The Boutique & Luxury Lodging Association (BLLA) has revealed that its annual Boutique Hotel Investment Conference will move to a new Manhattan home this year. The event is scheduled for June 3, 2026, at Convene’s 237 Park venue in Midtown. This announcement confirms a fresh partnership between BLLA and Convene Hospitality Group (CHG), marking 14 years since the conference first launched in 2013.
The 30,000-square-foot facility features seven meeting rooms and in-house catering to support the full day of scheduled sessions. This year, the programme will focus on the financial and cultural shifts within the boutique industry. Key topics include sustainable growth models and financing structures, alongside lifestyle trends such as listening bars and sauna culture. Following the main sessions, an evening event will be held at NeueHouse Madison Square to continue the day’s discussions.
“We have watched this sector go from underestimated to undeniable. The investors, the developers, and the capital that once looked past independent hotels are now chasing them. Convene represents the next frontier of that story — hospitality thinking applied beyond the hotel walls, and we could not be more excited to tell it together on June 3rd,” says Frances Kiradjian, Founder & CEO of BLLA.
The choice of venue reflects a broader trend of hospitality standards entering the commercial office sector. Convene has built its reputation on redesigning standard real estate into service-led environments. This alignment supports BLLA’s long-standing view that boutique principles are relevant well beyond traditional hotels.
“The most interesting deals we have seen come out of this conference were never just hotel deals. They started as a conversation between two people who had never been in the same room before. That is what we are building toward — a conference where the boundaries between hospitality, capital, real estate, and experience start to disappear.” – Ariela Kiradjian, Partner & COO, BLLA
Ryan Simonetti, CEO and Co-Founder of Convene Hospitality Group, noted that hospitality is a primary driver of value in real estate today. He stated: “Hospitality is a fundamental driver of value in commercial real estate today. We’re seeing the boutique mindset traditionally reserved for hotels successfully migrate into non-traditional venues like office towers, mixed-use developments, and special event venues. At CHG, we’re leaning into that shift, and there’s a lot we can learn from one another. I look forward to discussing how we can collectively explore new industry territory with the visionaries at BLLA.”
