Leonardo
annecca
milano - New York
Hotel Brand Direction for independent luxury boutique hotels.
We create and implement magnetic hospitality brands through integrated design, narrative, and strategy — elevating identity, experience, and real-estate value.
leonardo annecca
Leonardo Annecca is a hotel brand director specializing in the creation, repositioning, and branding of luxury boutique hotels. With a background spanning architecture, hospitality, and business — and formative experience with Philippe Starck and Jacques Garcia during the rise of authentic boutique hotels in Paris — Leonardo brings an integrated approach few in the industry can match.
For over two decades, he has designed, branded, and elevated independent hotels across New York, Europe and the Mediterranean, defining concepts, guest experience, visual identity, and revenue strategy from the ground up. His expertise lies in transforming underperforming or undefined properties into desirable, high-ADR boutique brands with strong narrative coherence and market distinction.
Leonardo works selectively with owners seeking a turnkey creative vision that blends architecture, storytelling, and commercial strategy into a single branded hospitality experience.
how I work
My approach blends architecture, brand creation, and hospitality strategy into one integrated method. I step into a property to define its core concept — the guest, the emotion, the story, the market position — and then build the entire brand around that truth.
My work is hands-on and collaborative:
Brand concept & narrative creation
Spatial identity & architectural direction
Visual, lifestyle & aesthetic development
Guest-experience design
Repositioning for higher ADR & market distinction
Turnkey brand implementation with the property’s team & partners
I work through limited-term mandates (typically 6–12 months), focusing on one hotel at a time to ensure depth, consistency, and execution. My goal is simple: transform a property into a magnetic boutique brand — distinctive, story-driven, operationally aligned, and commercially strong.
This is not light rebranding. This is full-scale identity building.
Clients/work
Michele rebyer hospitality geneva• victor hotel miami• mr Wynn Las Vegas • anshen allen San Francisco • mysuites New York • bond townhouse New York • nomad hotel New York •
selected press
new york times
2020
interior design magazine
2015
wallpaper
2016
FRAME MAGAZINE
2017
INTERNI
2018
ELLE DECOR
2019
CONDE NAST TRAVELER
2021
expertise
Brand Director Expertise — Expanded Pillars
Architectural Concept Creation
Architectural Concept Creation
Leonardo begins every mandate by defining the structural essence of the hotel — its spatial identity, flow, character, and emotional tone. With an architectural foundation, he translates a property’s potential into a coherent physical concept that guides every design, operational, and commercial decision. This ensures that the brand is not layered on top, but built into the bones of the hotel.
Brand Identity & Narrative Development
narrative architecture of the brand: its story, its guest archetype, its promise, its sensory world, and its cultural references. This narrative becomes the compass for design, communication, partnerships, and guest experience — ensuring the hotel speaks with one unmistakable voice.
Visual & Lifestyle Aesthetics
Beyond interiors, Leonardo shapes the visual language that defines the guest’s emotional connection to the property. This includes aesthetic direction, photography style, moodboards, visual storytelling, and the lifestyle codes that elevate the brand. The result is a hotel that is instantly recognizable, Instagram-ready without being superficial, and aligned with the expectations of today’s luxury traveler.
Revenue Optimization & Strategic Repositioning
Branding is not cosmetics — it is revenue strategy. Leonardo integrates ADR strategy, segmentation, distribution insights, and demand positioning to lift both topline performance and long-term asset value. His repositioning work aligns product, narrative, and pricing power, ensuring the brand shift translates into measurable commercial outcomes.
Guest-Experience Design
From arrival rituals to in-room storytelling, F&B integration, amenities, programming, and micro-moments, Leonardo designs the emotional choreography of the stay. His approach blends aesthetics with psychology, creating experiences that increase guest satisfaction, loyalty, and word-of-mouth. Every detail supports the brand universe and reinforces the hotel’s premium positioning.
Real-Estate Value Enhancement
Great branding increases property value. Leonardo’s work bridges hospitality and real estate, ensuring that aesthetic and operational decisions elevate both EBITDA and the underlying asset. His integrated approach enhances investor appeal, NOI stability, and exit potential — making branding a powerful tool for wealth creation, not just guest perception.transactions.