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Uh-Oh. W Hotels Has Some Competition in B Hotels

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Sunrise Boulevard and A1A [map], Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
September 23, 2010 at 10:57 AM | by | Comments (0)

Cue the Black-Eyed Peas song, "I'm a Be"

We knew this day would come and it's finally here--someone is brazen enough to rip-off the whole one-letter name thing from W Hotels. Travel Weekly reports that the new one-letter competitor for W Hotels is B Hotels and Resorts (not to be confused with the B Hotel in Barcelona.)

The new upscale lifestyle brand was unveiled at the annual Lodging Conference hotel investment summit in Phoenix and it's being developed by Christopher Tompkins, who not-so-coincidentally helped to launch W Fort Lauderdale. And guess where's B Hotels first location will be? That's right! Ft. Lauderdale.

But lest we jump to conclusions, B Hotels won't be anything like the W. Ok, maybe a little bit like W:

Where W has adopted a "whenever, wherever" motto, B uses its one-letter name with all of its programs. "B green," for example, emphasizes its environmental consciousness, "B activities" its fitness program and "B indulge" its spa.

A press release put out today followed up on those B-branded services including--B Ambiance, B Social, B in Touch, B Nourished and B Adventurous. Groan. We bet there are a lot more B services to come. But noticeably missing? Butler service.

Nevertheless, Tompkins told TW that B Hotels will be a bit different from W in that they will be smaller--around 250 rooms--and they will be more inclusive, open to anyone from ages in the mid-30s to the mid-70s. The brand design, however, will be "modish." B Hotels has their eyes set on urban and resort destinations in the United States and Caribbean but ultimately plan to go world-wide.

The first B Hotel will be called B Ocean and it's opening inside an old Holiday Inn in Fort Lauderdale between an environmental preserve and the Bonnet House museum and gardens. Each room promises to have unobstructed views up and down the coast and should open in December. Reservations will be taken starting next month.

At first, we were a little skeptical of B Resorts because it seems too much like a copycat of W and we don't like copycats. But, and this is a big but, we're already down with B Hotels because they will be offering free WiFi. In your face W! Er, um, so we imagine the folks at B Hotels and Resorts are saying right now.

We'll be keeping our eyes on B Hotels and Resorts but if you've got any B Scoop, then B Drop it in comments below!

Hotels mentioned in this story

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