Upgraded: Mid-range and economy hotels roll out the perks
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Unlike airlines, where improvements show up in premium classes, while the folks in steerage suffer, hotel chains are making positive changes for customers of their less-expensive brands. This is a great trend, worthy of praise.
Most suburban or roadside hotels are hardly interesting. Switch the sign on the front, and you’ll be hard pressed to tell brands apart. And let’s face it: When you turn off the lights, it’s hard to tell rooms apart. But that’s changing.
Hyatt Place was an early entrant, converting the mid-range Amerisuites brand to a more chic and luxurious space. (Early kinks were still being worked out when I experienced it.)
Starwood have rolled out two new mid-range brands, Element and Aloft, which are each trying to bring a little style to the ‘burbs. (Chris Elliott stayed at an Aloft, and offers his thumbs-up here. Rob Lovitt compares the two brands here.)
But those brands are not the bread-and-butter of the American interstate system. Motel 6 and Microtel doing upgrades, to “ncrease their coolness and give guests more functionality—without raising prices”? Now we’re talkin’.
The photo shows a sample room for Motel 6. Markedly different from the Motel 6 I’ve ever experienced (though it’s admittedly been several years since I’ve had the pleasure…)
Room upgrades are sometimes subtle, such as converting from boxspring to platform beds, while others are more striking, such as replacing old carpet with hardwood or laminate floors. (Stylish, but footsteps will resound below… ask for the top floor!)
The real challenge to these brands is keeping the price down. Flat-screen panel TV’s have dropped in price, but they’re still not free. With costs of just about everything going up, I’ll be surprised if the promise to not raise prices holds true.
But it’s nice to see the lower-tier brands thinking about the customer experience in ways beyond price and location.
While we’re at it, talking about renovations, can I put in a request for good sound insulation and quieter doors?…
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August 18th, 2008 at 12:56 pm |
i have to say its about time this started to happen.
I spent quite some time traveling across the states and have to say each time i checked into on of these mid range accommodations, it was like walking back into the 70s or 60s even.
Some of the rooms were, lets say less than basic at best.
From what you have said and shown they seem to finally realize that there potential customer base could be increased massively with a small investment to this refurbishment. keep it up.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:50 am |
It’s truly about time! I call this the “Target Strategy” (as in Target Stores)…you give the Walmart customer a lot better experience for a little higher price. It’s not hard to do, and I hope the payoff is as high here as it is in retailing. I suspect savvy business travelers will tend to prefer any brand that’s REALLY committed to bucking the recent trend towards making travel suck. And surely we are worth more than the millions of folks who bought their $30 hotel room on Priceline?
August 19th, 2008 at 4:51 pm |
I stay often at a Residence Inn in the Boston area. Two years ago they did the “upgrade”—really just replaced worn out furniture and fixtures with current models. It looked and felt great–I even stayed more frequently. Mattress was finally comfy, sofa was stylish and kitchen was sparkling. I just got back from there…the mattress was lumpy, the sofa stained and worn, the kitchen was dingy. Moving to cheap amenities to cut costs might be a short term positive but you get what you pay for in terms of quality.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:24 am |
I like the idea of the Target strategy. That’s exactly why I shop at Target instead of Walmart(actually there are a few more reasons)it’s the idea that I’m getting a quality, hip groovy product at a decent price.