Baillie Lodges to merge with sister company to form new ‘experiential’ brand

Boutique hotel group Baillie Lodges has merged with its sister company Tierra Hotels to form a new “experiential” brand that will offer “world-class experiences and assets”.

The new brand, named Beckons, will encompass the nine properties across Australia, Chile, Canada and New Zealand currently in the Baillie Lodges and Tierra Hotels collections, with a view to “grow the portfolio and then the curation of journeys across the world”.

Speaking to Aspire, chief executive of Baillie Lodges Michael Crawford said: “Baillie Lodges is a great regional name in Australia. But really, when you think about it, our lodges are better known as standalone names than the strand that ties all the pearls together.

“So we realised that if we want to grow and continue to acquire really world-class experiences and assets, we need a unifying brand that speaks to what we’re about.”

He said each of the properties within the portfolio will retain its individual brand, but the Beckons name, which hopes to “evoke emotion and create connections”, will be the “unifying ecosystem” that brings the lodges together.

The 10th addition to the Beckons portfolio is currently in development in Australia, with opening scheduled for next year.

However, Crawford said the group’s “preferred method of growth” is through acquisition.

“In the company’s history, [there is currently] the most robust pipeline of new acquisitions,” he said.

He said he hopes that the Beckons portfolio will “double in size” over the next 12 to 24 months.

As well as introducing new properties, Crawford said Beckons is “really focused” on developing the tour operator side of the business, with a goal to “expand upon our ability to curate journeys”.

The group is also looking at the possibility of introducing water-based product to create “a really unique travel experiential ecosystem”.

When asked about target destinations for Beckons to expand into, Crawford said: “If you think about places in the world that have [the] three tenets of great nature, great culture and great wildlife, Africa is certainly a big target [in which] to have multiple assets.”

He also said the group hopes to introduce more properties in North America and potentially in destinations such as the Maldives, Fiji and the Caribbean, where “the experience is based on that natural beauty around marine life”.

Speaking about why now is the right time to launch Beckons, Crawford explained: “It’s really unique that you get to create a new brand that embodies two different types of experiences.

"Usually when you think of luxury, you think of great accommodation, service, food – a place that really does what you want it to do for you as an individual. And then if you think about adventure and curation of journeys, we really have the opportunity to bring those both together.”

Beckons will focus on offering opportunities for guests to engage with “wildlife, nature and Indigenous cultures in a unique way”, as well as maintaining a high staff-to-guest ratio that allows the group to “emotionally connect” with its guests.