Days after signing two new hotels for Oklahoma City, Dream Hotel Group has finalized plans to open a Dream Hotel in Louisville, Ky., in 2025. The signing with Royal Investments is the second Dream Hotel location in the region for the developer following the launch of Dream Nashville in 2019.
Related: Dream Hotel Group to open two Oklahoma City hotels
Royal Investments, which also developed the Nashville property, selected the site and handled all of the preliminary work, Dream Hotel Group CEO Jay Stein told Hotel Management: “[They] reached out to us right at the beginning, and six weeks later, we had a signed hotel management agreement.” Many of the same investors that supported the Nashville development are returning for the Louisville project as well, Stein said. The Nashville property opened just before the COVID downturn began, “so [it wasn’t] easy to make owners happy during that time period.” As such, Stein said that having an existing owner come back to build a second hotel fairly close to a previous property under the same flag is “the biggest compliment for us ever as a company.”
“After opening the Dream Hotel in 2019, I set my [sights] on the next city that embraced the same quality and energy we delivered in Nashville,” Alex Marks, owner of Nashville-based Royal Investments, said in a statement when the project was announced. “Just two hours up the road, Louisville’s historic buildings on Main Street is the perfect setting to bring the elevated experience to an already lively and welcoming city. Dream was on board day one and quickly jumped into action to begin designing a property with world-class accommodations, fine dining and chic entertainment experiences that they’ve delivered several times before.”
Related: Dream Nashville officially opens
Designed by Miami-based CUBE3 architects with interiors by Josh Held and WATG, Dream Louisville will have 168 guestrooms and suites; four original food-and-beverage concepts, including a signature restaurant and a rooftop lounge; and 10,000 square feet of private meeting and event space. Housed in the former Tapp Leather & Co. building, erected in 1888, the property will combine seven buildings at 811-823 West Main Street, maintaining the historic facades of the original buildings.
The hotel is at the start of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in downtown Louisville and close to the Frazier History Museum, Mohammad Ali Center and Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, and a short drive to the racetrack and home of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs.
Dream Developments
Dream Hotel Group's portfolio includes Dream Hotels, Unscripted Hotels, The Chatwal and new By Dream Hotel Group brands. The company has 16 hotels in its portfolio today and more than 20 locations in various stages of development worldwide.
According to Stein, the company is focusing its growth more in North America, but is expanding in other markets as well. A Dream hotel is slated to open in Doha, Qatar, next year as well as an Unscripted in Belgium. “If there are opportunities in other international markets, we'll look, but our main focus is in North America,” he said, noting that the company has moved some employees that had been based in international markets back to the U.S.
A notable upcoming domestic development is the Chatwal Lodge in Bethel, N.Y., which is slated to open next April. The 11-room property is 90 minutes from Manhattan, and Stein expects it to command an average daily rate of $2,000. “We're looking to grow with some more Chatwal Lodges in other markets as well,” he said.
Correction: This article previously stated that the hotel is Dream's second in Kentucky. It is the first, and the article has been updated to reflect this.