Hospitality group SBE and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts have partnered to launch a lifestyle brand under the working title Project HQ Hotels & Residences.
Project HQ plans to open 50 hotels by 2030, 80% of which are projected to be conversions. The hotels will participate in Wyndham’s loyalty program, Wyndham Rewards.
The hotels will be affiliated with Wyndham’s Registry Collection, which caters to luxury and lifestyle hotel owners, according to the announcement.
SBE claims to have invented “lifestyle luxury.” Founder and CEO Sam Nazarian is calling its new brand “smart lifestyle.”
"When we created lifestyle luxury back in 2005 with SLS, we forged a new category,” said Nazarian in a statement, referring to SLS Hotels & Residences, an Ennismore brand. “Now, almost 20 years later we look to reinvent lifestyle again with Project HQ, the first smart lifestyle hotel brand.”
Project HQ hotels will offer a more approachable lifestyle hotel for consumers who have been priced out of other properties in the burgeoning segment, according to the release. The hotels will be located in the hearts of the cities they launch in, with the “HQ” in the name reflecting the companies’ desire for the hotels to serve as a “headquarters” for dining, nightlife and wellness.
Nazarian said Project HQ will be designed to “solve for the unmet needs of the next generation who are eager to engage with culinary excellence and vibrant social spaces that we've curated and cultivated with intention.”
Project HQ will offer access to celebrity chef-backed brands like Casa Dani; MXO, a Mexican Steakhouse; and Katsuya. The brand will also offer SBE wellness programming, such as SBE Wellness Clinics.
There will be a residential component, too, which SBE said will be positioned to serve “underserved markets like integrated student housing, workforce housing and the like.”
“Hotel owners searching for a differentiated, yet approachable, lifestyle brand will immediately benefit from the scale and resources of the world's largest hotel franchisor,” said Wyndham President and CEO Geoff Ballotti, in a statement.
The new brand will be owned by SBE and backed by celebrity musician and entrepreneur Marc Anthony, through Anthony’s company Magnus.
Project HQ is SBE’s first hotel brand since the 2020 sale of its hospitality brand and management platform to Accor. That platform included over 100 hotels and more than 150 restaurants and lounges.
Nazarian founded SBE in 2002. In February 2020, Nazarian launched restaurant group C3 in partnership with Accor and Simon Property Group.
