The results of a $4-million investment by Fort Lauderdale’s Royal Palms Hotel and Resort will be unveiled this month when the 20-year old, gay-oriented property debuts a 64-room annexation, an addition that will make it the largest hotel in North America targeted specifically to the gay male market.

The project leaves untouched the original 14-room Royal Palms property. The new endeavor involved remodeling two formerly shuttered hotels (the Monte Carlo and Three Palms hotels) a block away from the existing Royal Palms.

While demand for gay-oriented accommodations is small in most markets, Fort Lauderdale—where gay and lesbian tourism has flourished over the last two decades—is one of the exceptions.

“It’s not a niche market in Fort Lauderdale; it’s a market in its own right,” says Richard Gray, the property’s founder and director of operations. According to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, an estimated one million GLBT travelers visited Greater Fort Lauderdale in 2010, spending $1.2 billion. Jeff Guaracino, author of Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing, explains, “Gay and lesbian hotel visitors are spending more and staying longer than they were even five years ago.” Furthermore, he adds, “Gay travelers are extremely loyal to their hotels and can represent a consistent source of revenue for operators.”

Appealing to a Younger Core
Throughout the 1990s, smaller “gay-friendly” B&Bs and guesthouses flourished in and around Fort Lauderdale. In the last decade, a new generation of gay travelers has shown a preference toward the larger, full-service luxury and boutique accommodations, such as the W Fort Lauderdale, along the city’s beachfront.

Royal Palms’ evolution has followed suit. Whereas the existing hotel is often described as “charming,” the new space, which is decidedly sleeker and more contemporary, is designed to appeal to an increasingly refined and demanding clientele and to compete with the other luxury and boutique beachfront properties. Gray explains that as travelers have become more sophisticated, so has his niche: “The demographics have become more ‘beach chic’ and the new hotels in Fort Lauderdale have come to reflect that. In this way, we are mirroring the shift in the regular market.”

Gray, who is credited with helping to make Fort Lauderdale a destination for gay tourists, adds, “We wanted to take the full-service [gay] resort to the next level; something that wasn’t present in the luxury market…with a focus on being sleek, stylish and sexy.”

The design of the new space, executed in house and largely by Gray himself, is contemporary and somewhat European. Rooms are minimalist and dressed in shades of white and gray with a splash or two of tropical blue or fuchsia. Dramatic white leather headboards extend to the ceilings. Simple, chic bathrooms include pebble showers and high-end fixtures. The public spaces, such as a bar made of red glass tiles, have a cool and contemporary vibe as well. The Royal Palms has other elements with which mainstream properties can’t compete, including two clothing-optional pools and room art by popular gay photographer Dennis Dean. Amenities include iPad 2s guests can use throughout their stay and a 54-foot yacht (popular for commitment ceremonies), which guests can charter.

Marketing: Reaching a Highly Specific Market
In recent years, electronic and social media have been instrumental to the Royal Palms, and will continue to serve as the business’s primary marketing tool, according to Gray. Currently, the Royal Palms has more than 3,600 Facebook fans. Local marketing via electronic outlets such as Gay Fort Lauderdale (GayFtLauderdale.com) will play an important part of the strategy going forward as the Royal Palms offers a new product, day passes, to locals.

Guaracino says operations like the Royal Palms can now reach their audiences better than ever before. “Marketing to gay and lesbian customers has evolved because it is easier to locate them. Because they are self-identifying more, they are easier to target,” he says.

Creating repeat guests is essential, according to Gray, who says 75 percent of his business comes from returning customers. “Appealing to the gay market is a mixture of service, quality of product, rates, and atmosphere. Just because you call your business ‘luxury’ and ‘gay’ doesn’t mean you’ll have a full house. You have to have a high level of service,” he says.

“Certainly there are advantages we have in marketing to the gay male traveler—a level of social comfort, the opportunity to meet people—but of course we are competing with all other luxury properties in our area.” Room rates start at $159. “We’re not looking for them to pay a premium; we’re just looking to give them value for their money so that they leave saying they had a great experience, and that they will come back and tell all their friends.”

Although he won’t name the specific market, Gray says there are plans to open a similar property in another Florida city. “We know the demand is there,” he says.