TMC Hospitality's Bates on carving out boutique niche

Note: This story first appeared in Travel Weekly

IRVINE, California – TMC Hospitality, which launched in 2016 as an offshoot of Irvine, California-based real estate powerhouse TMC Group, has carved out a niche within the boutique hotel space. The company introduced its residential style Bode concept in 2018, then unveiled lifestyle brand Drift in 2021. Drift originated in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, and has since added two locations in California and, most recently, a fourth outpost in Nashville. Travel Weekly Hotels Editor Christina Jelski spoke with TMC Hospitality co-founder and CEO Philip Bates about the latest news on the company's expanding portfolio.

Q: How are Bode and Drift differentiated?

A: I'd say Drift is about a half a star higher than Bode, with Drift being upper-upscale and Bode upper-midscale. Drift really caters more to that traditional traveler segment of one or two people, or maybe three to four. Bode, meanwhile, is really focused on what we call the social group traveler, which the Airbnb market largely targets. Bode is looking to be the lifestyle hotel in that space, offering multibedroom units.

Cafe at the Drift hotel in Nashville

Q: You now have both a Bode and a Drift in Nashville. Any concerns about the competitive environment there?

A: Yes, that was a big concern for us. There is a lot of supply in that market, and it's been increasing for years. But we saw some white space. I consider Drift a "lifestyle light" concept, in that we're in the lifestyle space, but we are light -- we're a little more tech-forward, and we don't necessarily always have full-service restaurants, for example. And that enables us to come in at a more competitive price point. When we looked at Nashville, we saw a gap emerging where you have these high-end hotel brands coming into the market, like Four Seasons, 1 Hotels, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, and you also have a lot of lower end, midtier chains. And then you do have a few boutique hotels, but some guests who want that boutique experience might not be able to stretch their budget for those hotels. And so, we put Drift on Nashville's East Bank, where the next wave of the city's growth is going to be. We feel that between our brand positioning and pricing as well as our location and the long-term trajectory of the city, we can be very competitive in that market.

Q: What's your approach to incorporating local culture into each Drift hotel?

A: One big focus with Drift is to make it a kind of pillar within the community, with a strong social element for locals. For example, in Baja California Sur, every Thursday we do a tacos and mezcal night, and all the locals come out. And that's something we want to create everywhere we go. From a food and beverage perspective, we look at it like our main customer is the local. We know that if we get that right, it's going to be what the guest wants, too. Because our guests want to know what the locals want.

Q: What's next when it comes to expansion?

A: We just signed a new project in Fulton Market in Chicago, and that's going to be a renovation of a former Schwinn Bicycle factory. That one's about two years away from delivery. And then we're actively looking again in the Southeast as well as looking in the San Francisco area, kind of around wine country. Philosophically, as a company, we're big believers in that when you move into a region, it then makes expanding further within that region much simpler. So, for example, we already have hotels in Baja and in Palm Springs and Santa Barbara, California, so we'll continue to expand there. We have two more projects in Southern California, though I can't announce the locations for those yet; we'll be delivering those within the next two to four years.