LodgeWorks, the Wichita, KS-based hotel development and management company, is launching Avia, a collection of boutique hotels, that it says will put a fresh face on the hospitality industry. Avia promises imaginative designs that will draw from the pool of upscale travelers. The first hotel will break ground this month in Savannah, GA, with an opening date slated for December 2008. Other properties in Long Beach and Napa, CA, should open by spring 2009, while Avia The Woodlands, near Houston, will open in fall 2009.
"We are thrilled to enter the boutique hotel segment and to define a new concept within this genre with the launch of Avia Hotels," said Anthony Isaac, president of LodgeWorks.
Here's how he describes the new brand: "The Avia hotels will evoke the inviting ambiance of a cocktail party thrown by a gracious local host, offering a new hotel experience for guests who are bored with anything cookie-cutter." LodgeWorks has teamed with hotel designer Colum McCartan, who, among other properties, designed Le Parker Meridien in New York, to develop the brand. Each property will have a fashionable bistro and espresso coffee bars, while rooms will include spa-inspired bathrooms, flat-screen HD TVs and iPod connections. Visit [www.aviahotels.com].