Originally Posted by
WasKnown
This is sadly common in the US for new development luxury urban properties. Even hotels that aren’t built under huge condo towers reserve their penthouse and some other top floors for branded residences (ie Aman NY). It is just more efficient for developers as views in condos seem to command better premiums than views in hotel rooms do. For buildings that aren’t immediately obstructed (ie Langham NY), I don’t mind it too much. For other properties that are completely obstructed (Park Hyatt NY), it really devalues then”luxury” appeal of the property IMHO.
So many of these new hotel developments are condo first and hotel second. It is a sign of the times I guess. The CEO of Four Seasons is really pleased with all of this lol.
As you pointed out, it seems like most towers that have a hotel portion in the US are residential/hotel, so they put the residences on top.
Wilshire Grand is an exception, but that's because it was built/is owned by Korean Airlines.
I think most of the towers with a hotel portion all across Asia are office/hotel, like the Wilshire Grand, so the hotel portion gets the better/higher floors there.