Celebrity chef Todd English is known around the world for his restaurants and culinary creations, but with the launch earlier this year of The English Hospitality Group (EHG), he is trying his hands at being a hotelier.
“Todd English has had a very reputable career as a restauranteur,” said Keith Burkard, partner, EHG. “Throughout his career, he’s designed and developed over 300 establishments. Basically, at this point in his career, he is now able to pivot and become more of a larger brand in many different components of the hospitality industry, most notably the hotel business.”
The company wanted to emulate the success they have already had in the F&B sphere. “We set out and said, ‘Let’s form a business model that targets hotels, put the English brand on it,’ which we already know is very strong, has elevated tastes, designs, etc., and embed strong food and beverage as well,” said Burkard. “So, you are killing two birds with one stone.”
They saw that vision come to fruition earlier this year with the opening of The English Hotel in Las Vegas. Located in the 18b Art District, the 74-room upscale boutique hotel features in-room cocktail carts, plush bedding and “sexy” showers. Other highlights include live entertainment throughout the day and night, a secluded pool, an outdoor lounge and The Pepper Club, a sushi fusion concept with a Mediterranean flair. It is an adult-only hotel and does not permit anyone under the age of 21.
“After traveling around the world, I wanted to do my own take on what I felt a hotel should be from the moment you walked in the door,” English told Hotel Business. “It should be welcoming, fun and sophisticated. It’s a comfortable place where you can relax.”
Burkhard said that the brand is targeting the high-end boutique sphere. “I want to focus on strong cities with reputable customer bases that appreciate the craft of design and food, and amenities as well.”
As the brand grows, he said that each hotel will pair with the local community in terms of design and F&B, but “we would like to focus on one to five core restaurant concepts that we scale out throughout all of the English Hotels, as we go along,” he said. “It’s hard to control and manage when we get to the point of 10 to 20 different hotels, having 10 to 20 different restaurant concepts.”