Lifestyle hospitality brand HQ Hotels & Residences has unveiled plans for a Sao Paulo property, and it has tapped celebrity couple Russell Wilson and Ciara to serve as strategic partners and advisory board members.
A strategic alliance between Sam Nazarian's SBE and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, HQ Hotels & Residences was launched early last year, billed as an affordable "smart lifestyle" brand targeted toward millennial, Gen Z and Latino travelers.
The 100-room HQ Hotel Sao Paolo will be the brand's first flag in South America when it opens in 2028. The property will feature amenities like a garden, pool, top-floor bar and a rooftop terrace with skyline views.
A rendering of a guestroom at the HQ Hotel Sao Paulo. Photo Credit: HQ Hotels & Residences
It will join the Hodges Bay Resort and Spa, a HQ Luxury Resort and Residences in Antigua, which became the first property to debut as part of the HQ portfolio earlier this week. The 79-room resort, which first opened in 2019, will introduce new dining options — including SBE-backed concepts like Katsuya Beach by chef Katsuya Uechi and Hecho Libre by chef Wes Avila — as part of its conversion.
HQ has additional projects in Detroit and Montreux, Switzerland, in the pipeline, with the brand targeting a global footprint of 50 properties by 2031.
Wilson, a Super Bowl-winning NFL quarterback, and Grammy-winning artist Ciara, meanwhile, are the latest high-profile names to join HQ's strategic partnership roster, having invested in the HQ brand as a whole. They join actress Sofia Vergara and Grammy-winner Marc Anthony. Anthony and his entertainment company, Magnus, are equity partners in the brand.
As part of the alliance between SBE and Wyndham, each HQ property is part of Wyndham's Registry Collection Hotels portfolio and participates in the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program.
Clarification: This report was updated to note that HQ Hotels & Residences is a strategic alliance between SBE and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.