Stuart Adolph, Sydell’s Senior Vice President, Development-UK talks to Lewis Silkin’s Julia Poulter about the firm’s strategy, its experience of working with Soho House and future plans in London and beyond.
Sydell Group, the hotel developer and operator behind hotel brands including The Ned (London), NoMad (New York, LA, Las Vegas) and the LINE (Washington D.C, LA and Austin), is at the forefront of innovation in the hospitality industry, with a unique approach to location and brand collaboration.
JP: Thank you for joining us Stuart. To kick off, can you give us an overview of Sydell and your role?
SA: I lead our UK-based development office which is currently responsible for international projects here in London and eventually others across Europe when the time comes. We take on the whole development process from sourcing new deals to assembling the design team, directing the planning process, managing third parties and neighbourly matters, to appointing contractors and suppliers, and overseeing the development through to the opening of the hotel.
All of our hotels, while covering a range of styles and price points, are united in their approach. While each has a distinct sense of self and unwavering point of view, they are connected by their dedication to collaboration, considered design, a residential feel, thoughtful service, and best-in-class food and beverage experiences. Inspired by our context and surroundings, we strive to create experiences that both honor the past and look toward the future. We embrace, engage and support the communities that surround us and allow each project to evolve in its own way, unique to its time and place.
JP: As a US business, what was behind the decision to expand over the Atlantic into Europe, and London in particular?
SA: Sydell had been open to the idea of doing a project in London for some time but was looking for the right opportunity and the right building that resonated with us. When Nick Jones approached our CEO, Andrew Zobler, to collaborate on transforming the historic, Midland Bank Building into a hotel and members club, he knew this was what he had been looking for. Not only were we thrilled to reimagine an iconic building with beautiful bones, but we were excited to work with Nick Jones and his immensely talented team.
JP: You’re talking about The Ned, which we’ll come on to! But how, generally, has the move to London gone and what were some of the challenges?
SA: A company’s first foray into an international market will at times hit some road bumps, but we actually found that many of the challenges we faced on our US projects, weren’t too different in the UK, which meant we could use our experience and leverage our local consultants to swiftly overcome any roadblocks.
Moving forward as we expand in the London market and build out our efficiencies, we anticipate the current uncertainty regarding Brexit to impact the labour market and the importation of overseas goods, particularly from the EU. London is generally resilient to markets and will remain strong in its position as a true global capital city. There is still plenty of inward investment into London and this has had an impact on the ability to acquire new sites or buildings for hotels. The price of commercial property remains strong and there are always plenty of people and investors willing to take part in the London market.
JP: We mentioned The Ned already so let’s move on to that. What do you think has made that project so successful and what was it like collaborating with Soho House to create something so innovative in an historic setting?
SA: The Ned is proof that it is possible to successfully scale a lifestyle boutique hotel experience and that you don’t necessarily have to be small to be cool. The Ned has something for everyone and almost every circumstance. The sheer size of the historic, 320,000 square foot building challenged us to create intimacy in the soaring space but also gave us the opportunity to offer a wider and more diversified range of amenities and experiences. With 252 guest rooms, ten restaurants, six private event spaces, a spa, a gym, and a private members’ club, The Ned resonates and appeals to all types of people attracting just the right mix.
“It was a wonderfully symbiotic collaboration with Soho House, both of us bringing different skillsets and experiences to the table.”
Nick hadn’t ever done a project of this scale, but he knew London like no one else and we understood the hotel and business development side, so together we made a great team. With Soho House primarily responsible for the design, we were responsible for the financing, development, and ultimate delivery of the project. We made sure the interior design worked technically in the listed space: retaining the volume of the old banking hall required some clever moves with air-conditioning like hiding fan coil units in the old banking counters.
JP: The Ned is just one of the brands you operate though. In the US, one of your most famous brands is NoMad, and there are now plans to bring that brand over to the UK. Can you tell us more?
SA: You’re absolutely right! Our next London project will be the first NoMad hotel outside of North America and the fourth in the portfolio. In the heart of Covent Garden, the NoMadLondon will take root inside the historic, grade II-listed building famously known as The Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and Police Station, right across the street from the Royal Opera House.
The iconic 19th century building will be thoughtfully transformed into a 91-room hotel with much of the original architectural features preserved and woven into design. The building’s original Magistrates’ Courtroom will be reimagined as a space for private events and gatherings while a museum with rotating exhibitions will honor the history of the Metropolitan Police Force. A collaboration with New York-based interior design firm Roman & Williams, the design draws inspiration from the original materials, color palette and elaborate architecture of the building and will pay homage to the decorative traditions of England’s heritage while exploring the relationship between the New York and London art scenes.
As with the three previous NoMad Hotels in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, NoMadLondon will feature expansive food & beverage under the direction of world-renowned chef Daniel Humm and restaurateur Will Guidara of 3 Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York, which ranked number 1 on the 2017 list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The hotel will also present the first NoMad lounge, an alluring space that invites guests to lounge after dinner in a nighttime venue.
