Capella & Solis. Schulze struggles.

FOXTROTS

 

 

Fox – sly.  Trots – left-leaning (Trotsky) plus its more insalubrious meaning. 

Foxtrots – leading the industry in a dance.

 

 

2008 September 15

Capella & Solis. Schulze struggles.

The year after leaving Ritz-Carlton in 2001, its leader Horst Schulze formed West Paces Hotel Group, which in turn created two brands – Capella and Solis. He puts both at the top of the market, but with Capella higher.

 

Is it working?

 

Schulze still has high credibility from his RC times. He joined the company in 1983, eventually running it, but also presiding over its purchase by Marriott in 1995 – which he did not like to talk about. Even now, there is no official mention in West Paces documentation that RC is part of the Marriott group.

 

A previous owner of Ritz, the Atlanta-based W B Johnson real estate company (that made its big money from Holiday Inn and, er, pancake franchises), still has good relations with Schulze. And he actually started his West Paces company out of Johnson’s offices – which were in West Paces Ferry Road.

 

At RC, Schulze, aged 66 and born in Germany, was known to be rigorous about quality standards and maintaining them. Solis appears to be at a similar level to RC, but Capella has more of a ‘free spirit’ – which is not obviously Schulze’s strength. In fact, Capella is like Aman Resorts – and a market segment that is getting quite crowded.

 

The other ‘skills’ associated with Schulze are experience and contacts. Some of his hotels are owned by people who own or owned RCs.

 

After five years, the Solis portfolio is weak. It has two, Lough Eske in Ireland, and Cambrian in Switzerland, both existing properties; two others, in Jamaica and Florida, are late. Capella also has three open – in Austria, Germany, Ireland; it has seven projects – Ireland, Japan, Mexico (3), Singapore, US – but an unchanged list since the start of this year.

 

West Paces also has no-brand hotels.

 

 

The Fox