Relais & Châteaux, the company behind some of the world's most luxurious hotels and restaurants, is looking to add some New York City hotels to its portfolio, The Post can reveal.
With upscale city restaurants like 11 Madison Park, SAGA, Daniel, Per Se and Jean-Georges under its belt, Relais & Châteaux is looking to expand its hotel offerings in the Big Apple soon.
“We don't have a single hotel in Manhattan, but we have a lot of restaurants,” Laurent Jardinier, the association's president, told The Washington Post. “This does not mean that we do not have any hotels in the city, because we have many of them in Paris, London, Rome and in many cities.”
In fact, the Relais & Châteaux is home to a slew of Europe's famous luxury properties, including the Parisian castle of Saint James Paris, the Bellevue Syrene 1820 located close to Mount Vesuvius – and Cliveden House, the sprawling mansion in England revered by family members The owner.
“Having said that, New York is clearly a target, because Manhattan is among the richest cities not just in the United States, but in the world…and we don't have any real estate there. We're in the search phase now.”
The organization, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, faces an arduous process when it comes to signing a hotel into its association.
Gardinier reveals that there is a 500-point checklist that hotels must pass before they are eligible to become a respected member of the Relais & Châteaux family.
“We are a subsidiary, so we do not own and cannot decide, we are only a subsidiary,” he said. “So in New York City, we need to find a hotel that fits our DNA. The value-add of affiliation with those potential hotels needs to be proven.”
“Is that the current situation? I would say: Hole in the club,” Gardinier said of the lack of New York City hotels under his belt. “But we are in discussions with some of them at the moment. We are chasing and looking to correct this.”
And while R&C is typically only affiliated with luxury boutique hotels that often boast a small number of rooms, Gardinier says when it comes to the Big Apple, the organization has “no limits” in size when it comes to finding the perfect property.
“If we want to enter major cities, we need a large minimum number of rooms beyond our average of 35,” he said.
“We want to provide a good level of service in a city like New York, so we need to find a hotel with at least 80 or 100 rooms, otherwise we won't have the means to provide that.”
The organization has outlined its plans to expand into the Manhattan hotel scene at a time when rooms are difficult to obtain for some visitors.
The New York Times previously reported that nearly 135 of the city's 680 hotels have participated in a shelter program, meaning they are sheltering migrants in New York amid the ongoing crisis.
The vast majority of these hotels are located in midtown Manhattan, including the four-star Row NYC and the century-old Roosevelt Hotel. Tourists now have to pay a record amount to spend a night in the Big Apple.
According to data published by CoStar, a real estate analytics company, the average price of a hotel room in New York City is $301 per night, which means there is a shortage of renters willing to spend that amount of money. The staggering price of $301 represents an 8.5% increase from 2022.
Overall, the city lost 16,532 hotel rooms to the migrant crisis, leaving only 121,677 hotel rooms left for tourists, making Relais & Châteaux's expansion plans more difficult.
Furthermore, the city indicated that it seeks to provide 14,000 hotel rooms to house migrants until 2025, as housing costs for asylum seekers over the past three years are expected to exceed $2.3 billion.
As for the company's checklist when signing on for a new property, Gardinier says a hotel lucky enough to be selected to join the R&C family as a member “will showcase the stamp of East Coast ownership.”
“The hotel's design should reflect the local architecture,” he said, adding that “it should also fit in perfectly with the New York City culinary scene. It's important that the DNA of the location is showcased in the property.”
The organization has its sights set on an existing luxury hotel in Manhattan and the surrounding areas.
While the association doesn't currently boast any hotels in New York City, it does own two luxury hotels elsewhere in the state.
Among these hotels is the Bedford Post Inn, a luxury retreat owned by Hollywood actor Richard Gere and real estate developer Russell Hernandez.
The duo's charming estate, which they acquired in 2007, became a permanent member of Relais & Châteaux in 2011.
Other New York State properties include Glenmire Mansion in Chester, as well as Lake Placid Lodge in Lake Placid – a resort town in the Adirondacks.
“And now we have The Modern, which just joined Relais & Châteaux a few weeks ago,” he said, referring to the two-Michelin-starred NYC restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art that becomes the latest to join R&C’s glamorous roster.
With a portfolio of around 80 restaurants in 64 countries, the association has the largest network of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world.
Last year, two Relais & Châteaux restaurants were awarded a Michelin Green Star for their sustainability efforts, which served as a starting point for a partnership with UNESCO, announced this month.
