New York, N.Y. July 1999 - New York bound, Unique Hotels
& Resorts Inc., a premier operator of small luxury hotels in resorts
destinations and clustered in urban centers, consider its New York City
cluster a prototype for future expansion. These small properties are unlike
each other physically, but each is uniquely stylish and of the moment,
consistent in personalized service and unusual amenities, and intimate
and welcoming.
The Hotel Wales, once a seemingly blighted structure, contained intrinsic
beauty which became apparent during its total rehabilitation in 1988. Its
birthright was further restored with the installation of historically appropriate
enhancements. When it reopened as the swan it has become, it offered proof
that ugly ducklings need not be torn down. The Franklin nearby was restored
and reopened in 1992, becoming the first sister hotel to Hotel Wales.
With The Franklin, noteworthy period historical details were restored,
walls were not torn down, and stylish but affordable furnishings were installed.
With each addition to the cluster-The Shoreham and then The Mansfield,
both off Fifth Avenue, and The Roger Williams on lower Madison Avenue -
the technique was honed, enabling management to pass along savings to guests
in the form of New York's most value-driven room rates.
Guests at Hotel Wales, The Franklin, The Shoreham, The Mansfield and
The Roger Williams find more than stylish, comfortable accommodations at
great prices, though when they step through the door, they step into a
world of art, music, literature and amenities which ensure that they really
enjoy their stay. These create a mindset for guests in their public spaces
with museum-quality art and furniture as well as in guest rooms, with numbered
photographs and prints on the walls, and VCRs and CD players so that guests
may select from each hotel's extensive CD library, which includes full-stereo
videos of every 1995/96 Metropolitan Opera production. The offerings are
not only thoughtful; they also offer guests a chance to relax with some
of the favorite things they may not find time for at home.
The hotels are also venues for live culture, providing work and a wonderful
showcase for many fine musicians. Nightly harp recitals at the Mansfield
and piano music with breakfast at Hotel Wales are free of charge, and both
hotels offer chamber music concerts and recitals - Sundays at Hotel Wales
and Mondays at The Mansfield
In addition to food for thought, each Unique property offers a complimentary
continental breakfast with homemade granola and freshly baked creme fraiche
coffee cake, raisin bran muffins and brioche bread with seasonal fruit
compote. The popularity of the signature breakfast paved the way for additional
10:00 p.m. complimentary dessert buffet consisting of biscotti, lemon tarts
and a chocolate dessert - all freshly prepared in the Mansfield's bakery
for guests at all of Unique's New York hotels.
The hotels do away with the pomp and circumstance of more expensive
hostelries and create the individualized ambiance of small "Left Bank"
properties, giving travelers residential comfort, in a chic but practical
setting, at a reasonable price. This translates further into amenities
like cedar closets, complimentary mineral water in all guest rooms, free
maps and museum guides, plush Irish cotton bath towels, bathroom telephones,
hair dryers, European-style shower heads and Neutrogena toiletries.
Despite their distinct personalities, Unique's New York hotels have
much in common, starting with value. Rates are surprisingly low for such
well-located properties that offer both style and comfort. The comfortable
design of all furnishings, the home-style amenities the attention to detail
and lack of add on charges are consistent amongst the hotels. Unique's
style of operation is so different from other hotel organizations, it defies
categorization. But occupancy rates talk, and the many guests who return
again and again to these Unique hotels - culture mavens to Hotel
Wales, models to The Franklin and the Roger Williams, European executives
and media moguls to The Shoreham, corporate, literary and arts figures
to The Mansfield - keep those figures at the level of a shout.
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Unique Hotels & Resorts
Corporate Profile
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With its recent management takeover of five of New York's most distinctive
boutique hotels the Hotel Wales, The Mansfield, The Shoreham, The Roger
Williams and The Franklin -Unique Hotels & Resorts took the first steps
toward the development of a national group of intimate, luxury properties
situated in major urban centers and known for their individuality and personalized
service.
As evidenced by its New York collection, Unique hotels are characterized
by a sense of place derived from their historic context, fine architecture
and custom design. The aim is to be stylish rather than trendy, to deliver
the services and amenities of a five-star property without the "pomp and
circumstance," thus combining the residential ambiance and caring attitude
sought after by discerning business and leisure travelers. By managing
its properties collectively, Unique is able to provide this level of comfort
and service at far greater value than larger, more expensive hotels.
While each property in the collection possesses its own persona, all
offer such signature Unique Hotels & Resorts' amenities as complimentary
European breakfast; 24-hour espresso / cappuccino / tea bars; down comforters,
Belgian linens, Irish towels and complimentary mineral water in the rooms;
video and CD lending libraries; and telephones with data ports and voicemail
- and all boast a friendly, responsive, professionally trained staff ready
to meet guests' every need.
