One day, all the big cities and luxury destinations of the world will have all the same hotels, outposts of the same five-star restaurants, and versions of the same clubs and boutiques. In fact, they practically do now. It's like a McDonald's and Starbucks for the high-end jet set.
The Delano, now managed and recently put up for sale by the Morgans Hotel Group (though, it will likely remain under Morgans management), is expanding to both Las Vegas and Moscow. Delano hotels in Marrakech, Moscow and a few other locations have previously been announced.
Michael Gross, the chief executive of Morgans Group, tells The New York Times that the Moscow outpost won't be an exact replica of the classic South Beach hotel, but will feature the same level of service. Gross says the chain will be a "Four Seasons for the new generation."
The 160-room hotel will open sometime in 2015.
Morgans also recently announced a giant 1,100-room Delano for Las Vegas. The outpost will be part of Mandalay Bay, and all-suite resort will take the place of THEhotel in late 2013.
The 73-room Marrakech outpost is scheduled to open next month.
Delano hotels in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and along the Aegean Sea in Turkey were announced in 2011. Those were originally scheduled to open this year, but apparently have been pushed back to 2013. At one point, Morgans had announced plans for a Delano in Dubai, but the status of those plans are unknown. Basically, it seems, the Delano's takeover of the world is far from over.
The original Delano, designed by Robert Swartburg, was built in 1947. Designer Phillipe Stark gave the hotel a major image update in 1994. Morgans took over in 1995.
Of course, posh hotel chains are nothing new. South Beach's major beach-side hotel strip shows that to be true.
The strip between 16th and 23rd Street, which includes the Delano, also include the Loews, Ritz-Carlton, SLS, and W, all of which have sister hotels elsewhere. South Beach is also home to outposts of the Mondrian and Standard.
Clearly South Beach will always be home to The Delano, but Delanos will surely keep popping up around the globe.
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