Boutique luxury hotel brand Capella Hotels and Resorts is attempting to broaden its appeal to corporate travel managers with openings planned for several gateway cities around the world.
Launched a few years ago by former Ritz-Carlton president Horst Schulze, Capella currently has a handful of hotels but is seeing a new wave of development, vice president of sales and marketing Kit Pappas said. The brand has projects under development in Doha, Bangkok and Jakarta and is readying announcements of hotels in Miami and Dallas, he said.
Capella also is "looking at opportunities in New York and London," Pappas said.
The company also is expanding its sales presence. It currently has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Frankfurt and soon will open an office in Shanghai.
"If you look at our hotels in Washington, D.C., Dusseldorf and Singapore, corporate travel plays a significant role within those hotels," Pappas said. "We look to continue to grow that business as we open locations in city centers where that is a key component within the marketplace."
Capella properties, most of which have 50 to 100 rooms, are smaller than many of their luxury competitors. For corporate travelers, that gives the brand the advantage of a "sense of exclusivity, because we can easily focus on the guest," according to Pappas.
As such, the brand courts corporate guests with such perks as flexible check-in and checkout times, flexible dining hours, rate-inclusive Internet and in-room refreshment centers with sodas and juices, he said.
"As we look at luxury, it's really about putting the guests back in control of their stay," Pappas said. "Being in control is an important factor for them, as they run their own companies or divisions and their lifestyles dictate it."
While Capella hotels don't have extensive meeting space, they have found a spot in the corporate group market with smaller board meetings and incentive meetings, he added.
"We've seen that area continue recovering, and it's turned into a nice little niche within our business," Pappas said. "There's not as much logistically [compared with larger events], but there's still a high demand for getting it right and making sure all the details are attended to."