LONDON—Promoting its roster of three boutique hotels as “affordable luxury,” independent Nadler Hotels is set on a relatively aggressive growth stream that promises to provide guests what they are looking for without shaking every penny out of them, according to CEO Robert Nadler.
Opening its first hotel in 2006, the London-based company has its 4-star hotels in London (65-key Kensington and 78-key Soho) and Liverpool (106 keys) but plans another London property soon, three or four more in the capital after that and another five or six in the United Kingdom provinces.
New properties likely will fall in the approximately 70-key range, Nadler said.
Starting as an investment vehicle in bricks and mortar, Nadler Hotels evolved out of brand base2stay.com, a name dropped as having too narrow an appeal. (The Liverpool property, by ditching the base2stay moniker in March, spelled the final demise of that brand.)
Nadler Hotels is now set on expansion, but only with Robert Nadler’s definite views on the hotel space kept firmly in place.
Speaking to HNN during a break at May’s Boutique & Lifestyle Hotel Summit, Nadler said his pet peeves remain a deep-set aversion to added extras on hotel checks.
“We want to be a different type of urban hotel, one that does not shake all the pennies out of our guests,” Nadler said.
He also is no fan of hotel bars and restaurants, which get the thumbs down because Nadler feels strongly that his hotels are better served by working with local communities. To this effect, the company partners with local restaurants and bars, even gyms and shops, to provide guests with discounts.
“Guests want location. It’s possible in new properties that we might have a grab-and-go coffee offering, but that’ll be it. In our Soho property we have teamed up with a delivery service for (takeout) meals, but the mark-up will be a £1 ($1.70) delivery charge,” Nadler added.
Profitability is the metric
Rates, which at press time in Kensington started at £107 ($181), include free Wi-Fi and HDTVs programmed with 6,000 music tracks. Guestrooms also feature mini-kitchens, which are complemented by water filters (no plastic bottles of spring water) and fridges (no minibars) that have enough space for sizeable supermarket shopping bags.
Not included are check-out add-ons.
The model, which is aimed at busy business travelers and curious leisure travelers seeking style and experience, will continue in the company’s new hotels.
“Our metric is our profitability, short and simple, but our model does make it hard to compare ourselves with our competitive set, especially if others provide food and beverage,” Nadler said. To have a restaurant was not considered an option when Nadler realized that, in his opinion, only 15% of hotel guests ever use it.
An engaged, knowledgeable staff is another Nadler imperative.
“We even sell bottles of wine at the front desk. We had one guest ask if we had any wine for sale, and you could tell from his body language that he instantly expected the answer to be no,” Nadler said. “We then sold him a bottle.”
Future space
Nadler Hotels is now looking to grow.
Despite developing, owning and managing its first three hotels, the company is open to management agreements and even leases but wants to keep additional properties under the Nadler Hotels name.
“We’re limited to where we can grow. We require gateway cities with 24/7 cultures,” Nadler said.
“We have opened a hotel every two years. Ideally we’d like to be opening one a year, but this is all about finding the right product that works for us. At some stage, we may consider looking overseas,” he added.