New Field & Stream Hotel Brand Backed by Starwood Wagers on Outdoor Travel Growth
Photo Caption: Field & Stream Lodges, as envisioned in this rendering, will grow up at outdoor travel spots. Source: Field & Stream Lodge Co.
Skift Take
Congratulations, Mr. Sternlicht. You just invented motels. Econolodge without the econo. We look at the new brand's pitch deck.
Starwood Capital, a real estate investment firm run by Barry Sternlicht — who has scaled up high-end brands W Hotels, St. Regis Hotels, 1 Hotels, Treehouse Hotels, and Baccarat Hotels — said it would help launch a limited-service hotel brand focused on the outdoor sector. Enter the iconic media brand Field & Stream, founded in 1895.
The move underscores how even luxury brand experts find there are more opportunities to grow in the lower end of the hotel chain scale than the upper reaches.
Starwood Capital and AJ Capital, the real estate investor and manager behind university-themed Graduate Hotels, said on Tuesday they were launching Field & Stream Lodge Company, a "modern and affordable lifestyle lodging brand" that will use the brand name of a chain of outdoor recreation stores.
The firms created a 10-year F&S Hotel Fund 1 late last year, targeting $300 million to acquire and develop properties, according to a prospectus for investors a source shared with Skift.
The firms' prospectus said they would convert or build "30 to 40" hotels with about 4,000 rooms in the U.S. by 2030, though today their press release said "20 to 25 hotels," perhaps suggesting less investor interest than expected. Each property will typically be 120 rooms, and some rooms will have bunk beds. The pet-friendly properties will have parking lots with electric generators for recreational vehicles.
Starwood and AJ assume there's a segment of outdoor enthusiasts willing to pay more for design-forward prop
