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Katherine Melchior-Ray, Vice President of Luxury Brands
In this newly created role, Katherine Melchior-Ray will lead the development of the brand experience and marketing strategy for Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt, ensuring that the culture of both brands is vibrant, alive and drives brand preference.
What characterizes your hotels in terms of construction and design? How do you select architects to create your hotels? Who are they and how do they embody the spirit of your brand?
Park Hyatt hotels have invested in world-class contemporary art, architecture and design as an expression of the personalized experience offered in each Park Hyatt hotel since the first one opened in Chicago more than 30 years ago.
Today, artwork at Park Hyatt hotels includes Lucio Fontana’s 1984 sculpture “Testa Di Medusa” in the Cupola Lobby Lounge at Park Hyatt Milan; six works by Polish-American painter Ed Paschke that hang in Le Bar at Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme; and a 570-square-foot mural by Sol LeWitt that the artist painted specially for the Park Hyatt Zurich foyer.
We enlist the help of world-renowned architects and designers to create our hotels – we’re thrilled that Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc designed the highly-anticipated Park Hyatt New York, which will be opening this summer. Plus, Yabu Pushelberg is at the helm of the hotel’s interior design, which will incorporate subtle nods to the past and will evoke an eclectic, contemporary residential aesthetic.
We’re also very excited about opening Park Hyatt Vienna, this past June, which was designed by architects Neumann & Partners, with FG Stijl responsible for the hotel’s interior design. The hotel is housed within a 100-year-old former bank on Am Hof Square and pays homage to the art nouveau style that was en vogue when the building was constructed in 1913.
Other renowned architects and interior designers we have worked with for the Park Hyatt brand include Pritzker-prize winning architect Kenzo Tange, who designed the beloved Park Hyatt Tokyo, Ed Tuttle, HBA Interior design, Simeon Halstead, Tony Chi, John Morford and more.
Park Hyatt New York Ballroom
Park Hyatt New York
Park Hyatt New York
The concept of “hotel haute couture” is increasingly present in the industry and especially with boutique hotels. What is your vision of “haute couture” in hotels? How do you include this concept in your hotels? Is art a vector of this trend?
We know that haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive, custom-fitted clothing. For us, this is an easily translatable term when we think about hospitality and the Park Hyatt brand.
Park Hyatt defies the “one size fits all” approach. The brand is a true believer in creating exclusive, custom experiences for each and every guest that stays at any Park Hyatt hotel around the world, which can be seen by all the custom programming and offerings that we’ve talked about.
At the core, we want to create rare and intimate experiences for our guests that go well beyond a typical hotel stay. Through our unique programming, our commitment to showcasing the local culture in Park Hyatt’s unique destinations, our award-winning restaurants and chefs, our renowned designers and architects, and the access we provide to some of the very best contemporary art (from Ed Paschke to Robert Rauschenberg) the Park Hyatt brand is poised to provide a “haute couture” experience to its guests.
Chambre Park Hyatt
Katherine Melchior-Ray, Vice President of Luxury Brands
Katherine Melchior-Ray
Melchior-Ray has 20 years of experience building luxury and fashion brands internationally. She has worked as a senior executive on three continents in four languages, setting global strategy in marketing, business and product development while developing top class local teams in their native languages.
Melchior-Ray’s most recent position was Executive Director of Strategic Planning at Gucci in Japan. She also served as Vice President of Marketing for Louis Vuitton Japan and for Tommy Hilfiger Japan.
Prior to Japan, she lived in France, developing the global marketing department for the Nordstrom brand Façonnable. In the United States, Melchior-Ray led the development of Nike’s women’s footwear division from the brand’s headquarters in Oregon.
Melchior-Ray graduated from Brown University in Providence, R.I. and studied at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.
Laurent Delporte, an editor and conference speaker, is a strategic expert in the sector of hotels. A visionary, he brings his unique look on hotels in service to the decision-makers in the industry, whether to enhance the development of new projects or strategic visions.
Laurent has visited and audited over 350 hotels across the world and also participates in mystery visits to provide quality control for the world’s finest hotels.
