Advaya Hospitality, a recently launched venture from the founders of Nylo Hotels, has unveiled its debut brand, a music-focused lifestyle concept called Modo Hotel.
Modo will debut in major markets around the world, starting with at least five properties in India and another five in Brazil. Advaya is also in the early stages of establishing a fund to acquire strategic assets and build new hotels, targeting major U.S. markets including New York City, Kansas City and Miami.
Advaya calls the new brand “stylish, affordable and musically inspired.” Modo will feature a striking urban, Bauhaus loft design, and each will house a vast collection of vinyl records, CDs and MP3 content in an effort to showcase independent artists around the globe.
Full-service Modo hotels will house 100 or more guestrooms, a lively restaurant-lounge, courtyard, pool, meeting and event space, library, retail shop and gym. Nightly rates will be in sync with today’s value-conscious travelers and the local markets. In the U.S., rates at full-service properties are targeted to range from US$90 to US$150 per night, or higher in some larger gateway cities.
During the next three years, Modo will roll out in major metropolitan markets in Brazil. Five to 10 hotels of about 150 guestrooms will be strategically located in the fast-growing cities of São Paulo, Campinas, Curitiba, Vitoria and Manaus. Modo in Brazil will be developed by the newly formed ABR Brazil LLC, a joint venture between Modo and BridgeRock Capital Management LLC.
Additionally, during the second half of this year, a Modo sister brand will premier in India, creating a new market niche of budget lifestyle hotels. Over the next three years, a minimum of five budget lifestyle hotels will launch in India under the Modo sister brand. The 60- to 80-key lodgings will have limited food and beverage offerings and small meeting rooms. They will be located in the cities of Chennai, Tuticorin, Kakinada, Vizag and Vellore.
Building costs for a full-service Modo hotel will be approximately US$110,000 per key, including average land cost, with variations in major gateway cities. “That’s at least 20% less than those for other hotels in the same class,” says John Russell, CEO for Modo and Advaya.
Franchising is slated to begin later this year. Additional expansion is planned through a combination of acquisitions, new development and conversions of existing properties. Among the target countries are China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
The Modo concept
“’Modo’ means ‘the way’ in Spanish, and we think of it as ‘the way to stay,’” Russell says. “The name captures our brand’s personality—music-centric, original, design-focused and on-track with the way people travel today.”
Russell says Modo will appeal to tech-savvy business travelers who enjoy new and entertaining experiences. The brand will have a wide demographic and psychographic reach, including business and leisure travelers with an interest in music, design, art and fashion.
The brand’s striking Bauhaus loft design features a concrete-and-glass construction with exposed beams and polished concrete walls. Inside, RPM restaurant-lounge will be the main event. Located on the ground floor right near the entrance, RPM will draw people in with its soaring 14-ft. ceilings, innovative lighting and comfortable couches.
Music will be center-stage. Through a partnership with Downtown Music LLC, Modo will offer guests access to thousands of tracks from independent marquee and emergent artists worldwide. Music will be available in vinyl, CD and MP3 formats. Using headphones and a terrific sound system, guests will peruse the custom-curated collection and download free music amid books on art and music that will appeal to people across generations.
“In music and design, Modo will have a huge international focus—the U.S., Brazil, India, China and Europe, among other countries,” says Chris Jones, chief development officer for MODO and Advaya. “The language of music is universal. It cuts across borders, providing a way for people to do more fun things together. That makes music a perfect fit for our new global brand.
“While all properties will share design and music icons, Modo will be global in scope with the flexibility to scale up or down, depending on the demands of the site and the local market,” Jones says. “Our unique F&B concept will have a range of options, from a full-service restaurant with a vibrant bar scene to a cozy bar with a limited food and beverage menu.”
Throughout the hotels, music will be a subtle but recurring motif. The intent is to engage guests with musical references. Modo’s logo, for instance, evokes sound waves. The restaurant-lounge gets its name from “revolutions per minute,” the measurement for record rotation. In RPM lounge, dramatic pendant lighting will feature a series of long, slender lines, recalling the strings of a violin or guitar.
Guestrooms will be homey, with a soft neutral color palette and rich fabrics. Custom lighting and furnishings will include large desks with ergonomic chairs and ottomans.
Advaya’s leadership core
Advaya’s U.S. division is led by Russell, a founding partner of Nylo Hotels and former chairman and CEO of the hotel division of Cendant Corp., now Wyndham Worldwide. He is joined by Jones, who cofounded Nylo and gave that brand its unique urban style. General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer David Klein has represented leading hotel companies worldwide. Chief Real Estate Services and Development Officer David Young launched the international hotel division for hospitality franchise systems at Cendant as part of the team that spurred the group’s explosive growth in the 1990s.
The U.S. group is joined by senior executives with one of India’s top lodging companies, Chennai-based Auromatrix. Launched 20 years ago, Auromatrix is a diversified technology- and hospitality-centric company with more than 750 employees in India, Sri Lanka, Iceland and the United States. Serving as Advaya directors, the India group is led by Auromatrix Founder, Chairman and CEO Kumar Sitaraman, and members of his senior executive team.
Along with Sitaraman, Advaya’s Indian group includes: Udday Kumar Krishnan, Shekar Sitaraman, Krishnan Sitaraman and Bala Kamallakharan. Acting as managing principal in the United States for the India group is Sonny Khalil, a real estate executive and a Chicago resident of nearly two decades.