NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, April 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Boutique & Luxury Lodging Association (BLLA) has announced the theme for its highly anticipated annual investment gathering: The Third Space Renaissance. The Boutique Hotel Investment Conference, presented in partnership with Convene Hospitality Group and Blank Rome LLP, will take place on June 3, 2026, at Convene 237 Park Avenue in New York City, with an evening program at NeueHouse Madison Square.
This year’s theme reflects a broader cultural and capital shift that BLLA has tracked for nearly a decade: the emergence of third spaces as the defining frontier of hospitality investment. Members’ clubs, wellness studios, immersive activations, and community-driven environments are no longer fringe concepts. They are where the most sophisticated operators and investors are placing their attention and their capital.
“Culture is the new amenity,” said Frances Kiradjian, Founder & CEO of BLLA. “The operators and investors who understand that are the ones defining this next cycle.”
The Boutique Hotel Investment Conference will bring together hotel owners, developers, investors, and creative leaders to examine what this shift means for capital strategy, asset positioning, and the future of the guest experience. Programming will span panel discussions, keynote conversations, and curated networking, designed not just to inform, but to connect the people actively shaping what comes next.
Programming Highlights
This year’s conference returns to something BLLA pioneered long before the rest of the industry caught on: the conviction that hospitality’s most important teachers often come from outside it. Fashion. Music. Wellness. Art. The cross-industry dialogue that defined BLLA’s pre-pandemic programming is back, sharper and more urgent than ever.
The discussion, When Fashion Checks In, brings the lens of luxury retail and fashion directly into the investment conversation. Thierry Prevost, CEO of Printemps New York, the landmark Art Deco destination on Wall Street that has redefined what a cultural retail experience can be in America, joins the dialogue to examine where fashion and hospitality have always intersected and why that intersection is now one of the most consequential places in the industry to be paying attention to.
Where You Live Is Where You Stay examines the rapidly evolving world of luxury branded residences and what happens when hospitality moves in permanently. With Mandarin Oriental and Montage among the voices in the room, this session explores how the boundaries between home and hotel are dissolving, what that means for developers and investors, and why residential meets hospitality is one of the most significant growth conversations in the industry right now.
The New Workplace Is Hospitality features Ryan Simonetti, Co-Founder and CEO of Convene Hospitality Group, on what it means to build spaces where work, gathering, and experience converge. With Convene and NeueHouse both under his leadership, Simonetti sits at the precise intersection of workspace and hospitality culture, and his session will examine how the lines between where we work, gather, and stay have not just blurred but collapsed entirely.
Culture Is the Program examines why cultural programming, from rotating exhibitions and music series to chef collaborations and gallery partnerships, is no longer a brand play alone. It is an investment strategy. This session brings together operators, curators, and creative directors doing it at the highest level, among them Ross Michaels, Founder of Park Avenue Artists, whose work pushes artist management, production, and intellectual property into entirely new territory, and Damien Del Rio, Principal Owner of Sauced, whose wine bar concept has turned the simple act of gathering around a bottle into something closer to a cultural institution. The session unpacks what it actually costs, who owns it internally, and how it moves the needle on rate, occupancy, and loyalty.
Lessons From the Sauna Culture Movement examines what standalone thermal operators have quietly figured out about belonging, loyalty, and the architecture of a genuine third space, including Robbie Bent, CEO and Co-Founder of Othership, one of the most talked-about thermal and breathwork communities in North America, and Mauri Waneka, Founder of Schwet, whose three-story Budapest-inspired luxury bathhouse and social club arriving in Tribeca this spring is already redefining what a social wellness club can be. Steam rooms were once an afterthought. The bathhouse didn’t wait for hospitality to catch up, and this session unpacks what it learned along the way.
The Listening Bar as Blueprint brings together the owners and music curators behind some of the most compelling analog listening spaces in the country, including Shane Davis of Public Records, one of New York’s most celebrated listening bar destinations, and Adriana Marianella, whose forthcoming Stylus is an acoustic salon for cultural exploration. Going deliberately, intentionally lo-fi turns out to be one of the most radical moves in hospitality right now. This session asks what hotels can learn from spaces where the experience itself, not the real estate around it, is the entire point.
“The hospitality industry moves in waves,” said Ariela Kiradjian, Partner & COO of BLLA. “We saw it in 2009. We saw it again in 2018. What we are witnessing now in 2026 is the beginning of the next renaissance, and third spaces are at the center of it.”
Convene Hospitality Group and Blank Rome LLP join as presenting sponsors of the event, underscoring the growing convergence of hospitality, real estate, and the broader lifestyle economy.
The 2026 Boutique Hotel Investment Conference is made possible with the support of Blank Rome LLP, Convene Hospitality Group, Greenberg Traurig, RBS, Gecko Hospitality, Escoffier, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages, Airbnb, Order.co, Arch RoamRight, Coast to Coast Custom Furniture, and Boutique Money Group.
For sponsorship inquiries, email info@bllaevents.com, and for more information, visit blla.org/events
Program Planning Committee
BLLA extends its sincere gratitude to the members of the 2026 Program Planning Committee — Ernest Lee of EOS Hospitality, Guy Maisnik of JMM, Irina Zavina, Joe LeVine of Mercer Street Partners, Rod Clough of HVS Americas, and Spenser Apramian of Bridgeton, whose collective expertise has been instrumental in shaping this year’s programming.
Frances Kiradjian
Boutique & Luxury Lodging Association (BLLA)
info@blla.org
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