SBE Hotel Group, a division of Los Angeles-based independent film and real estate company SBE Entertainment Group, is to open a luxury hotel early next year known as SLS Hotels. The inaugural property, currently operating as Le Meridien at Beverly Hills, will emerge after extensive refurbishments as SLS Los Angeles at the start of 2008.
Acquired by SBE in November 2005, the SLS Los Angeles hotel will continue to be managed by former owners, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The property will operate under Starwood's The Luxury Collection brand, which includes famous hotels such as The Gritti Palace and the Danieli in Venice, The Phoenician in Phoenix, Arizona and The US Grant in San Diego.
Other hotels recently acquired by SBE Hotel Group and soon to be re-branded as SLS properties, include Miami”s Ritz Plaza and the Sahara Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Expansion is planned in key locations throughout the US, Mexico and the Caribbean.
”With SLS, we are examining and rethinking every possible aspect of the luxury hotel experience to create an entirely new paradigm that is in tune with what travellers want today,” said SBE founder and CEO, Sam Nazarian.
”To that end, we've teamed with the best minds and companies in the industry to help make SLS into one of the premier hospitality forces in the world.”