Using its successful New York properties as a "blueprint," Unique Hotels
& Resorts and its principals Carlos C. Lopes and L.K. Eric Prevette,
veteran hoteliers with a combined 50 years experience managing four- and
five-star properties, are poised to assemble an array of similar properties
in such business-destination cities as Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, D.C. As part of this effort, Unique already
has the Beverly Crescent in Beverly Hills under management.
At the same time, Unique, backed by financing from various partners,
is actively engaged in a parallel endeavor to acquire resorts in South
Beach, Florida; Southern California; Arizona; New Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Unique will operate the spectacular, 91-room CuisinArt Resort &
Spa now under construction in Anguilla, B.W.I.. The first new five - star
property to open in the Caribbean in eight years, the CuisinArt is expected
to become one of the premier Caribbean resorts when it opens in late 1999.
Located on Rendezvous Bay, one of the most beautiful white sand beaches
in the islands, the resort will feature custom interiors by Antonio Ferrarri
of Milan and its own hydroponic gardens to supply fresh produce.
Formerly known as the International Windsor Group, Unique Hotels &
Resorts and its team was deeply involved in the restoration of the historic
Mission Inn in Riverside, Calif., which it continues to manage.
The Mission Inn is just one success story in the history of Unique's
Co-Managing Directors, Lopes and Prevette, who have a long track record
of achieving high returns for the hotels in their portfolio as well as
turning troubled properties into profit makers. In the past 12 years, they
have provided management services for such hotels and resorts as the Hotel
Bel - Air, Los Angeles; the Cap Jaluca Resort, Anguilla; Grand Hotel du
Cap Ferrat, France; and the Bel-Air resorts in Costa Careyes and Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico, among others. The two are credited with the near - miraculous
turnaround of the famed Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles, which had gone
from grand dame to dowager until the two partners, with a combination of
shrewd management and property enhancements, returned it to profitability.
Earlier, as senior executives at Rosewood, they were involved in the development
of the Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas and the Hana - Maui in Hawaii.
Prior to forming Unique Hotels and its predecessor companies, Lopes
was senior vice - president of Rosewood Hotels and also served as the chief
marketing executive for Four Seasons Hotels for 11 years. Prevette's previous
involvement's encompass positions as the senior vice-president and chief
financial officer of Rosewood Hotels, and as senior vice-president of Dallas-based
Southland Financial Corporation.
In addition to their extensive professional responsibilities, Unique's
principals are also active in several charitable organizations, including:
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Manhattan Beach Education Foundation - for which they
have helped raised more than $300,000 to support arts, science and technology
programs in the public schools.
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California Medical Center where they have served on the board of
directors and contributed more than $50,000 to the children's recovery
ward.
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Shelter Partnership - an organization for the homeless which they helped
to launch in 1989.
Unique Hotels & Resorts, Inc., currently maintain offices in New York
City and Los Angeles at:
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350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4218, New York, NY 10118. Tel: (212) 967-9929
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840 Apollo Street, Suite 314, El Segundo CA 90245. Tel: (310) 615-4511
Carlos C. Lopes
Co-Managing Director
Co-Managing Director Carlos C. Lopes, brings a wealth
of expertise in luxury' hotel management to his role as a managing partner
of Unique Hotels & Resorts. Prior to forming Unique, Lopes served as
co-chairman of its predecessor companies, International Windsor Group and
the Bel-Air Hotel Management Company where he had day-to-day responsibility
for marketing and operations. During this period he not only became recognized
for his management expertise, but also developed a reputation as a troubleshooter
able to turn around under performing properties.
Previously, he served for four years as senior vice-president
for marketing of Rosewood Hotels and for eleven years as chief marketing
executive of Four Seasons Hotels. In these positions, he was involved in
the positioning and launching of more than 20 hotels and resorts. He entered
the hospitality industry as a management trainee with Hilton International
where be became familiar with all facets of hotel operations.
Lopes serves on the Board of Directors of the Manhattan
Beach Education Foundation and California Medical Center, and is an active
member of the California Business Association.
A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Lopes holds a Bachelor of
Arts degree from Sir George Williams University in Canada and has completed
post-graduate programs at the University of Toronto and the Canadian Institute
of Management. |
L.K. Eric Prevette
Co-Managing Director
L.K. Eric Prevette, Co-Managing Director of Unique Hotels
& Resorts is known for his strategic and financial planning expertise
in the hospitality industry. Prevette formerly served as co-chairman of
International Windsor Group and the Bel-Air Hotel Management Company, where
in addition to his financial responsibilities, he directed new development
and labor resources.
In the preceding decade, he reserved as the Chief Financial
Executive with Rosewood Hotels and Southland Financial Corporation and
also directed the development of eleven hotel and resort properties.
Prevette began his career with the international accounting
firm of Price Waterhouse & Company. He earned a Master of Business
Administration degree from the University of Texas and an undergraduate
degree in finance from High Point College. He also completed the International
Studies Program at the University of North Carolina
He is active in the American Hotel and Motel Association,
the Southern California Business Association and the Texas Real Estate
Association. |
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