Design Hotels

Design Hotels

Type	Public
Industry	Hotel Management, Tourism, Travel, Hotel, Hospitality, Marketing, Public Relations, Management Consulting, Business Development
Founded	1993, in Sausalito, CA, USA
Key people	Claus Sendlinger, CEO & President Dr. Holger Peres, Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Services	Marketing, Branding, Creative Services, Hotel Development, Sales, Hotel Management, Public Relations
Revenue	€ 6.29 Million[1] (2008)
Website	www.designhotels.com

Design Hotels AG (Börse München: LBA) is a publicly traded company providing hospitality services to a network of over 200 independently owned hotels in over 40 countries worldwide. The firm maintains offices in London, Barcelona, New York City, Singapore, Bali, Tokyo and Perth in addition to its headquarters in Berlin.

History

Design Hotels was founded in 1993 as a California Corporation, Design Hotels Inc. by J. Peter Schweitzer and Claus Sendlinger. Claus was a part owner (with Hans Peter Knodler) of German full-service travel agency CO-ORDINATES GmbH, based on Augsburg, Germany; the two firms, and several others, consolidated in 1998 under the holding company lebensart.net GmbH, subsequently known as lebensart Global Networks AG in 1999. The holding company went public in Germany on Dec. 10, 1999.

In 2000 lebensart Global Networks AG, with Daniel Adams as the CFO raised sufficient capital to transfer trading from the over-the-counter (OTC) markets to the Börse München.

In 2001 the firm re-branded itself as Design Hotels with 23 initial member hotels. That same year the firm completed the corporate merger of wholly owned subsidiaries ResExpress, Inc., Younger Direct Marketing, Inc. and lebensart technology, Inc. The company began trading under the name lebensart technology Arizona, Inc., with headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In 2004, after several relocations of its headquarters from Arizona, California, to New York, the firm settled its headquarters in its current location in Berlin, Germany, with its current name, design hotels AG.

Business model and services

Design Hotels charges member hotels a base membership fee and earns additional revenue by providing various supportive services on an ala carte basis.

Services include sales, marketing, PR and other creative services; online and telephone booking services, with associated customer service; yield revenue management and third-party business development deals; and hotel development and consultancy, from a hotel’s inception stage to ongoing hotel management.

Publications and events

Design Hotels-sponsored publications include DIRECTIONS, a bi-annual magazine on travel, architecture, and lifestyle; the Design Hotels BOOK, an annual edition showcasing the full range of member hotels; and various member newsletters.

Architecture and design symposia include Design Hotels Forum, an educational event for member hoteliers on trends affecting the hospitality and design industries, well as other events. The firm also participates in industry-wide trade shows for travel companies, including ITB in Berlin, Germany, International Luxury Travel Market (ITLM) in Cannes, France; and Asia Luxury Travel Market in Shanghai, China.

Member hotels

Design Hotels’ network consists of 170 independently owned hotels in over 40 countries. Approximately 72% of member hotels are located in Europe, 17% in the Asia Pacific region, 9% in North and South Americas, and`2% in Africa. Member hotels have received awards from Condé Nast Traveler Hot List 2008 ^[2], CNBC European Business Magazine^[3], Hamburg’s Entrepreneur of the Year,^[4], among others; in 2010, the Design Hotels Suites on the Dutch island of Texel was chosen as "Best Dutch Hotel" by the influential website Zoover.nl.^[5]

External links

• Design Hotels official website

Design Hotels’ network consists of more than 200 independently owned hotels in 120 destinations over 39 countries. Approximately 71% of member hotels are located in Europe, 16 % in the Asia Pacific region, 13% in North and South Americas, and`2% in Africa. Member hotels have received awards from Condé Nast Traveler Hot List 2011 and 2008 [2], CNBC European Business Magazine[3], Hamburg’s Entrepreneur of the Year,[4], among others; in 2010, the Design Hotels Suites on the Dutch island of Texel was chosen as "Best Dutch Hotel" by the influential website Zoover.nl.[5]

References

1. ^ 3Q08 Financial Quarterly Results
2. ^ Condé Nast Traveler Hot List Hotels 2008
3. ^ CNBC European Business’ top 25 business hotels in Europe (September 2008)
4. ^ “Hotelier Kai Hollmann ist Unternehmer des Jahres 2008 in Hamburg” (German), April 21, 2008
5. ^ Bluiminck, Natalie (25 May 2010). "Beste en slechtste hotel van Nederland". Misset Hotel. http://www.missethoreca.nl/1081304/hotel/hotel-nieuwsbericht/BesteEnSlechtsteHotelVanNederland.htm. Retrieved 26 May 2010.