02/05/2026
HOTELS magazine recently published an article talking about why are increasingly joining and affiliation networks to preserve their individuality while gaining the scale, visibility, and commercial power of major companies.
"Dr. Chekitan S. Dev CHC, ISHC Dev teaches and at the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration, which makes him one of the foremost minds in the world of . He calls soft brands nothing short of genius. “They are designed to offer the best of both worlds: individuality plus the commercial engine of a major brand,” he said, propping up their brilliance with an anecdote. A recent trip to New York landed him at the Crosby Street Hotel, which is owned and operated by Firmdale Hotels. Affixing a hard brand to a property as design-driven as Crosby, a favorite among Hollywood stars, would be a disservice. Instead, and unbeknownst to many who stay there, it’s affiliated with Marriott’s Design Hotels, a curated collection of more than 300 independent, design-driven hotels across the globe. One might even refer to this situation as a “super-soft brand”: Design Hotels’ brand indicia is nowhere to be found on the hotel’s website. “Now, that’s how to brand a one-of-a-kind luxury hotel in the world’s most competitive hotel market,” Dev said."
Read the full article here:
Soft brands, affiliations—they are not new phenomena, but their popularity has grown in an age where, for independent hotels, being seen is as important as what is seen.
