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Beach polo
Burch considers Nihi to be probably This goes some way to explaining why Burch and McBride
the most irrational, emotionally-driv- are scouring the world for locations to create new Nihi out-
en investment he’s ever made. Similarly, posts. Doubtless with an eye on recent deals like the January
his partner McBride says, “There were sale of Bangkok-based Six Senses to the InterContinental Ho-
many times in the dark days of building tels Group for $300 million, they’re on a mission to expand
Nihi where my peer group thought I’d the Nihi brand.
gone completely nuts or descended into But they’re committed to doing it authentically. “It would
midlife crisis.” The pair’s work has paid be easy for me to set up a licensing company, just let anyone
off, with Nihi Sumba winning numer- build Nihis anywhere in the world, and make a lot of money.
ous accolades, including Travel + Lei- That’s not what we want to do,” Burch says. Instead, he and
sure magazine’s prestigious World’s Best McBride consider it essential that each new Nihi replicate
Hotel award in 2016 and 2017. “I was Sumba’s recipe of sustainable luxury, responsibility, philan-
blown away, shocked,” says Burch of the awards. “It just made thropy and community engagement, in a wild seaside setting.
us work harder. It’s really helped the hotel. Guest expecta- They’ve secured three suitable locations thus far: one in
tions, obviously, have gone up, but we rarely have a guest Guanacaste, Costa Rica; another in East Cape Baja, Mexico;
who’s not happy.” and a third on the northeast coast of Iceland. With total pro-
Nihi Sumba has, to the surprise of the pair, performed jected budgets of between $50 to $75 million for the Mex-
well as an investment. “Neither Chris nor I initially thought ico and Costa Rica properties, and $30 million for Iceland,
that Nihi would make a nickel,” says McBride. “However, it’s each will feature between 30 to 45 rooms, on a similar scale
turned out to be very successful.” According to McBride, av- to Sumba. Distinct from the brand’s Indonesian wellspring,
erage occupancy at the resort—where a one-bedroom villa however, the new Nihis will also boast a residential element,
starts at $1,545 per night during high season, while night- allowing individuals to purchase their own slice of paradise.
ly tariff on a five-bedroom estate is $16,595—is over 70%. As Nihi embarks on its ambitious campaign of global ex-
In terms of RevPAR (revenue per available room, a standard pansion, there’s also potential for more significant, large-scale
hotel metric), he asserts, “Nihi is the number one performing investment from interested outside parties. “We are raising
hotel out of the whole competitive set in the greater Bali area. money at the moment and we do have joint venture partners,”
We outperform everybody. Bulgari, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, the McBride says. “Unlike Sumba, this is not simply a case of
Amans—we outperform them all.” Chris Burch writing a check. It’s a very different situation.” F
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