alguito nuevo

GLOBAL REPORT—Outsized returns at many hotel rooftop bars are enticing more owners and developers to add the spaces to their properties—some of which are unconventional.

For example, Chattanooga, Tennessee-based owner and developer Vision Hospitality recently broke ground on a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Nashville Downtown @ the Gulch, which will have a rooftop lounge with meeting space, according to President and CEO Mitch Patel.

“We started seeing a lot of rooftop lounges being developed, especially in the last five years in New York,” Patel said. “We thought Nashville doesn’t have one, let’s just do it.”

Rooftop bars have been popping up in many gateway markets such as Chicago, Washington D.C.,and Los Angeles, among others.

The rooftop bar scene also has thrived in international hubs such as Madrid.

The ME Madrid Reina Victoria in 2006 underwent a redesign and transformation of the historic Gran Hotel Reina Victoria, at which time a rooftop bar concept was introduced, according to GM Raul Palomo.

Now, “The Roof” is Madrid’s hot spot.

“It’s the city’s hallmark spot,” Palomo said in an email. “It is the prime spot for languorous afternoons of relaxing and sunbathing, as well as sultry nights of sipping cocktails.”

Despite the push to add rooftop spots in other markets, New York remains at the forefront of the scene as more hotels continue to add to the city’s growing collection of rooftop lounges, sources said.

Refinery Hotel, which opened in May in New York’s Fashion District, had a perfect space and location for a rooftop bar. The turn-of-the-century hat factory turned luxury hotel is one of several adaptive reuses in the city to add the concept. In fact, 42% of the rooftop bars in New York were constructed atop pre-war buildings, according to a research study conducted by Jones Lang LaSalle.

New York-based architecture and interior design firm Stonehill & Taylor, which is responsible for several hotel rooftop projects including the NoMad Hotel and Ace Hotel, led the Refinery Hotel project.

“What we did is we thought about how the building was used when it was built,” said Christina Zimmer, principal at Stonehill & Taylor. “We took the duality of refined front-of-house tea space and the industrial factory things to inspire the design concept.”