Hospitality design and development advisory

Protecting your vision
through execution.

AMA is a single trusted voice from concept through opening, integrating design leadership, brand development, technical services, and project advisory so the soul of a project survives all the way to execution.

North America · Latin America · Asia

The practice

Design intelligence in service of better development outcomes.

Alvaro Montoya

AMA is a hospitality design and development advisory founded by Alvaro Montoya, a 20-year leader in luxury and lifestyle hospitality with deep expertise in design and brand development across more than 100 hotels and restaurants in North America, Latin America, and Asia. AMA exists to protect and evolve the owner's vision, acting as the client's design intelligence layer through every phase from concept through opening. We bring the caliber of an in-house creative executive with the strategic independence of an outside perspective.

We believe in the power of creative thinking as added value, not as a cost center. Our aim is to be a development tool that sharpens concepts before they become expensive commitments, aligns teams before misalignment, and protects the integrity of an investment all the way to opening.

AMA operates at the intersection of design conviction and development discipline. We bring creative intelligence to bear on the decisions that determine whether a project delivers what it promised, to guests, to owners, and to the brand.

Alvaro Montoya · Founder & Principal

Who we work with

AMA serves three distinct partners across the hospitality industry. Each engagement is shaped to the client, but the discipline is the same: protect the vision, sharpen the thinking, deliver outcomes that perform.

01

Developer & Owner Advisory

For hotel owners, developers, and investors building or repositioning hospitality assets. Project-based SOW for a defined scope or phase, or retainer for ongoing advisory across the project arc.

Full-arc advisory from pre-development through opening and beyond. AMA sits on the owner's side of the table, defining and protecting what the project is before anyone starts drawing it, and staying accountable to that vision through execution.

02

Brand Partnerships

For global hotel brands navigating concept development, brand standards, project evaluations, and internal creative processes. Ad-hoc support for specific evaluations and strategic input, or project-based engagements for defined initiatives and pilot conversions.

Advisory, creative, and development support that closes the gap between brand intent and how it lands on the ground. AMA operates as a fractional senior executive, embedded enough to add real value, independent enough to bring outside perspective.

03

Design Partnerships

For design firms, studios, and hospitality companies looking to elevate their offering with senior creative leadership. Project-based SOW focused on strategy, concept, or development support, or retainer for ongoing senior creative input across multiple projects.

AMA acts as a strategic extension of internal teams, bringing hospitality intelligence, concept development, and operational and brand fluency to the projects where it matters most.

What we do

AMA's services cover the full arc of a hospitality project, from earliest strategy through post-opening activation. Each can be engaged independently or as part of an integrated advisory partnership tailored to what the project requires.

AMA works the way a trusted partner does, starting with the owner's vision, empowering through strategic design creativity and staying accountable to it through every phase. Our goal is to keep adding value until what was envisioned is built.

AMA drives the decisions that protect the vision. From first idea to opening day, we are the partner owners, brands, and design firms rely on.

Modern hotel library space Hyatt Centric Philadelphia  ·  Interior Design Creme / Jun Aizaki
Strategy & Vision
01

Development Strategy & Pre-Development Advisory

Market positioning, site assessment, conversion evaluation, feasibility alignment, and early-stage creative input.

The decisions made before a brief is written are the most consequential and the least expensive to get right. We help owners, brands, and project teams define what a project should be before committing to what it will cost.

02

Project Briefs & Design Strategy

Design strategy, project narratives, planning strategies, and vision decks to translate ambition into a clear, actionable project brief.

The brief is not a document, it is the instrument that defines the core of what the project wants to be, providing the bones to attract investors and for alignment across every consultant. A weak brief is the single biggest source of misalignment, change orders, and schedule delays.

03

Concept, Master Planning & Operational Planning

Design concept, F&B decks, master planning, area program, and operational planning to define the creative vision and operational framework.

Establishing what a hotel should be and how it should perform before engaging a large set of consultants. Operational planning sits at the center, aligning hotel and F&B programming with the guest experience envisioned. A clear concept narrative and operational plan become the foundation every subsequent decision is built on, before a single drawing is produced.

Execution & Oversight
04

Creative Direction

Concept design, design reviews, material and FF&E direction, pre-opening creative oversight, and post-opening activation: program refinement, spatial activation, and seasonal programming.

Ongoing creative leadership that keeps architects, interior designers, and brand teams aligned to the vision. From schematic design all the way through opening and beyond.

05

Owner Representation & Design Team Oversight

Consultant coordination, design review representation, brand negotiations, construction oversight, and pre-opening support.

AMA is the owner's voice across every discipline, holding every party accountable to the vision, the budget, and the schedule. When needed, we can also assemble and recommend the right consultant team from the outset.

06

Brand Standards & Technical Advisory

PIP development, brand compliance review, design standards assessment, and flag conversion advisory.

Brand standards are the connective tissue between brand promise and built reality. We work with owners to translate brand intent into actionable investment decisions, and with brands to refine, evaluate, and apply standards in ways that elevate the asset and protect the brand.

Why AMA

Design-led with a creative business mindset.

Design intelligence that drives outcomes

AMA sits above the design process, not executing it, but shaping the thinking that determines whether it succeeds. We translate creative vision into business decisions, ensuring that what architects and designers produce adds up to something that performs.

Brand development expertise

Nearly a decade leading design and brand development for luxury and lifestyle brands at a global hotel company, shaping the final product and evolving brand identities across markets. Complemented by over a decade designing luxury hotels across the Americas and Asia, with more than 100 hotels and restaurants opened to date.

Multicultural market fluency with global reach

Deep project experience across North America, Latin America, and Asia, with the cultural intelligence to understand what hospitality means in each context. We don't apply a single design lens to every market. We read the culture first.

Single trusted voice

Principal-led on every engagement. The person who pitches the work is the person who does the work, with the depth of a creative director and the discipline of a development partner.

Get in touch

Let's talk about
your vision.

Whether you're an owner, developer, or global brand working on a project that needs senior design and brand leadership, let's get in touch.

hello@ama-hl.com
Based in Westchester County, New York
Phone +1 312 316 7359
Web ama-hl.com