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| JOHN RUSSELL |
NEW YORK, NY – Former LA chairman John Russell is partnering with Auromatrix Group from India and a team of lodging veterans to launch Advaya Hospitality. Speaking today before an audience of industry insiders at the International Hotel Motel + Restaurant Show, New York, Russell said the new global company aims to bring the next generation of lifestyle hotels and related products to major cities worldwide.
Advaya will develop, acquire, franchise, and operate full-service and select-service hotels. The brands will launch simultaneously in the US and India, starting in the second quarter of 2011 and then debut in cities around the globe. Advaya’s hotels will feature iconic style and breakthrough amenities. They will be located in key cities, with targets that include: New York, Miami, Atlanta, and Phoenix in the US and Chennai, Tuticorin, Kakinada, Vizag, and Vellore in India. Later expansion is planned with an eye on China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Brazil.
“The timing is right,” Russell said, “The economy is starting to come back, and there are many properties and sites out there that present outstanding opportunities."
“We are increasingly becoming a transparent world, and there is demand for tremendous lifestyle products in economic centers around the globe,” Russell continued, “Advaya will make the most of these opportunities with exciting new approaches for expansion in the US and internationally.”
Advaya merges all aspects of hospitality in one multifaceted platform. The company will acquire, develop, franchise, manage, and consult across the full hospitality spectrum: land acquisition, design, construction, hotel management, and tech support. It also will serve as a primary supplier to the hospitality industry.
INTERNATIONAL POWERHOUSE
Overseeing Advaya will be hospitality veterans in the US and India with wide-ranging industry experience. In the US, CEO John Russell is a founding partner of NYLO Hotels and former chairman and CEO of the Hotel Division of Cendant Corp., now Wyndham Worldwide. Chief development officer Chris Jones co-founded 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/Cendant as part of the team that spurred HFS’ explosive growth in the 1990s.
The US group is joined by senior executives with one of India’s top lodging companies, Chennai-based Auromatrix. Launched 20 years ago, Auromatrix today is a diversified, technology and hospitality-centric company with more than 750 employees in India, Sri Lanka, Iceland, and the US. Serving as Advaya directors, the Indian group is led by Auromatrix founder, chairman and CEO, Kumar Sitaraman, and members of his senior executive team.
Educated in the US, these executives began their careers here and then used what they learned as a template to drive India’s burgeoning hospitality industry. Along with Sitaraman, Advaya’s Indian group includes: Udday Kumar Krishnan, Shekar Sitaraman, Krishnan Sitaraman, and Bala Kamallakharan. Acting as managing principal in the US for the Indian group is Sonny Khalil, a real estate executive and Chicago resident for nearly two decades.
“There are incredible synergies between the US and Indian groups, making Advaya one of the most versatile global networks our industry has seen,” Kumar Sitaraman said. “This partnership creates an exceptionally knowledgeable company catering across the board to all hospitality needs, from real estate and development to hotel operations and more. I am delighted to be part of this venture.”
WELL-FUNDED
“The common thread among all the Advaya partners is our focus on strategic expansion around the world,” Russell explained.
Having the assets required to fuel international growth, Advaya is committed to building 10 hotels in India over a two-year period starting in the second quarter of 2011.
The company also will create and manage a US fund for real estate acquisitions to accelerate brand growth in key cities, such as New York, Miami, and Atlanta. “During these next 18 months, we will see an excellent environment for acquiring hotels particularly in gateway cities,” Russell noted. “With access to capital, Advaya will aggressively leverage these outstanding opportunities for growth.”
COST-DEFYING DESIGN
Chief development officer Chris Jones has earned a reputation for creating high-concept design hotels at a cost to construct that defies their aesthetics. Advaya will continue in this tradition of cost-defying design.
The company will acquire, franchise, and build full-service and select-service sister brands. In the US, newly-constructed properties will have 60–155 rooms, a restaurant, bar and lounge, meeting space, gym, and business center. The hotels promise an upbeat vibe; the latest technology; and fun, unexpected design flourishes throughout. They will cater to business and leisure travelers with a passion for music, technology, design, and cuisine.
“Our hotels will be a lavish departure from others in their price category,” Jones said. “The bars and lounges will be destinations in themselves. With their rich textures, vibrant bars, and lobbies that are great places to meet friends and relax, these hotels will be a refreshing new experience and fun interjection to business travel.”
THE FULL GAMUT
Advaya also will assist in the management and growth of hospitality-related businesses, including a mix of eco-resorts; contemporary business hotels; destination restaurants; and furniture, fixtures, and equipment companies serving the lodging industry. These businesses include:
• Sparsa Resorts, a unique portfolio of eco-conscious properties, are set amidst jaw-dropping scenery in leading spiritual, adventure, and vacation locales. Among the Sparsa destinations, Pasikuddah on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast beckons with Buddhist temples and elephant wildlife safaris. Kanyakumari, at India’s southern tip, is edged by mountains and the confluence of the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Sea.
