Lifestyle brands the next big thing for hotels

Dubai More local and international hotel chains are launching lifestyle brands to cater to a rising number of tourists looking for rather unique and personalised experiences.

"More people are opting for lifestyle, boutique hotels that are smaller and more personal, of maybe 100 rooms," said Simon Wan, CEO and managing director of StayWell Hospitality Group.

"In the next five to ten years you will see a lot of these hotels come up that bring a more personalised service."

This sentiment is echoed by a new report brought out by Deloitte, according to which the past five years have seen rapid growth in the number of lifestyle brands as bigger operators focus on developing niche offerings.

"Lifestyle brands focus on specific experience, style or image rather than functionality," said the report, titled Hospitality 2015.

"They often have basic services, and at a property level tend to be smaller in scale in terms of room numbers and try to create an emotional connection with their guests."

In the Middle East, some of the brands that have entered this niche category include W Hotels and Aloft by Starwood, The Address, La Cigale, Campbell Gray Hotels and Rocco Forte.

Many of the large international chains have also introduced new brands under the lifestyle concept such as Denizen by Hilton, Missoni Hotel by Rezidor, Andaz by Hyatt and Edition by Marriott.

But these have not yet reached the Middle East, according to Peter Goddard, managing director at TRI Hospitality Consultancy.

Jumeirah Group recently announced the launch of a new five-star lifestyle brand, VENU, which will have five properties in the pipeline and will include Shanghai and Dubai.

"Each lifestyle hotel represents a different style and concept which caters to a specific market," said Goddard.

Competitive

"Some of them might target the same one, but each has something unique that differentiates it from the others and makes it competitive."

The relatively new concept caters mainly to the high-end tourist looking for something unique during their stay. "The demographics that prefer a lifestyle hotel over a classical traditional one are usually business travellers aged 30 to 45 that travel frequently, where they identify themselves with the hotel brand and concept," said Goddard.

"The lifestyle the hotel represents is in line with the guest's lifestyle, therefore the choice of that specific hotel.

"Guests who stay in these hotels [and especially the international ones] are loyal guests both from within and outside the Middle East."

Incentive

Another incentive for the operators is the fact that lifestyle brands have the advantage of achieving very strong revenue per available room.

"They can often achieve a premium over more traditional hotels, in some cases up to 30 per cent higher," said Goddard.

According to the Deloitte report, the main challenge these brands face is the decision to expand their portfolio in order to gain economies of scale without damaging their boutique appeal.