Marriott International this week unveiled M Beta at
Charlotte Marriott City Center, an experimental hotel that allows Marriott to
solicit guest feedback on new concepts and initiatives in real time.
Moving beyond traditional guest surveys, the M Beta hotel
gathers data through "beta buttons" in spaces like its open-concept
lobby; its airy, farm-to-table restaurant space; and its interactive fitness
center.
While the M Beta is just one property in Marriott's massive
portfolio, it could model what's ahead for the company's flagship brand, as
well as for the other 29 brands in its portfolio. "We're treating this
hotel like a lab; the Beta part is what gives us permission for trial and
error," said vice president of insight, strategy and innovation Matthew von
Ertfelda. "Fail fast, fail forward, weed out what doesn't work and
ultimately, based on performance, take what's working and the lessons around
what didn't and make those available to other Marriott Hotels. There's a
license here that absolutely can be transferred to other hotels in other brands,
but we focused on our namesake brand because we feel it should lead the industry
relative to innovation."
The Innovations
The M Beta property eliminates the traditional front desk
check-in experience, opting instead for a "hosted arrival" model that
has staff members with tablets greeting guests at the front entrance or, in
times of high volume, even curbside. Additionally, Marriott Rewards members can
opt to check in digitally and bypass reception with keyless entry.
The lobby features public-private spaces that allow
visibility throughout the ground floor yet also a sense of privacy. It's also
impossible to find a seating space that doesn't have an electrical or USB
outlet nearby, and that also holds true for the stadium-style seating in the
hotel's coffee shop, Coco and the Director.
In the guest rooms, M Beta has carried over the Marriott
Modern design concept, which features hard-surface flooring, bench-style
seating, glass-door showers and giant flat screen TVs that allow guests to use
their Netflix accounts. Marriott Hotels managing director Mike Dearing said 25
hotels in the brand's portfolio have adopted the Marriott Modern design and 25
more will have completed the upgrades by the end of the year.
M Beta features flexible meeting spaces that use LG Business
Solutions technology and allow meeting planners to configure the space to their
preferences. "In the meeting space, we've thought so much about what
meeting planners expect," said global chief commercial officer Stephanie
Linnartz. Among those expectations is natural light, which the property has
incorporated into its ballroom and meeting rooms. The property also features a
space called the LG Studio, which is modeled after a kitchen and available for
food service, demonstrations and even cupcake decorating contests, according to
one of the property's sales associates. The Marriott Meeting Services App also
allows meeting planners to communicate with hotel staff and view real-time
billing without leaving the meeting room.
The property also has a massive fitness facility with
on-demand workout videos and a large, lobby-level club lounge, open 24/7.
The Innovations You
Won't See
While the M Beta is a
testing ground, the on-property innovations focus more on design and food and
beverage than on tech-specific hospitality trends like beacons and virtual
reality. InterContinental Hotels Group, for instance, rolled out iBeacons last
year in some of its lobbies and public spaces to recognize and communicate with
loyalty members. And BTN's 2016
Innovator Award winner, Conichi,
has installed its technology at more than 400 hotels, mostly in Europe, to
allow guest recognition and personalized messaging. Von Ertfelda said Marriott
has talked about beacons but hasn't deployed them yet.
The same goes for virtual reality. "I love virtual
reality," von Ertfelda said. "We've been toying with technologies
like that in the design space. " Best Western Hotels & Resorts,
meanwhile, already has embraced VR; in September, it rolled out VR tours at its
almost 2,000 properties in North America.
When asked about the possibility of accepting virtual
payment, von Ertfelda said, "Our bias was really to get the concepts
well-positioned in the market to deliver against the originality of the design
but also the service options. This is allowing us to be open to further
innovations, and they could be in the payment space."
Brand Development
As the industry's current business cycle appears to be
softening, it's a tricky time to go all in on a full-service brand like
Marriott. Hotel investors have flocked to the select-service space in recent
years, seeking a better return on investment thanks to lower development costs
and steadier demand. According to STR, select-service hotels made up 67 percent
of rooms under construction as of August 2016.
CEO Arne Sorenson said the current business climate has
motivated the company to make sure it gets the brand right. "If you've got
a brand new Courtyard next to a 20-year-old Marriott, with the same Marriott
Rewards program driving it, that guest room's going to be newer; the whole
hotel is going to be newer.
"So what is it about the Marriott hotel that can still
draw customers? The idea is there's still something about full-service: having
a ballroom, being able to hold meetings, being able to hold social functions. But
it also requires something in this space around: Is there localized food and
beverage, is there a localized feel in the guest room, does it have a
sophistication to it that puts it above that limited service hotel nearby? We
want to make sure we respond to that, driving that distinction."
It's worth noting that part of what's allowed
Marriott to innovate so fully at M Beta is that it owns the property. The same
can't be said for the majority of its portfolio. That means Sorenson and his
team need to sell the brand concepts to existing Marriott owners to get those
properties onboard. "The overwhelming majority of our hotels are owned by
our real estate partners, yet they're coming through here quickly to see what's
been done and to talk to the team about the impact on business both in terms of
increase in occupancy and numbers performance," Sorenson said. "Those
numbers are quite strong, and so a big part of the way this will influence
Marriott hotels is for owners to see this and say, 'I've got to have this too.'"
Editor’s note: Marriott
International provided travel and accommodation for this media event. Complete
editorial control, including the decision to cover this news, was at the
discretion of the Business
Travel News editorial team; Marriott
International had no influence on the coverage provided.