TPG launches indie, boutique soft brand division, Intera Collection

DALLAS – Owner-operator TPG Hotels & Resorts put a bow around its group of upscale independent boutique hotels by positioning them under a new soft brand division called the Intera Collection.

Announced at ALIS this week, Ben Perelmuter, president and chief operations officer, TPG Hotels and Resorts, told Hotel Investment Today that about 35% of TPG’s portfolio sits in this space, mostly in leisure destinations, and this move signals to the market its long-standing ability to manage in this segment and its desire to grow.

With some 40 to 50 properties upscale independent boutique already owned and/or operated, Perelmuter said there is a pipeline of some 20 to 30 more hotels that could join this space, and some will come via the TPG acquisition route and the others will be third-party management deals.

Acquisition depends on timing of the debt markets and pricing valuations. So, I think there’s a high high likelihood of a few acquisitions in the independent space for us in the next six months.

Ben Perelmuter

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“Acquisition depends on timing of the debt markets and pricing valuations,” Perelmuter said. “So, I think there’s a high high likelihood of a few acquisitions in the independent space for us in the next six months.”

What Perelmuter also emphasized is TPG’s experience in this space and even includes a dedicated call center that he said helps maximize RevPAR. “We have our own database for revenue management, and people that have only worked in this space for well over a decade. We have creative people on the operation side that come up with food and beverage concepting…We have seasonal shift workers that move around into different markets. So, we have those types of synergies and capabilities that we want to make sure we express to the hotel community.”

The current portfolio includes properties located in extremely high barrier-to-entry markets, including Nantucket, Cape Cod, the Florida Keys, Block Island, New Orleans, Newport, Rhode Island, California’s wine country, Savannah, Georgia, and other destination markets.

TPG stated that the name ‘Intera’ is rooted in the phrase ‘from within,’ which speaks to this specialized management acumen being an integral part of our core operational DNA for decades.

Bigger picture, TPG Hotels & Resorts’ historical resume is approaching 600 branded, independent, boutique hotels and marinas, comprising more than 65,000 guestrooms in 42 states. Its overall pipeline stands at about 100 hotels, according to Perelmuter.