After 25 years in hospitality, Deniz Dorbek has launched Regulus Collective, a new global platform that is meant to support the creation, growth and long-term stewardship of independent hospitality brands. The company provides investment strategy, brand positioning, commercial architecture, asset management and executive-leadership support, operating as a long-term strategic partner rather than a traditional third-party management company.
Regulus will build and develop its own brands while working with partners through advisory, owner-representation and governance-led models. Through its Regulus Labs and Regulus Bio platforms, the firm also will promote hospitality technology and bio-optimization tools to support both performance and guest experience.
Origins
Talking to Hotel Management, Dorbek said she first had the idea for Regulus years ago while she was working with different businesses. “Timing really matters as much as the vision,” she recalled. “I reached a point where everything I’ve seen in the industry, across all the brands, the markets, the ownership, the structures and all the challenges we experience … everything connected into one very clear idea.”
Dorbek conceived the Collective as a “global, multidisciplinary platform” that would “align capital, creativity and technology under one integrated ecosystem.” The concept grew from her decades of experience in hospitality, holding a range of positions “across seven countries and three continents.” In that capacity, she saw a lot of “misalignment” within the different facets of hospitality. “The industry is hungry for a really integrated model that combines the commercial intelligence, the creative direction and operational technology—and, more importantly, the long-term governance.”
However, Dorbek emphasized that the new company will not attempt to be “everything to everyone,” and would not be “a traditional consultancy that delivers a report and analysis” before disappearing. “Regulus is really designed as a platform,” she said. “It’s multidisciplinary, very high touch, selective—but we really build for long-term relevance.”
Three Pillars
Dorbek sees three main pillars supporting the Collective. First, she said, the company will integrate the disciplines that usually live in separate silos, such as investment strategy, brand and concept architecture (“always the most challenging one,” she added), commercial strategy, operating discipline and technology. “The goal here is to build a commercial engine from the very starting point, because that’s what really protects returns later.”
Secondly, Regulus Collective will not be a third-party management company. “We build and steward our own brands,” Dorbek said. “In cases of underperforming projects, of course, we work alongside the ownership groups [in] an owner-representative capacity to reposition the asset and restore the performance.” Partnering with the investors in a non-management capacity, she added, “is more strategic, more embedded and [is] built on long-term accountability.”
The third pillar is the company’s focus on emerging technology. Regulus Bio will develop tools and services around longevity and biohacking—which Dorbek said will be the “top trends in hospitality very soon.” Regulus Labs, meanwhile, will develop and advise on hospitality technology. “They’re really designing the future trends and thinking forward.”
As Regulus takes shape, Dorbek said the team is looking for “owners, developers, founders and investors who really care about quality and longevity—and, more importantly, long term value creation.” In terms of projects, she added, the team is “particularly drawn” to lifestyle hospitality, “experience-led” ventures and destinations, food-and-beverage concepts with a “very strong point of view” and mixed-use projects where hospitality is an anchor. Importantly, she said, Regulus will focus on hospitality concepts where the new normals—including wellness, innovative design and technology—are not adds-ons but are part of the core identity.