Skift Travel News Blog

Hyatt gave details on Wednesday about the first locations for Hyatt Studios, a brand it unveiled in April. The hotel operator will open the first Hyatt Studios just outside of Mobile, Alabama, and Marysville, California — targeting spots where its other brands aren’t present.

“We’ve learned that when Hyatt guests stay with a competing brand, they appear to do so for one of two reasons: the absence of a Hyatt hotel within five miles or the choice to stay at a lower chain scale,” said Dan Hansen, global head of Hyatt Studios. “By enabling guests to choose a Hyatt hotel in new markets, we grow brand loyalty without intra-brand competition and present more white-space options to developers.”

The company’s “upper-midscale” extended stay brand anticipates opening its first new-build property late next year.

In the port city of Mobile, Hyatt is franchising the brand to 3H Group, founded by Hiren Desai. The port city has tourism, manufacturing, aerospace, and the corporate offices of retailers — all likely to have workers and visitors making multi-day stays and preferring non-budget lodging.

In downtown Marysville, Hyatt founded a franchisee in Presidio Hotel Development. The spot isn’t far from the capital of California, Sacramento.

IHG Hotels & Resorts revealed on Tuesday that it has been pitching hotel owners on a new brand addressing an opportunity in the middle of the market it said is underserved.

“Our aim is that this new conversion brand will become the first choice for guests and owners in the midscale segment, accelerating our growth in a space that is already worth $14 billion in the U.S. market alone,” said CEO Elie Maalouf during remarks tied to the company’s quarterly earnings.

The Windsor, UK-based hotel group — whose brands include Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and Six Senses — didn’t reveal the name of the new brand, which has become IHG’s 19th brand, or other details.

“We’re delighted that more than 100 hotels have already expressed definitive interest in the new brand,” Maalouf said.

Designed for Fast Growth

Maalouf likely wanted to prioritize a conversion brand over a new construction brand to help address IHG’s need to maintain steady growth in its hotel pipeline.

Unlike new-build brands that take time to grow because of construction delays, conversion brands can expand quickly, especially as many independent hotel operators or owners of properties flagged with older brands seek a refresh.

“Conversions represent a major growth opportunity for us, generating around 40% of first-half openings and signings globally,” Maalouf said.

Addressing the Mid-Market

The new brand is Maalouf’s first big move as CEO, having taken the top job last month.

Maalouf had previously led the group’s North American business for 8 years. During that time, he showed an interest in mid-market growth.

Maalouf led his team in debuting the new brand Avid, in 2017, which he said at the time targeted “a vastly underserved $20 billion segment of the U.S. midscale market.” Avid charges roughly $10 to $15 a night less than Holiday Inn Express, IHG’s midscale leader, and less than Candlewood Suites, IHG’s other mid-scale brand. (The difference in market size figures Maalouf has quoted refers to different segments of the overall mid-market.)

Given Maalouf’s sense that the mid-market is underserved, he has prioritized putting another IHG brand on the grid. That said, IHG’s board (on which he’s been a member for years) approved of this initiative before Maalouf became group CEO.

The hotel franchisor already has upper midscale with Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, so the new brand is likely more affordable.

IHG expects to target around a 25% lower cost per room to convert to the new brand than that for Holiday Inn Express.

Facing Rivals

IHG’s rivals have also been looking at the middle of the market.

• In June, Marriott International said it would expand into the “affordable midscale” hotel category in North America with a new hotel brand — which it hasn’t yet named. The move came after earlier this year, when it completed its acquisition of City Express, a midscale brand focused on Latin America.
• Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta said in his second-quarter earnings call that the “mid-market” was what he coveted long-term. “We’re not ashamed of saying we have every intention to have the best brands in every market to serve the mid-market because we think that’s where the most money will be made over the next ten or 20 or 30 years,” Nassetta said.
• In May, Hyatt unveiled a new brand, Hyatt Studios, in the upper-midscale segment.

Every One of IHG’s Hotel Brands, Explained

IHG has assembled a hospitality collection with some of the most wide-ranging and eclectic brands in the world. Here’s what you need to know about every one of them.

