by: Stephen Schindel & Seth Collett
Did you hear that Hilton has opened its first TRI-branded hotel in Chicago? It has a Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, and Home2 Suites, all in the same property. Seems crazy—what’s next a six-story building with a different brand on each floor?
Multi-branded properties are becoming more common, but the question is why? It turns out that there are a lot of benefits for both the guest and the developer.
Guests
Multi-branded properties share facilities and amenities. When you stay on property, you might benefit from an offering provided by another brand. Take for example, our coming-soon Courtyard/Residence Inn on Jekyll Island. We’ve got two pools—a family pool and an adult lap pool—both of which are available to guests regardless of which flag they choose.
Additionally, when you’ve got a large group for a wedding or a convention, your party can choose whether they want one type of experience (suites, for example), versus another.
And while we don’t endorse this method, we haven’t tried it, and we don’t know if it works, we have heard of “hotel hopping” where a guest can spend one night in one brand and another night in the other brand, thus counting as two separate stays for status purposes.
Developers
Courtyard by Marriott / Residence Inn by Marriott, LA Live, Los Angeles, CA
From the perspective of a developer, the advantages are clear. First, you gain a wider audience for your property, by having flags that each bring in a different customer. Second, like in a merger of two companies, there are opportunities to streamline personnel (one general manager, for example). Finally, one building with two brands is generally more efficient to build than two separate buildings. You don’t need two lobbies, two porte cocheres, or two sets of offices for management.
Where do we go from here?
For developers, the key is to figure out how to retain some of the brand identity from each flag, while still retaining an integrated experience for the guest. For the guest, it’s all about optimizing experiences and having several options that cater to your needs. Needless to say, the days of the 800-key behemoth, single-branded hotel, are in the past… like a buffet, the future is chock full of options in a smaller space.