Marriott’s Design Hotels accelerates portfolio growth

BERLIN — Design Hotels and its parent company, Marriott International, have signed 29 agreements in the past 12 months, accounting for 10% growth for the company’s global portfolio.

Berlin-based Design Hotels has nearly 300 independent hotels in its portfolio, including 10 newly added hotels in the U.S. and 26 total hotels in Mexico. The company has strengthened its partnerships with London-based Firmdale Hotels and Mexico City-based Grupo Habita in the batch of new signings.

“As we expand our global portfolio, each property reflects the visionary spirit of its ‘original’ owner, ensuring that Design Hotels continues to push boundaries and deepen community,” said Stijn Oyen, who was named managing director of Design Hotels earlier this year. “That sentiment translates to that intangible Design Hotels’ experience — where every stay feels uniquely personal and is infused with the passion of its creator.”

The company was founded in 1993 and was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2011, which merged with Marriott in 2016. Marriott fully acquired Design Hotels in 2021.

Among the new properties owned by Firmdale that are now part of Design Hotels include the 69-key The Warren Street Hotel in the Tribeca area of New York City, which opened in February.

ASH, the vision of hoteliers Ari Heckman and Jonathan Minkoff, also has two properties joining the Design Hotels portfolio: the Ulysses in Baltimore, Maryland, and The Dean in Providence, Rhode Island.

In addition, Irvine, California-based Drift Hotels has boutique hotels in San Jose del Cabo, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs, California, and a property in Nashville that are all now part of Design Hotels.

Design has also signed the Hotel 850 SVB in West Hollywood, California and the upcoming Granger Hotel Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, which is scheduled to open later this year. The new signings will bring Design’s portfolio in California to 14.

The company’s portfolio in Mexico has grown to 26 hotels, which includes the signing of the forthcoming Tinte Hotel in the south of the Yucatán peninsula, which is scheduled to open in 2026. Also joining Design Hotels is a pair of Grupo Habita properties, the Hotel Sevilla, a restored 16th colonial villa in Mérida, and Hotel Humano, a boutique hotel in Puerto Escondido scheduled to open in 2025.

Design is also adding three hotels in Switzerland to bring its total to 15 in the country (including the 132-key Home Hotel Zurich, which opened in August). The company is also adding its fifth property in the country of Georgia (the 120-key Rooms Batumi Hotel) and hotels in Istanbul, Singapore, and Bali. It will also open the 51-key Hôtel Borsari in Italy by the end of this year.