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Sonesta International Hotel Corporation announced the debut of two soft brands within its expanding portfolio, Classico, A Sonesta Collection, and MOD, A Sonesta Collection. These two new brands offer independent hotel owners the opportunity to affiliate with Sonesta’s network while retaining their iconic hotel names, identities, designs, and established styles.

Marketed by Sonesta’s Luxury and Lifestyle Lodging Development Team, each Classico property will have a distinct identity and offer signature local cuisine, traditional high-touch service, and refined interiors.

The first Sonesta Classico brand property is the 40-room Z Ocean Hotel in Miami, Florida’s South Beach neighborhood, which opened on May 1, 2023. Each MOD, positioned within Sonesta’s upscale portfolio, will feature eclectic interior designs and amenities, such as curated food and beverage options. The first MOD property will launch as Hotel 11 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

Hilton Worldwide said on Wednesday it was expanding its partnership with connected fitness-equipment maker Peloton to add its bikes to hotels in three new overseas markets: Germany, Britain, and “participating properties” in Canada.

Hilton had already added at least one Peloton bike to each of its 5,400 U.S.-based hotels by last December.

Hilton sees partnerships with non-travel brands as a key path to staying relevant. Connected fitness was a trend that surged during the pandemic.

“It’s a great example of what we call a ‘strategic mash-up’ that transcends individual brand standards,” Schuyler told Skift last month. “It matters at a Hampton, and it matters at a Waldorf. It’s delivering on the service expectations of new age travelers.”

Wellness is an increasing area of focus for hotel companies, as Varsha Arora, senior research analyst at Skift Research, explained in a presentation last week at Skift’s Future of Lodging 2023 event in London. Here’s a chart from her presentation that’s relevant:

As of today, Hilton’s loyalty program members who are first-time Peloton users residing in Canada, Germany, or the U.K. can also receive a three-month free trial of the Peloton App until July 4, as well as “preferred pricing” on some Peloton products.

Entrepreneur Richard Branson and Virgin Group announced a reorganization of their hotel brands on Thursday. Virgin Group, which owns a half-dozen luxury Virgin Hotels, will take control of Branson’s private collection of hotels, retreats, and islands (including Branson’s own much-hyped Necker Island), marketed as Virgin Limited Edition.

Both brands will now fall under Virgin Group’s new parent brand, Virgin Hotels Collection. James Bermingham, current CEO of Virgin Hotels will become CEO of Virgin Hotels Collection on April 1, leading all the brands. Jon Brown, CEO of Virgin Limited Edition, will step down in March.

This year Virgin Group plans to open a Virgin Hotels property in New York, followed by one in Glasgow, bringing the number of Virgin Hotels to eight. It will also open an ultra-luxury property, Son Bunyola Hotel, in Mallorca, under the Virgin Limited Edition brand.

The company’s pipeline for future years includes Virgin Residences Miami and Virgin Hotels Denver, both in 2025.

Kerzner International has unveiled its new brand Siro, a set of fitness-themed lifestyle hotels. The developer said on Wednesday that it has slated to open its first property in a tower in One Za’abeel, a luxury community in Dubai, U.A.E., in the last months of 2023.

Kerzner, a developer and operator of hotels, casinos, and residential units, said that Siro One Za’abeel will have a fitness center across two floors that will include the latest gym equipment and studios for yoga and meditation. A so-called “recovery lab” will offer cryo, infrared, and oxygen therapies along with acupuncture and coaching in mindfulness.

CEO Philippe Zuber said his company consulted with top international athletes, including Olympic athletes Ramla Ali and Adam Peaty and footballers for the team A.C. Milan, in designing the brand’s details and amenities.

Ithra Dubai is principal developer of the hotel and the whole One Za’abeel project.

Other lifestyle wellness brands and properties include IHG’s Even Hotels, Equinox Hotels in the U.S., and Swissotel The Stamford in Singapore.

