NYLO Hotels' Russell

While some companies are cutting back on new developments during this downturn, one hotel operator has big expansion plans. Atlanta-based NYLO Hotels LLC is planning to have 50 hotels across the country by 2011. So far, the chain has opened two, one in Plano, TX; and the other in Warwick, RI. The concept is to bring affordable, loft-style assets to secondary markets, focusing on the business traveler. The concept, to be done by franchisees after the company builds the first handful, includes the full-service NYLO chain, which offers a 24-hour restaurant and bar, and XP by NYLO, a less expensive product with more limited service. John Russell, the company’s CEO, recently spoke with GlobeSt.com about his expansion plans.

GlobeSt.com: Are you concerned to be rolling out a new chain of hotels during an economy like this?

Russell: There is always concern. The capital markets are tight and getting debt for new hotel developers is a little more difficult, but that being said, there are still hotel developments going on and projects being developed. It’s not going to stop, it’s just going to slow down a little bit. This idea is over four years old, and our second hotel has just opened. We’ve always said we are going to do the first five or six hotels ourselves along with our partner Lehman Brothers. Then our whole growth strategy was to have a franchise program where other people that like the brand develop the hotels and put our brand name and reservation system with the property. Is it ideal? Probably not, but where we like to place these properties are in secondary and tertiary markets, places that are not necessarily gateway cities. These cities do have opportunities and don’t have products like this. It’s a little more opportunistic for our type of property.