BERLIN — Iconic luxury brands are trying to court affluent consumers in all manner of ways, including via development of hotels and branded residential properties.
United Kingdom-based Aston Martin has been making cars — including vehicles preferred by James Bond — since 1913. Stefano Saporetti, Aston Martin's director of brand diversification, said the company is considering branching out into the hospitality space as branded residential real estate gains in popularity.
“Branded residential is booming, so there is an opportunity. The world is moving from one of ownership to one of experience, and that is a sentiment that is happening to [Aston Martin owners], too,” he said during a session at the International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA. “We need to think differently in terms of legacy and loyalty.”
A year ago, Aston Martin debuted its first branded residence, the 391-room Aston Martin Residences in Miami. The property proved to be an immediate hit, Saporetti said.
“It is completely sold out. Less than 10% [of owners] own an Aston Martin. It is an investment and an investment in lifestyle,” Saporetti said.
Hotels could be next for the Aston Martin brand, he added.
“An Aston Martin hotel? In the medium term, yes. It would offer something out of the box, but to be best-in-class operators, we need an understanding of the hotels universe, to translate our philosophy to it and to take time to understand it,” Saporetti said.
Expanding hospitality into branded residential
Thirty years ago, the Delano hotel opened in Miami Beach and helped elevate the luxury lifestyle in South Beach. The property has been closed for five years but plans to reopen this year as the Delano Miami Beach. The renovation is a partnership with Accor's Ennismore division and London-based real estate investment firm Cain International.
“[The Miami hotel] is a legendary hotel. Ian Schrager opened it, and Madonna once owned the restaurant. It put South Beach on the map,” said Davina Zydower-Cisier, senior vice president of development for Europe at Ennismore.
Delano has grown into its own hotel brand in recent years. The Delano brand has two other locations, the 56-room Maison Delano Paris, which opened in April 2023, and the 251-room Delano Dubai, which opened in October 2024. The Delano Dubai is located in the Emirates' Bluewaters Island development and has six food-and-beverage outlets and a five-bedroom penthouse suite. The Dubai property follows the original Delano Miami design aesthetic in that it has no straight lines.
“It is a conversion, but it already had good bones. There was not a huge amount needed to be renovated, and we have doubled the [average daily rate],” Zydower-Cisier said.
Zydower-Cisier described Delano as a hotel brand that “is equivalent to someone who is very well-dressed, but the clothing reveals no branding whatsoever.”
Future development of the Delano brand will likely involve branded residences, either as part of a hotel project or as a unique property, Zydower-Cisier said.
“There are 500 units in the pipeline for branded [residences], and we wish to grow adjacent to a hotel or as a standalone,” she said, mentioning markets such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Istanbul, London and the United Arab Emirates.
Aston Martin and Delano are brands consumers want not only to be a part of but to experience and own, Saporetti and Zydower-Cisier said. When asked if Aston Martin was the most iconic brand of them all, Saporetti, an Italian, said “the most iconic British brand.”
Having spent part of his career at Ferrari, Saporetti was instrumental in creating a Ferrari-themed attraction. Ferrari World Abu Dhabi opened in November 2020, which Saporetti said generated a lot of criticism.
"But now [Ferrari] is a leader in the market and very established. [Aston Martin] is well-known for design, and there is an easy transformation from designing the interiors of cars to the interiors of hotels,” he said.
One Aston Martin branded-residences project already in sixth gear is No. 001 Minami Aoyama, which Saporetti said is a partnership with Japanese concierge firm Vibroa in the Tokyo district of Omotesando.
“In Japan, it has clearly reached a wider audience, too. We are seeing more pipeline and a lot of interest. Our role is to carefully evaluate each possibility to make sure there is not a problem to the core business,” he said, adding a perfect destination would be one where a private racing circuit already is close by.
“Our owners want to say to their friends, 'I am one of them,'” he said.