Wellness, design and modern amenities proved to be the connecting thread between the top-performing brands in the upper-upscale and upscale tiers in BTN’s 2015 Hotel Brand Survey, as Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Westin brand and Hyatt Hotels’ Hyatt Place garnered the highest
overall scores from travel buyers.
Westin, which placed third last year, performed well in such categories as ease of arranging group travel and meetings, helpful and courteous service, physical appearance of hotel and facilities, quality of business amenities—both public and in-room—and overall price/value
relationship.
In recent years, Westin has appealed to travelers looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle on the road with its health-conscious Super Food menu, its new Sleep Well menu, its Fresh by The Juicery juice program, its workout gear-lending program and its Run Concierges.
During the past year, the brand has focused on its Tangent workspace offering, which features Media:scape by Steelcase smart technology, video-conferencing and seamless connectivity. “While a hotel room or lobby is a place where you can do work, Tangent was specifically designed as a smart room
and personalized workspace that enhances productivity and can be booked on demand,” said global brand leader Brian Povinelli. “[Tangent] is perfect for small, impromptu meetings and can be booked by the hour at a moment’s notice.”
Appearing for the first time in this survey, Hyatt Regency, No. 2 in the upper-upscale tier, received high marks for quality of sales staff, consistency of offering, corporate rate programs and quality of data. “They’re a bit of an outlier in upper-upscale,” said Bjorn Hanson, a clinical
professor at New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism. Hyatt Regency properties, unlike Westin and Marriott, have higher room counts and grander appearances. “Their properties are large and dramatic,” Hanson said, which appeals to some business travelers.
Last year’s top brand, No. 3 Marriott, still managed to beat out Hyatt Regency and Westin in the meeting facilities category.
While brands in the upper-upscale tier continue to make strides in appealing to corporate travelers, it’s worth noting that overall scores for every brand, except new-to-the-list Hyatt Regency, dropped from 2014. The change might reflect the movement away from the segment as rates have
risen in recent years.
“On a dollar basis, more so than a percentage, rates have been going up in upper-upscale, so this may be a value issue,” Hanson said. The January-through-August U.S. average daily rate for the segment is up 4.8 percent to $174.74, according to STR. More buyers are reallocating their
portfolios, Hanson said, to include more upscale, select-service and limited-service hotels in place of upper-upscale hotels and full-service hotels.
Select-Service Trumps Full Service
Though the upscale tier is comprised of both full-service and select-service offerings, travel buyers ranked three select-service brands highest in the segment. Modern, casual and spacious Hyatt Place improved from its No. 3 slot in 2014 and earned the highest scores for quality of sales
staff, consistency of offering, physical appearance of hotel facilities, quality of business and personal amenities and overall price/value relationship.
“Our business guests love us because we create a stylish, comfortable and seamless experience,” said Steven Dominguez, vice president of global brands for Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. “I’m not sure that we’re doing anything different than what we’ve done before, but we’re still delivering that
consistently great experience and now in more places.”
The brand has undergone rapid expansion, opening a new property every 10 days on average, according to Dominguez. About 80 percent of those openings have occurred in urban markets.
Hyatt Place properties offer large guest rooms, a 24/7 food menu, free Wi-Fi and free hot breakfast, and many locations offer complimentary parking. The brand is in the process of removing scripts from the check-in process, allowing front desk staff to make a more personalized connection with
every guest.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts performed strongly in the segment, as two of its specialty select brands, Aloft and Four Points by Sheraton, took the No. 2 and No. 3 slots, respectively. Aloft improved from fifth place, while Four Points improved from 10th.
“Guests, whether traveling for business or pleasure, want convenience and comfort,” said Brian McGuinness, senior vice president of specialty select brands. “Both Aloft and Four Points are designed to accommodate today’s hyperconnected global traveler, so our guests can always
feel like they are connected, no matter where they might be in the world.”
The newer of the two brands in both age and its urban-inspired design, Aloft offers free Wi-Fi and Apple TV in all guest rooms, as well as an open lobby with a bar and grab-and-go cafe. McGuinnes said Aloft is testing programs that will allow guests to control the air conditioning and
lighting and even brew a cup of coffee all from a smartphone.
Starwood’s third-largest brand, Four Points earned top scores for its corporate rate programs and helpful and courteous service. It took the No. 1 slot in BTN’s 2011 survey but has failed to crack the top three in recent years.
“Four Points is focused on improving productivity for the global business traveler, offering essentials like in-room and public space Wi-Fi and wireless boardroom essentials in every meeting room,” McGuinness said. The brand also offers a chance to unwind with local craft beers through
the Best Brews program.
The brand leads Starwood’s global pipeline growth, operating approximately 200 hotels in more than 40 countries.
Though not among the top brands overall, Radisson, at No. 7, bested other brands in the two meetings-focused categories.
Radisson vice president of global branding Richard Flores said that’s no coincidence. About a year-and-a-half ago, the brand implemented the Radisson Reimagined program to improve the overall product and guest experience. Some $600 million went toward the program, including renovations of
hotel facilities and lobbiest. It also launched a Meetings Success program.
“Think of it as the 101 of how to deliver everything from a site inspection to how to respond to RFPs to how to cater an offering,” Flores said. “It’s a meetings group program engineered for our hotels, our properties, our franchisees, owners, managers, developers, and it focuses on giving our
on-property team the tools they need to deliver meetings successfully.” Flores said Radisson is expanding and improving its Meeting Success program through a partnership with Meeting Professionals International. Upscale U.S. hotels saw the highest year-over-year August 2015 ADR increase of any segment, up 5.2
percent to $133.89, according to STR.
This report originally appeared in the Oct. 12, 2015
edition of Business Travel News.