CEO Interview: Paligroup’s Avi Brosh on Growing Boutique Hotels in the Shadows of Big Brands
Photo Credit: Paligroup CEO Avi Brosh has big plans for growing his company's boutique hotel brand. Paligroup
Skift Take
In some ways, building a boutique hotel brand isn't much different from when the first pioneers did it in the early 1980s. The only distinction is that today, the competition is certainly tougher and increasingly more abundant.
When Paligroup CEO Avi Brosh decided to start his own hotel business in 2008, it was because he saw "a hole in the market." He thought there was an opportunity smaller, neighborhood-oriented hotels that local communities could champion.
Inspired by the boutique hotels he'd come across in Europe and in New York City, the former real estate developer embarked on opening his first hotel on his own. "Because the hotels I was opening were so unique, I really had to go it alone with respect to operating them, not only on the room side, but also on the food-and-beverage side," Brosh said.
Read More: Complete Oral History of Boutique Hotels
The learning curve, as Brosh put it, "was a long arc," and he said he spent the greater part of 2008 to 2013 "essentially learning the business." Now, having had that firsthand education in independent hospitality, Brosh is ready to grow the Paligroup into a much bigger boutique hotel brand.
Today, Paligroup has three Los Angeles-based hotels un
