Celebrating its 10 year anniversary, Lark Hotels has made a number of expansion and partnership announcements that take the company into new markets across the United States. The following are three recent announcements from Lark Hotels:
Partnership with the Urban Cowboy Lodge
Lark Hotels announced its expansion through a management partnership with the Urban Cowboy Lodge in the Catskills, New York. The partnership will allow the Urban Cowboy team to focus on driving brand growth and experience, while Lark will handle hotel operations. Creating and evolving the offerings at Urban Cowboy is the focus of the brand, and the partnership will allow both parties to contribute to the overall guest experience. Both looking to grow their domestic footprint, the arrangement gives the companies the opportunity to scale up their brands and services.
“Our team at Lark Hotels is excited to be partnering with the Urban Cowboy team on this special property,” said Rob Blood, founder and president of Lark Hotels. “As we continue to grow our brands, properties, and management arm of our business, this is an ideal fit. It’s an exciting opportunity for both companies to continue to grow while maintaining top notch guest experiences.”
“Collaborating with Lark Hotels will give us the ability to focus on growing the brand while still giving the Urban Cowboy Lodge experience that guests love and return to again and again. We are very excited to work with the Lark team,” said Lyon Porter, founder of Urban Cowboy. “We believe this partnership will allow us to expedite expansion of the Urban Cowboy collection.”
Urban Cowboy Lodge has 27 rooms across five buildings set on 68 acres in The Catskills. The hotel also features Public House, an on-site restaurant and bar program that has craft cocktails, whole animal butchery, local ingredients, and woodfire cooking. The restaurant provides a dining program that has local produce with a mix of culinary offerings both indoors and outdoors.
Partnership with Hatteras Sky to Open Two Properties
Lark Hotels announces its entry into the Asheville, North Carolina market through an operations partnership with Atlanta-based commercial real estate development firm Hatteras Sky.
Lark Hotels and Hatteras Sky are opening two new properties next year: The Radical and Zelda Dearest. The Radical will be a 70-room boutique hotel in Asheville’s River Arts District with interiors by the Suomi Design Works team. The design will have industrial accents including raw concrete pillars and exposed brick walls. The hotel will have a three-meal restaurant, coffee lounge, rooftop bar, and large outdoor courtyard with multiple dining terraces and a lawn for events and programming.
Zelda Dearest will debut Hatteras Sky’s Fitzgerald Estate portfolio, a collection of properties paying homage to the author and artist Zelda Fitzgerald and her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald. The project will renovate and preserve three of Asheville’s historic homes, transforming them into 20 guestrooms including nine suites. Interior design by Anderson Design Studios includes nods to the roaring 1920s. The hotel will offer outdoor event spaces including a game lawn, a stone-paved stage, and gas fire pits.
Local Asheville chef Jacob Sessoms will oversee the creation ofnculinary and cocktail programs at both hotels.
“Asheville has been growing in popularity as visitors from far and wide make their way to this enticing destination. Our properties will meet the hospitality demand that is needed to keep up with the rapid growth and development taking place,” said Blood. “It was a stroke of fate that the planets aligned to have this perfect opportunity to enter the market during this pivotal time. We’re looking forward to supporting our incredible partners at Hatteras Sky to bring to life two very unique and special hotels.”
“Asheville is a special destination and has been on our radar for some time so we are delighted to be moving forward with plans that will bring something very different to that market. It’s been a goal of ours for a while now and we are ecstatic that we have found the opportunity to bring truly unique properties to life with the team at Lark Hotels.” said Amy Michaelson Kelly, founding principal of Hatteras Sky. “Combining the talents of this group, The Radical and Zelda Dearest will bring a fresh style and new hotel experience for Asheville area locals and visitors very soon.”
The Frenchman Hotel
The Frenchman Hotel is a recently renovated property and a joint project between Lark Hotels and Angevin & Co. Robert Thompson, has reimagined the historic hotel in Marigny neighborhood, just one block off Esplanade and the French Quarter.
“It’s an incredible privilege to reopen one of the most beautiful boutique hotels in NOLA,” said Thompson, founder and CEO of Angevin & Co., which purchased The Frenchmen Hotel in June 2021. “I’ve been in love with New Orleans for a long time and moved my family here full-time last year. It’s a dream come true to dedicate the revival of The Frenchmen Hotel to the people and the place that’s meant so much to me.”
Each of the 27 guestrooms of The Frenchmen Hotel has been renovated using Leonor Fini. The original building has been left intact. Each room has vintage rugs, the original ceiling medallions, and pieces of artworks that celebrate femininity and a bohemian lifestyle. Thompson and the team are leaning into his expertise in food and beverage service to renovate two on-property bar spaces, including an outdoor mezzanine bar reserved for guests of the hotel. On the lower-level, guests and locals can take in live music with craft cocktails at the hotel bar, Midnight Revival.
The atmosphere at Midnight Revival will complement Frenchmen Street with live music and a cocktail menu. Visitors and locals can step into Midnight Revival and feel the energy of New Orleans.
“The spirit of this city makes you feel like the night is always young, and we want everyone—from first-time visitors to seasoned revelers—to manifest that magic each time they raise a glass in Midnight Revival,” said Thompson.
The Frenchmen Hotel is the first hotel from Robert Thompson’s Angevin & Co. hospitality portfolio. Earlier this month, Thompson and team announced the purchase of another historic New Orleans hotel, The Whitney Hotel, which is planned to re-open following a renovation and the addition of a restaurant, bar, and flower shop, in early 2023.
