Above: design of upcoming Axel Hotel Berlin; Below: Managing Director, Juan P. Juliá at Berlin construction site.
Photo and Illustration: Axel Hotels
It's always a risk launching an entire travel brand or company that is built to cater explicitly to LGBT folks. Marketing campaigns have started acknowledging the power of the queer travel dollar/euro/pound/yen/rupee, but floating an entire new venture on that is very different from adding it to a straight base.
Axel Hotels, the first global gay hotel chain, has found a way to make it work. Last year, they opened their second boutique property in Buenos Aires, which joined their launch location in Barcelona.
Soon, they have just announced, their third luxury hotel will open in Schöneberg, Berlin, which has been on the world gayborhood list since it inspired Cabaret in the 1920s.
Part of Axel Hotels' success is their come-one-come-all message, promoted with their tongue-in-cheek slogan, "Hetero-friendly," and supported with reliably upscale service and lovely luxe add-ons -- watch for the Turkish Bath in the Berlin outpost.
The straight-friendly strategy is almost like being the bigger person in the hotel game. And who knows? Maybe some of the curious straight guests will take a liking to the lifestyle and stay an extra night.
