Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association Brings Together Hospitality Heavy Hitters to Discuss Future of Boutique Hotel Industry

Brands Including Viceroy, Destination Hotels, Trump, Gansevoort and EDITION Among Panelists; Pilar Guzman of Conde Nast Traveler to Keynote, Ian Schrager’s Personal Interview by CNN Money, returning for the 4^th year

New York, NY, May 16, 2016 – The Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) reveals an all-star line-up for this year’s Annual Hotel Investment Conference taking place Wednesday, June 8 in New York City.  An esteemed list of the most prominent developers, financiers and hotel luminaries will forecast dynamic hotel trends and deliberate the latest in industry news, performance and development.   

Speakers include:

• Pilar Guzman, Editor-in-Chief at Condé Nast Traveler
• Ian Schrager, CEO at Ian Schrager Company
• Brad Wilson, President of ACE Hotel
• David Orowitz, SVP Development & Acquisitions at Trump Organization
• Jamie Sabatier, President & CEO of Destination Hotels & Resorts
• Niki Leondakis, CEO of Commune Hotels + Resorts
• Dan Flannery, SVP/Managing Director of EDITION Hotels
• Bill Walshe, CEO of Viceroy Hotel Group
• Thomas Prins, Partner of Gemstone Hotels & Resorts
• Scott Gerber, Principal & CEO, Gerber Group
• Erin Green, Vice President Development – Americas, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts
• Mark Keiser, Sr. Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Baccarat & 1 Hotels

*For a full list of speakers and agenda please visit BLLA.org

The annual conference, to be held at Florence Gould Hall, will showcase a day of boutique hotel brands in collaboration with hotel operations and preeminent industry media. The team from Cachet Hotel Group will engage in expert industry advice on how to shape the landscape for a boutique lifestyle hotel. Equity and investment are hot topics of discussion, including how investors are navigating the hotel landscape and how to position a deal to attract equity and appeal to future buyers.

CEO Niki Leondakis of Commune Hotels + Resorts, and President Jamie Sabatier of Destination Hotels will bring the day’s discussion toward the operational sector and how to operate as a preeminent independent hotel and resort in the U.S. The leaders will also review the successions of the brands’ recent merger and what the future of such a game-changing alliance will look like. Other panelists will share their successions, challengers and vision for the future of their iconic brands.

Leading executives from the industry’s major publications including Condé Nast Traveler, Skift, Hospitality Design, HotelNewsNow and Hotel Management will discuss how the media is focusing on the boutique industry today and what tomorrow’s news reporting and trends look like.

For tickets please register here at BLLA.org.

About The Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA)

The world’s most innovative and progressive organization dedicated to the luxury independent boutique lodging and lifestyle industries. The association connects the world’s most dynamic executives with cutting edge business and operational insight. BLLA’s membership benefits allow access to the world’s leading minds in the space through events, research and education. Our mission is to provide leadership and opportunities for global recognition and connections to the world’s best hotels, vendors and manufacturers. All resulting in strategic interactions and access to information that helps people and organizations thrive. Join the movement that BLLA gave birth to in 2009 and become a part of something that is truly unique, exciting and inspirational. www.blla.org