In previous years, many hoteliers treated their facility's retail space as an afterthought. These little shops vended few items outside the occasional forgotten guest toothbrush or razor.
While boutique hotels comprised just 3.2 percent of the total U.S. lodging supply in 2017, boutique projects represented 17.8 percent of the rooms in the development pipeline as of June 2018. Boutique hotels are popular with developers for a variety of reasons:• They frequently offer unique, localized experiences that are favored by today's travelers• They give the developer an opportunity to be creative with the facilities and services offered• They achieve premium levels of occupancy and ADRTo gain a better understanding of the performance of this popular segment of the lodging industry, CBRE Hotels' Americas Research (CBRE) partnered with the Boutique and Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA) to develop six competitive classification categories. The categories are based on a combination of branding, management, and chain-scale, three factors that influence the market position and performance of boutique and lifestyle hotels. The six competitive classification categories, along with representative brands, are listed below:• Legacy Brands/Upper-Priced: Andaz, Canopy, Indigo, Kimpton, W Hotel• Legacy Brands/Lower-Priced: A/C, aloft Hotel, MOXY, Tru• Soft Brands: Autograph, Best Western Premier, Curio, Hyatt Unbound• Referral Groups/Independent Properties: Historic Hotels, Leading Hotels, Small Luxury Hotels• Boutique-Lifestyle Brands/Luxury: Belmond, Montage, Thompson, Valencia• Boutique-Lifestyle Brands/Upper-Upscale: Affinia, Charlestowne, Joie De VivreUsing these six categories, CBRE publishes quarterly forecast reports that present three-year projections of occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and RevPAR. Further, once a year the report provides revenue, expense, and profit metrics that allow boutique owners and operators to benchmark the financial performance of their hotels.As the budgets for 2019 performance are being finalized, we present the latest forecast and financial benchmarks from the September 2018 edition of Trends® and Expectations for Boutique and Lifestyle Hotels.
The hospitality industry is one of the most competitive there is. Hotels are continually fighting with the competition to offer the most affordable rates, the best amenities and the most outstanding guest services — all while also making a profit.
Hotels often feature indoor fitness areas, which may include a small room with treadmills or an entire facility dedicated to weights and heavy-duty equipment. However, hotels and resorts are beginning to think outside the box when it comes to exercise space.
As one of the few people in the hospitality industry with a background in design, it strikes me that the concept of design has been lost in the process.
Our role as Xotels has developed over time from revenue management into a full hotel management company, we are now looking way beyond pricing and distribution for hotels. We are actually also developing new hotel concepts, and for this it is important to keep up to date with the latest developments in the hospitality industry.
The General Manager as celebrity. How good is that? Let's make no bones about it: NOT very good. Unless it is your name on the building.
Fall is just beginning, which means that hotels across the world are getting prepped for the holiday season. Rooms are being booked far in advance, and the feeling of the holiday rush is just around the corner. What's also around the corner is the New Year, which should weigh on the minds of hotel management just as much as anything else.
Boutique hotels are "it". After a struggle to be taken seriously as a hospitality vertical, boutique hotels are ahead of every curve when it comes to modern day lodging. Now more than ever there is a steep demand for accommodations that one can take back home with them in the form of a story. It makes sense then, that college towns (areas with particularly high volume of travelers whether they are students, prospective students, professors & staff or parents of students) are adapting and implementing boutique in their own ways.
Hotel lobbies have evolved from portals where travelers are introduced to their lodging accommodations to places people gather to immerse themselves in culture and merriment. The evolution of the hotel lobby has been gradual, but the proliferation of lifestyle and boutique properties have shifted the design away from clinical hotel lobbies.
As a patriotic Canadian, it always brings me great joy to see a fellow countryman achieve worldwide success and be at the forefront of his or her given field. Hence, it was an absolute delight to reconnect with Alessandro Munge, Founder and President of Studio Munge (What's your take on the importance hotel design, and where are we heading in the next few years?Firstly, brands and operators are now realizing the impact and importance of design when it comes to creating a distinct identity for their hotels. Now that buying powers are transitioning to a new generation, we see a clear change in this, and guests are researching more than ever for uniqueness and experiential. They are always on the look for fresh and new.
The hospitality industry offers a variety of options for different types of travelers, with boutique hotels being one of the popular choices for experienced and well-off guests. The US boutique hotel market alone is worth $7 billion, growing almost 5% annually.
When in the hotel business, you have to keep up with the newest trends in order to satisfy your guests. From changing the whole décor to adding a few attractive details, you will have to work on upgrading the interior design of your suites. Moreover, the competition is fierce and your success depends on your readiness to adapt to the expectations of the market.
In a world where options abound — you constantly have hundreds of them at your fingertips thanks to the internet — the hospitality industry has had to constantly evolve. Once upon a time, business may have come to you simply because info about competitors wasn't so widespread. But now that potential guests can compare the prices and perks of various hotels side by side in a split second, the hospitality industry has become significantly more cutthroat.
Oftentimes marketers and hoteliers alike get caught up in the big picture as they try to sell their products on only the flashiest features. Be it the great outdoor pool, the award-winning restaurant or the million-dollar-redesigned chic lobby bar, we aim to emotionally impact potential customers with dynamic visuals and impressive amenities.
Any time a hotel undergoes a renovation project, it's with the aim to increase its value or expand the asset's life. All the improvements are a smart move as they are bound to attract new guests and keep the regular ones coming back.
Tell me what you love, I'll tell you who you are. This old adage is even truer today since many customers are developing statutory consumption including for travel.
In this day and age, the typical traveller could really be anyone. Long gone are the days when travelling and hotels were mainly reserved for the wealthy or the business-savvy. With value increasingly being shifted from possessions to experiences and people making use of our connected world, frequent travelling is the norm for many, even amidst modern-day fears. The range of the types of visitors in hotels is wider now than ever, as are the types of accommodations and the services they provide. Needless to say, the hospitality game has taken it up a notch, with competition swarming and demanding new strategies as paradigms shift. This is a time when understanding even the tiniest hints of how the modern population generally responds to hospitable behaviours and commodities could determine the fate of your business.
It's so often said that we are what we eat, but additionally, we are where we live. Homes, offices and all matter of public spaces influence our moods and the conversations we have as well as motivate us to think differently about the world.
In the booming hospitality industry around the world, there can be no letting up, and there can be no day off if you are to surpass the competition and offer a superior service to your guests that make them want to come back and bring their friends along. Running a hotel is a 24/7 venture, yet sometimes certain challenges will present themselves that need to be addressed promptly rather than ignored if the business is to continue its steady climb to success.