BizJournals Portfolio

Owners' Suites

Mar 31 2009

Back to: State of Independence

Greenbrier Hotel
Plaza Hotel
Montage Laguna Beach
Avia Savannah
Mauna Lani Bay Hotel
Kahala Resort
1 of 12
Greenbrier Hotel
For 230 years, the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, remained an independent hotel. But those days are over, as it likely will soon wave a Marriott flag. These days, independence isn't often seen as a virtue. About half of the world's most prestigious properties are part of hotel chains.
The Plaza
Sitting at the southeast corner of New York's Central Park, the Plaza is one of the most recognizable hotels in the country. The 102-year-old hotel, whose owners have included Conrad Hilton and Donald Trump, was closed in 2005 and renovated to accommodate hotel rooms and condominiums. Reopened three years later, the hotel portion is managed by Fairmont Hotels while the condo project has led to several lawsuits.
Montage Laguna Beach
The Montage, perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach, opened five years ago as an independent property, and its owners think they have the right combination of factors—a strong concentration on guest services and proximity to wealthy, sophisticated travelers—to remain independent. A second Montage opened in 2008 in Beverly Hills.
Avia Savannah
Avia Savannah is the first of four planned luxury boutique hotels that are owned by the privately held LodgeWorks L.P. Beyond its independent base, the company also manages hotels in the Hyatt and Hilton chains.
Mauna Lani Bay Hotel
Set on the big island of Hawaii, the Mauna Lani (with its 345 rooms and five bungalows) has been independent since it was built in the 1970s by the Tokyo Corp. "We are the anti-brand," general manager Brian Butterworth said, describing his property as one of the island's iconic properties. "We're not rigid, we can move on a dime."
Kahala Resort
An iconic resort in Honolulu, the Kahala opened in 1964 as a Hilton and spent most of its recent history as a Mandarin Oriental. Unlike the Greenbrier, the Kahala went from being part of a chain to being an independent property when it was bought by Trinity Investments in 2006.

Related Content

Luxury Meltdown

Luxury Meltdown

Luxury travel has tumbled off the proverbial cliff, and that means airlines and hotels will make fundamental changes in how they price and how they operate. Read more
Heartbreak Hotels

Heartbreak Hotels

In the last big deal of the gilded buyout era, Blackstone paid $26 billion for the Hilton empire, making C.E.O. Stephen Schwarzman the world's largest hotelier. He checked in, but as the hotel industry slumps, he can't check out. Read more