ABTN speaks to David Chase, the general manager of the recently opened Trump Soho, about the New York hotel scene.
How has the hotel market in New York been affected by the downturn?
The brakes were on over that period between 2008 and early 2010, but since we opened we have seen things picking up so that’s good news. We are seeing more and more business travel and meetings. The groups business had a very difficult year in New York in 2009 but we are really hopeful and bullish with our meetings market. The UK is our largest international feeder market for the hotel – then Canada, Australia and other European countries like Germany and France.
I think what is lucky for us is that the worst of it in New York was from the fall of 2008 to the first half of last year, and we, of course, weren’t open then [having opened in April 2010]. I’ve always been pleased about this project in that we opened as we turned the corner. Certainly the market as a whole had a difficult 2008 and 2009 but we had the benefit of opening in a growth period. Rates were affected in the market so travellers are now looking for deals and for value so that is what we try to offer.
In what ways do you offer corporate guests good value for money?
We have spacious rooms – in New York that is a true luxury – so someone here can get a 37-42 sqm regular bedroom or one of our one-bedroom suites at a similar value to what they might pay for a 33 sqm one in a Midtown location. The other way is through targeted packages – for example we have created our Executive Experience package that provides some simple things that people want – breakfast, wifi, a credit to the spa [which normally costs US$50 a day] and three items of pressing – it really is US$150 of add-ons that is only a US$100 addition on to any room rate in the hotel. We have launched that recently and got great feedback on it so far.
What makes the hotel market in New York unique?
In New York it’s a matter of volume – you’ve got such a variety of hotels, we really set trends in New York. There truly is something for everybody, from a bed and breakfast type hotel with limited services, to many five-star luxury options. In some markets you might have your Hiltons and Sheratons and only one or two luxury offerings, but in New York you have a lot of luxury offerings. Then you have the boutique and lifestyle segment where you have dozens and dozens of options. To me how it differs is the sheer volume of different options guests have.
The other thing that is interesting about New York is that we have multiple different destinations – people can choose to go to the Upper East Side by Central Park or they can choose to be in Soho – and no one has had the option of a luxury hotel in Soho previously so we’ve provided something new. Before you only had boutique or smaller options in this part of New York City but you never had the option of a five-star experience.
What’s great about New York is that although it’s compact in size, people do choose to stay in certain neighbourhoods to define the experience they have on their visit. What’s wonderful about our location is that we really are centralised – we are certainly not Downtown but we are very close to Midtown and Lower Midtown and our particular location that is half a block from Sixth Avenue means access up to Midtown is easy and, similarly, it is convenient if you have business in the financial or Wall Street districts.
What kind of experience can I expect to have as a guest at the Trump Soho? And what makes it a unique option?
The design architect was David Rockwell who worked very closely with Ivanka [the daughter of Donald Trump] on the style and feel of the hotel. What we do in the Trump Hotel Collection is create hotels that have an appropriate sense of place in the neighbourhoods they are in. So unlike a hotel by Central Park that might have gold leaf and crystal, this hotel has very rich materials but then they also blend in some more raw, “neighbourhood-like” materials – you see in the lobby beautiful stone, American walnut but also exposed steel that really speaks to the warehouses of Soho. It’s created a proper sense of place – this building really feels like the neighbourhood. It’s a luxury environment with beautiful rich materials but not stereotypical of some of the olde worlde luxury hotels that use gold leaf and crystal.
Experientially, we really pride ourselves on having chosen ladies and gentlemen who are truly genuinely service oriented. There are a lot of hotels in New York City and the differentiator has to be your service and, frankly, your people. Service isn’t instructions in a book – it’s people you hand pick and choose that truly do make a difference. We are driven by a passion for excellence and luxury service. The building is only as good as the team that cleans it and provides the service and brings it to life.
We have 1,115 sqm of meeting space, one floor dedicated to meetings with a 370 sqm ballroom that splits in two and has pre-function areas, a second ballroom at 185 sqm and a couple of breakout rooms. We are very flexible with the ability to host up to 400 people. We also have a very unique space called So High, which is a 167 sqm event space on top of the hotel – three of the four walls are floor-to-ceiling glass, with panoramic views. So for a business gathering or social engagement there really is nothing like it in New York City – this has been a wonderful way of enticing guests to choose us for their meetings.
What other openings are in the pipeline?
The Trump Collection will see two more hotels open this year – the Trump Panama and the Trump Toronto. There will also be one in Scotland, one in New Orleans and one on the Palm Jumeirah but these are under development so we don’t have named openings date for them yet.