Bridgeton's Boutique Hotels Embrace Quirks Rather Than Erase Them

25.08.2023 - 14:00 / skift.com / Leslie Barrie

One of the more interesting U.S. innovators of boutique hotels had humble origins. Atit Jariwala is today the founder and CEO of Bridgeton, a New York real estate development group managing $1 billion in assets, including hotels. But Jariwala got his first taste of the hospitality industry living in an EconoLodge motel that his parents managed in Bridgeton, Missouri.

“Like a lot of folks who live in motels, I helped my parents clean rooms and do every kind of chore you can growing up,” Jariwala said. “I was kind of born into it, and I haven’t been able to shake it.”

Even though Jariwala’s early background was in franchise hotels, he’s pivoted his career toward boutiques by creating Walker Hotels in Tribeca and Greenwich Village and Marram Montauk, in the Hamptons.

In late May, Jariwala will open his next boutique property, Dawn Ranch, in Sonoma, California. As with all his properties, his goal is to create hotels that not everyone likes.

“I hate saying this, but I kind of want a hotel that some people hate,” said Jariwala.

It may be an odd vision, but it seems to be paying off.

In 2018 Jariwala bought a run-down motel in Montauk for $32.5 million and converted it into an upscale beachfront lodge with a vibe he describes today as “barefoot luxury.” Last year, he sold the 96-key Marram Montauk to KSL Capital Partners for $78.5 million — essentially doubling the value in only five years.

“Heads in beds” was how Jariwala thought about the hotel sector from an early age. Yet developing cookie-cutter hotels after graduate school grew aggravating.

While working for a different hotel development firm, he tried to upgrade one branded property in New York with better soaps, sheets, and decor because they were charging a much higher rate.

“Instead of getting a pat on the back, the brand came back and said, ‘We need brand consistency,'” Jariwala said. “And that was like the big signal in my head that, well, that stinks.”

With Bridgeton, Jariwala is trying to impart as much influence on each hotel he creates as possible.

You won’t find TVs in the rooms because Jariwala wants guests to get outside and spend time by the water or otherwise explore Montauk.

“I’m involved in every aspect of the storytelling, the interior design, the ethos, and what kind of customers we want,” Jariwala said. “Our hotels aren’t built for every consumer.”

This, he said, is what differentiates boutique hotels from independent hotels.

“The issue with designing a hotel for 100 percent of people is that then you have what I would call an ‘independent hotel’ and not a boutique,” said Jariwala.

“An independent hotel is just basically a hotel with lipstick and no real programming or experiences,” Jariwala said.

So, while an independent hotel