Design Hotels sets sights on 400 properties

BERLIN – Before there were so many soft brands there was quiet Design Hotels, which was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2011 and eventually went to the Marriott Bonvoy platform. The 33-year-old brand founded by Claus Sendlinger and today led by former Marriott cluster manager Stijn Oyen, quiet as it has been in the press and during Marriott earnings calls, added 29 hotels this year with Managing Director Oyen expecting the design-led collection to surpass 400 hotels in a few years. That’s making a statement.

“It’s not just growth to grow,” Oyen said. “It’s much more about bringing the right Originals together. It’s about hand-picking those visionaries with the right design and properties that connects with the locality, the culture and are a 200% brand fit for us.”

Oyen cited was he termed “adventurous, young entrepreneurs” who are venturing into the hotel world as having the makeup Design Hotels could be looking for. In fact, he said about 60% of their new owners are first-time hoteliers and about 30% are Millennials.

Design Hotels Managing Director Stijn Oyen

“They want to do things differently,” Oyen said. “They see things differently and often we have a natural match between our brand and the hotels that they want to realize.”

Among the other new hotel signings, Design Hotels strengthened its relationship with Firmdale Hotels and Grupo Habita and introduced new agreements with independent hotel groups Drift Hotels and ASH.

The Warren Street Hotel, Firmdale’s 69-key property in Tribeca, New York City, opened in February 2024 and marks Tim and Kit Kemp’s 11th opening in the Firmdale stable, with its hotels and townhouses in London and New York already members of the Design Hotels portfolio.

ASH, the vision of hoteliers Ari Heckman and Jonathan Minkoff, saw the Ulysses in Baltimore, Maryland, and The Dean in Providence, Rhode Island, join Design Hotels.

Philip Bates’ Drift Hotels in San Jose del Cabo, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, and newly opened Nashville are now a part of Design Hotels, as well.

The upcoming Granger Hotel Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego is expected to open this year and will bring Design Hotels’ portfolio to 14 in California.

Design Hotels will add three hotels in Switzerland, bringing the brand’s portfolio to 15 hotels in the country; welcomes its fifth hotel in Georgia; and introduces properties in Istanbul, Singapore, and Bali.

Job next

Oyen said as he enters his second year on the job at Design Hotels, his mandate is ensuring that the brand business continues to lead the industry in innovation, working with the owners who he said are people that challenge status quo.

“After 33 years, we’re still really best in class – forward thinking and boundary breaking,” he said. ”We are about purpose-led hospitality, defending the interests of independent boutique hoteliers with hotels that are obviously strongly driven through to design. The other part is expanding our community of like-minded hoteliers… A lot of our hotels are off the beaten track, and we want to make sure that those originals or those visionaries out there become a member of Design Hotels... These hotels bring this uniqueness, which is even more in demand than before.”

A lot of our hotels are off the beaten track, and we want to make sure that those originals or those visionaries out there become a member of Design Hotels... These hotels bring this uniqueness, which is even more in demand than before.

Stijn Oyen

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Oyen added that Design Hotels is in a “sweet spot” with its current pay-for-performance model with low entrance fees. “At the end of the day, if we don’t bring you business, you don’t pay… With all the ups and downs that we’ve seen the increase in uncertainty around in the world, it’s a model that’s very attractive.”

To grow its deliverables and services, and to meet member demand, Oyen said there are already 57 sales and marketing activations planned, a 30% increase over 2024. “It’s also a matter of re-establishing ourselves in certain markets,” he said. “In China, for example, we had not been very present. We’ve made some investments to set back up a team and ensure that we have a presence in Greater China.”

And speaking of deliverables, Oyen said 2024 has been a record year for the brand, significantly surpassing its forecast with revenue growth in double digits. He said they on track for similar growth in 2025 with Marriott Bonvoy being its biggest distribution channel with more than 50% of member hotels participating.

When asked if there is internal competition among other Marriott soft brands such as the Luxury Collection, Oyen said Design Hotels is well defined and different because it doesn’t have a set of operational standards. “We really celebrate the uniqueness of every single of Design Hotel... It works very well the way we fit into the brand portfolio, and we’re getting the opportunity to be ourselves and continue to do that, which is a very important part of what’s making us successful.”

Looking ahead, Oyen wants the Design Hotels community to feed off each other and in November just created a new position of global director of brand and community. It will focus on bringing members together to feed off each other and with like-minded professionals outside the brand such as architects.

In addition, to meet member demand, Design Hotels has created a global director of partnerships position to help members establish partnership with, for example, celebrity chefs, or improve their social media positioning with new content, visuals or with a website refresh.

Oyen said Design Hotels is about to launch D/A Trips in collaboration with Design Anthology UK. This is a concept that was developed in response to a high reader demand for travel-related content at Design Anthology magazine. The D/A editorial team will curate design-focused travel itineraries for small, like-minded groups from within their community. The idea is to explore each destination through the lens of quality storytelling – applying the curatorial instincts the brand is known – with stays and experiences at a selection of Design Hotels properties. They will launch officially early next year.

“I think we’re doing a pretty good job on staying out there, breaking boundaries, being innovative, and remaining true to the original vision of Claus [Sendlinger] for the brand,” Oyen said. “And at the same time, we’re able to deliver commercial success for these properties with the help of Marriott Bonvoy and with the help of all the work we do with different distribution channels.”