Broughton Hospitality Group has joined a growing list of hospitality brokerages and consultants in Orange County.
Larry Broughton, a partner in San Francisco-based Joie de Vivre Hospitality, founded Broughton Hospitality in 1999 and moved it to Huntington Beach,where his wife grew up,in December. The management, consulting and development company specializes in boutique hotels of 60 to 200 rooms. Broughton said he prefers to focus on improving a hotel’s operations, marketing and concept development rather than trying to build new hotels. And he’s not worried about new resorts coming on line or a slowing economy.
“There’s a huge (boutique hotel) market in Southern California,” he said. “I look for underperforming properties and take them over to build equity for the owner.”
Broughton recently acquired the Gala Villa Inn in Palm Desert that will be renovated and reopen in the fall as the Mojave, a luxury boutique hotel.
“Our goal is to provide quality amenities and services found at fine resorts while offering our guests a more personal and experiential stay,” he said.
Broughton is also in negotiations for a hotel in La Jolla and a three-hotel portfolio in Santa Barbara and is in contention for the management contract at one Orange County hotel.
“More independents are looking to management companies,” he said. “When there’s a hiccup in the market, those owners get nervous.”
