Arlo Enters the Micro-Hotel Scene in NYC
Jennifer Billock August 11, 2016
A new hospitality firm called Arlo is opening up in New York City, specializing in micro-hotels.
Developers Oleg Pavlov and Seth Schumer are getting ready to open two new hotels in Manhattan, under their brand name Arlo. The new properties—one in Hudson Square and another at 11 E. 31st St.—will be micro-hotels, with 575 rooms across the two buildings. Each room will be 165 square feet or less.
“To make a project viable, one has to either charge significantly more money for the same room by positioning it as luxury, or one has to fit more rooms on the same land plot,” Pavlov told Skift. “Our guests, we hope, will appreciate that the room is small but that it has everything they need. We essentially replicate a boutique hotel in a much smaller package.”
Now may not be the best time to open a new hotel in Manhattan, though; supply is up, but demand is decreasing. The Real Deal reported that room rates and revenue per available room both dropped by more than 3 percent in New York this year, though by 2017, 13,800 new rooms will be on the market.
“That’s a big headwind,” hospitality analyst Patrick Scholes told Skift. “If you have any hope of raising your rates, you’d better hope and pray there’s a demand uptick.”
Arlo hotels will offer guests social areas to get them out of the small rooms—a rooftop bar, indoor and outdoor lounges, a bourbon bar, a 24-hour coffee counter and a full-service restaurant.
“The idea is you’re not hanging out in your room,” Schumer told Skift.
[Photo: Hotels.com]