JP: One of the themes that has come up twice now, in the context of both The Ned and NoMad, is heritage. How important is that when choosing new sites for your hotels, and what else do you look for?
SA: We are primarily driven by the uniqueness of the building itself and secondly, the market and real estate opportunity presented.
“We search for properties that speak to us.”
Each project is a specific response to a market and real estate opportunity. We seek out architecturally interesting buildings in emerging neighborhoods and let the projects evolve as a response to its context: neighborhood, community, architecture, and history. The project’s context guides and informs all elements and final outcome of the project—essentially, it is the building that chooses the brand and informs what the project will become.
From a development perspective, converting or transforming existing buildings can be fascinating to work with and add a certain level of complexity and different types of considerations than when designing a new building. You also have to get creative to maximise the space. This is something we worked very hard on at The Ned: figuring out how to use all the old bank vaults in the basements and create revenue-making spaces was something others has failed to achieve.
JP: We mentioned that you operate a number of hotel brands. Presumably the identity of the location impacts on what brand of hotel you choose to operate there… Or is it vice versa? Do you know the hotel you want to launch and choose the site to match the brand?
SA: Each of our projects is a response to place. We think of our brands as having different styles and characteristics, and then we try to find buildings that call out to them. There is actually a lot in common among the brands that we have created, with the most underlying principal being that they are each focused on telling a story and creating a layered narrative for the guest to experience. If you try and force a brand onto a hotel without considering its context and taking cues from its history and community, it is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole or comes to feel disingenuous or forced.
JP: Working with Soho House is an example of great collaboration, but you have to work with many other businesses to bring your hotel concepts to life, not least including food and beverage operators. How do you identify the partners that are going to deliver your vision?
SA: Collaboration is at the heart of every Sydell experience. We like telling a story through our hotels and seek out collaborators that add to the narrative.
In each of our projects we collaborate with interesting and talented people who are considered the best in class— whether it’s chefs, artists, designers, retail partners – and then let them tell their stories which adds to the experience as a whole. We work with both new and established talent. For instance with NoMad London, we wanted the project to be a conversation between New York and London and so instead of working with French interior designer Jacques Garcia—who designed the 3 previous NoMads— we’ve partnered with New York-based Roman & Williams which we felt made more sense for the property’s narrative.
JP: All of this is geared towards creating a certain experience for guests. We hear a lot in the media at the moment about the move of discretionary consumer spending towards lifestyle and experiences – rather than goods and products – as part of the so-called experience economy. What role do you think the hotels industry has to play in this new economy?
SA: Hotels are at the forefront to benefit from this cultural shift.
Sydell has been known to create hotels that are magnets for the community. We look to our surrounding communities and partner with original talents from the worlds of design, food and beverage, retail and art to build powerful stories, compelling narratives and multilayered experiences that resonate with guests and locals alike. To successfully embrace the experience economy hotels will need to become more than just a place to sleep—they need to be responsive to not only their guests but their local community and provide unique and compelling reasons for people to come.
JP: That brings us on to the future of the hospitality sector more generally. We’ve mentioned the experience economy, but about the convergence with other sectors – in particular co-working?
SA: Lifestyle hotels have evolved past being just about the nightlife & bar scene to more about what’s happening all day and becoming a haven for travelers and locals serving as a pseudo-living room for the neighborhood as well as hotel guests. We want our properties to become a hub for the community—we become part of the neighborhoods and communities we are in and in doing so create a community of our own.
Integrating a co-working concept into hotels is a natural progression given the rise of the gig economy and popularity of working remotely, in that people are taking their work outside of the office and looking for different ways to network, socialize and connect.
It could also have an upside for hotels as a means of cultivating profitable relationships with corporate clients looking for spaces for their employees to sleep, eat and work either when traveling, starting up satellite offices or as a means of entering a new market with lower risk. It could be an interesting model for certain hotels, but not all, you can’t apply a one-size-fits-all approach and need to look at your market, your local community and what it needs, your guests and their needs and how you want it all to work together.
JP: So, you mentioned NoMad London, but what’s the next chapter for Sydell? Have you set your European sights further than London?
SA: We are certainly seeking more hotels in London and our aim to secure another one or two developments soon. With the base we have created in London it would be natural to explore opportunities in Europe, but again, it all comes down to a compelling building and an appealing market opportunity that resonates with us.
Sydell Group’s NoMad London is scheduled to open in 2020.
Founded in 2005, Sydell Group is the creator and manager of unique hotels deeply rooted in their location and architecture. Sydell’s core expertise is an ability to collaborate with original talent within the world of design, food & beverage, and retail, and bring them together in the creation of compelling new hotels that engage the communities around them. Sydell Group’s diverse portfolio of award-winning properties includes NoMad New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas; the LINE LA, DC and Austin; Freehand New York, LA, Miami, and Chicago; The Ned, London; Park MGM, Las Vegas; and Saguaro Palm Springs and Scottsdale.
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