• Hospitality Furniture Collection serves as a strategic partner for Advaya businesses. This Burlingame, California-based furniture, fixtures, and equipment company has supplied product to such leading brands as Westin, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, and Fairmont properties worldwide. HF Collection combines the skills of artisans and master craftsmen with precision technology to produce high-quality furniture at an affordable price.
ABOUT ADVAYA HOSPITALITY
Advaya is a global, full-service company, providing services across the full hospitality spectrum, from development (franchising, project management, design, and procurement) to operations (hotel management, finance, sales, and marketing), to real estate (brokerage services). Led by an international team of industry veterans, the company will launch and grow the next generation of lifestyle hotels and hospitality-related businesses, first in the US and India and then in major economic centers around the world.
JOHN RUSSELL LEADS
An education at West Point (1969) and postings in Germany and Viet Nam prepares you to be a leader; however, it is rare that this leadership capability is transferred to the hospitality industry. It appears that John Russell, the Principal and CEO of the new Advaya Hospitality organization, has successfully transitioned to the private sector and developed a successful career path that spans 35 years.
A GOOD OFFENSE
In spite of a “challenging” economic climate, Russell is leading his new company into the development and introduction of a concept-based international hotel operation. From the sound of it, Russell is taking industry forecasts of gloom and dismissing the naysayers with a strategic plan that intends to slay the competition. In an economy as changeable as the weather, he and his team of well-educated, experienced, growth-oriented real estate and lodging professionals just announced the launching of a novel life-style hotel brand that will soon appear in gateway cities in the USA, second – tier cities in India, plus key locations in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Singapore and Iceland.
CALL THEM RUSSELS
The Russell name may be familiar. Over his illustrious 35-year career his name has been linked to Sheraton hotels in Lake Tahoe, and Washington, D.C., the former Cendant Corporation Travel Division (now Wyndham Worldwide), Cendants’ Hotel Division (including Days Inn, Ramada, and Howard Johnson), NYLO, Resort Condominiums International (RCI), Colony Hotels and Resorts, Radisson Resorts and Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell (now Ypartnership), and most recently as chair of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and president of the Hospitality Sales and marketing Association International (HSMAI).
WHAT IS ADVAYA
NETWORK
Russell has joined with Auromatrix Group (India) to launch Advaya Hospitality. “The timing is right.” Russell claims, “The economy is starting to come back and there are many properties and sites…that present outstanding opportunities.” In addition to a large pool of ready capital from his Indian partners, Russell sees this internationally diversified group fueled by global franchise buyers who want to compete in the currently popular, but very expensive, life-style market niche. Heavily loaded with real estate experts, Advaya’s growth will build on team-skills that include acquisitions, development, management and consulting assignments, tethered to tech support. The company’s objective is to open 10 business –class hotels in India over the next two-years beginning in the second quarter of 2011. “Initially the guests will be drawn from domestic markets,” claims Russell, “with increased guest globalization as the brand becomes internationally recognized.”
Dining options will be flexible (from the franchise owners’ perceptive), as there will be options to manage the food and beverage outlets through the hotel operations, or outsourced to restaurateurs. Menu selections will embrace the idea of thinking globally and acting locally, enabling local culinary treats to be included among a list of internationally appreciated selections. Russell is looking for the POP at every property, “People, Ownership and Power.”
THEY WILL COME
When asked the profile of the ideal guest, Russell targets the 22-50 year old who aspires to stay in a life-style hotel, but is locked-out because of the $450-$500 per day room rates. He is certain that his brand will bring in the hotel rooms at the $150-$200 price point, with even lower prices available in the Indian marketplace.
With a focus on the guest, employees will be trained to ask, “What will it take to make your stay with us - perfect.” It is his intention that this query will be asked not only to provide data for the market research department, but will also be a driving force for management, enabling them to deliver what the guest really wants!
Recognizing that his target market is electronically savvy, Wi Fi and other state-of-the-art technology will be available without added fees. There will be one price for the room, and guests will not be bothered with mysterious add-ons.
Source:(Forimmediaterelease.net) OUTLINE AGGRESSIVE GROWTH PLAN FOR 2011,Nov 15 2010./ DR. ELINOR GARELY, ETN | NOV 14, 2010
Tags:Advaya, Advaya Hotel Franchise, auromatrix, Chris Jones, David Klein, David Young, John Rusell, Krishna Sitaraman, Kumar Sitaraman, Shekar Sitaraman, Sonny Khalil, Sparsa Resorts, Udday Kumar Krishnan
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