So Many Hotel Brands, So Little Impact on Planners 

Answer the following: Which hotel company (Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt) do the following 5 brands belong to? 

1. Tribute
2. Alila
3. Autograph
4. Canopy
5. Dream

(See below for the answers.)

Chances are most planners can’t  identify all of these brands, and more importantly, can’t describe their attributes. That’s because there are more than 1,200 hotel brands in existence around the world. 

Marriott lists more than 30 brands on its website. Hyatt lists 25. Hilton lists 24.

“With the explosion in new hotel brands, meeting planners have a full-time job learning about each brand and how it fits their requirements,” said Chekitan Dev, a professor at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration.

Why So Many Brands?

Some developers will ask for fresh brands that are cheaper to create and run because of streamlined buildings and operations. Chains also promise franchisees that the same brand will not open within a certain distance. These requirements have led to more brands because groups like Marriott, with large footprints, want to keep growing.

During The Lodging Conference October 7-10 in Phoenix, Miraj S. Patel, chairman of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, acknowledged that there’s widespread concern about the proliferation of brands. “Truthfully, it confuses not only the consumer but also the developers now. Many are thinking, ‘With all these brands coming out and all these legacy brands losing their value, are we adding too much supply to the market?’ 

“Everyone’s worried about brand dilution, and it is a concern for many owners.”

Planners Left Confused and Frustrated

Craig Dooley, president, SDI Meetings & Incentives, calls the volume of hotel sub-brands ‘overwhelming.’ “It’s challenging to differentiate among them and understand their comparative value.”

Ultimately, he said, decisions are based on the property’s fit for an event, not brand loyalty or sub-brand distinctions. “While hotel companies promote these sub-brands as a way to more efficiently navigate their offerings, the focus for planners is on matching the client’s specific meeting requirements – like room capacity, meeting space and location – with the most suitable property, no matter the sign out front.”

Bonni Scepkowski, president, Stellar Meetings, points out that the same issues she experiences with the major brands still exist with sub-brands. “We still have to deal with centralized bookings and often inexperienced salespeople who may have never visited the property, and boilerplate contracts with undeletable clauses,” she said.

“There are non-waivable fees that provide no value and commitments to embedded vendors that don’t need to negotiate. It’s just more red tape and inflexibility in a different box.”

At the luxury level, some planners will make decisions based on certain sub-brands, such as Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis or Park Hyatt, said Tiffany Cohen, senior vice president, incentives and global sourcing at Opus Agency. “But when you go lower in the portfolio, it’s less so. The hotel chains have built a lot of loyalty with their individual programs, and clients come to us putting more weight on ‘Will I get my points?’ than ‘I need to stay at X brand.’”

One benefit, says Dev, is for citywides. “When a meeting planner cannot accommodate all their attendees at the headquarters hotel, they want to know that there are other affiliated hotels close by for overflow guests, all in one contract. Also, when the headquarters hotel is expensive, meeting planners like to offer affiliated hotels close by at more affordable prices to their attendees, so they can do it all in one deal.”

ANSWERS

1. Tribute: Marriott
2. Alila: Hyatt
3. Autograph: Marriott
4. Canopy: Hilton
5. Dream: Hyatt