Marriott International said on Wednesday it would buy the City Express hotel portfolio from Mexico-based Hoteles City Express for $100 million, as the hotel giant sought to push further into Latin America.

The deal includes 152 hotels across five brands, most prominently City Express, and will boost Marriott’s footprint in the Caribbean and Latin America by 45 percent — to 486 properties across brands. 

“We’re excited to enter a new lodging category — the popular affordable midscale segment where we see significant potential,” said Anthony Capuano, CEO of Marriott International.

The deal could close between the end of 2022 and the first half of 2023.

All owned and leased hotels will sign long-term franchise agreements with Marriott, while franchise agreements for co-invested, franchised and operated properties will be assigned to Marriott, with the option to sign a new contract. Marriott estimated franchise fees at about $10 million.

Most of the portfolio is in Mexico, but some hotels are in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Chile.

“At around $6,000 per room, this is a decent price,” said analysts at Bernstein in a report. “This makes Marriott the clear number one in Latin America (overtaking Accor).”

The lodging giant said it saw an opportunity to expand the brand, first in Central America and then in Latin America and possibly worldwide. It plans to add the “by Marriott” tag to the City Express brand as an endorsement.

“However, Hilton and IHG created their Americas focussed mid scale brands (Tru and Avid) organically and were able to grow them rapidly with entirely 3rd party capital and entirely new builds (no conversions),” Bernstein said. “Some of Marriott’s acquired hotels will be 20 years old. The [City Express] pipeline is just 5% of current supply.”

It was a day of validation for Luis Barrios, who founded Hoteles City Express in 2002.

For centuries, Japan has offered ryokans, which are minimalist guest houses typically located near onsen, or natural hot springs used for bathing. Hyatt Hotels said Wednesday that it planned to launch a new brand, Atona, that will distill the elements of traditional ryokans while adding some modern comforts.

Hyatt has entered a fifty-fifty joint venture with Kiraku, a company that works to apply capital to help preserve the best of Japan’s cultural and natural assets.

Other companies have recently attempted to modernize and brand the ryokan concept, including Nobu’s hospitality division and Adrian Zecha, founder of Aman Resorts, whose brand is called Azumi.

Independently managed properties are expected to open in 2025. Kenya Hara will be the creative director of the new brand.

“We hope these ryokans will provide guests, both local and from abroad, a special place to experience the still unseen wonders of Japan, while also positively impacting local economies,” said Kou Sundberg, founder and CEO of Kiraku. For more on Sundberg, listen to this recent podcast.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has been teasing since March its plans to debut an economy extended-stay brand, apparently named Echo. On Wednesday, Sandpiper Hospitality filed plans to build what will likely be the first Echo hotel in western Henrico, Virginia, according to a news report.

“Plans show the Echo hotel would reach four stories and include 124 rooms and 133 parking spaces,” reported Richmond BizSense. “HG Design Studio is listed as the project’s landscape architect.”

The site is at 9940 Independence Park Drive. Intriguingly, the rendering submitted by Sandpiper Hospitality showed the name of the hotel being Echo. Until now, the project had been referred to by Wyndham as Project Economy Hotel Opportunity.

Wyndham executives said earlier last month they had deals with developers to roll out 72 projects, with a goal of 300 hotels over the next decade.

Accor said on Wednesday that it was speeding up the development of all-inclusive hotels with the launch of its “all-inclusive collection.” Accor entered the all-inclusive segment in 2016 by cutting a deal with Fettah Tamince, founder of Rixos Hotels. Since then, Accor has tripled the size of Rixos, if you count opening in the pipeline. The brand is most prominent in Turkey, the Middle East, and Central Asia with 24 hotels and more than 10,000 rooms. The company aims to have 100 Rixos properties within five years.

Accor will enhance Rixos by adding restaurant, bar, beach club and nightlife concepts inspired and led by Carte Blanched, Ennismore’s F&B Concept Lab, part of an Accor joint venture with Sharan Pasricha.

For context, see Skift’s story: Accor’s All-Inclusive Resort Growth Plan Strengthens Company Grip on Luxury