year, but
they are coming to WhyHotel and they know our brand standards."
Guests will be guaranteed consistent quality as the units
will always be new, in buildings with luxury amenities like roof-top terraces
and pools. Guests can choose from full-service, luxury hotel-style stays that
include daily cleaning and all the other amenities of a traditional hotel or a
reduced home-sharing rate with a one-time cleaning fee.
"That's the beauty of our model," Vuong said. "We
do cross both sides. You get a like-home experience with our local hosts, but
you get the service consistency and quality of hotels that are professionally
managed. Someone is there 24/7 if you need something at 3 a.m."
The rooms also offer free Wi-Fi and the latest in
technology. For example, instead of phones, the rooms will have Amazon Echo
devices that guests can use to stream music or to call the front desk for fresh
towels.
The properties will all be fully licensed hotels but will be
listed on home-sharing websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO, as well as
on OTAs and in GDSs.
The Baltimore hotel will be run by a long-time Ritz-Carlton
general manager, Doug Brooks, Vuong said. And as the company expands, it
intends to build teams of experienced hospitality employees in each city that
will move from building to building with the hotel.
The size of the apartments will vary by building, Vuong
said. For example, the new Baltimore hotel has just one- and two-bedroom units.
All are fully furnished, and guests have access to all the amenities the
building offers.
The Baltimore property, which is operated in partnership
with Monument Realty, has a rooftop terrace and pool, game room, theater room,
community room and fitness center. It also offers all the amenities of home,
including fully stocked kitchens and washers and dryers, and it is
pet-friendly.