HotelSearch Website
Why did we create this blog?
As individuals who have worked in the Travel Industry for nearly 20 years, we have developed an interest in the hotel industry.
Working within the travel and especially the hotel industry has provided the opportunity to develop a broad appreciation of political geography, political history, language and more especially challenges with names for locations. The way that place names are re-issued and had variations developed over the centuries.
During the time we have worked in Business travel, we have seen a significant number of changes within the hospitality industry, including the number of hotel groups/brands that have disappeared and development of new and exciting brands and hotel groups.
Over the years, I have always found challenging is the keeping up to date with the ongoing changes regarding hotels. Recently, we have seen a greater push by the major hotel groups to increase their market presence by using a 2 pronged approach.
- Increasing the number of hotels which are represented by their brands
- Increasing the number of brands.
Keeping up to date with the changes in the hotel industry would be a full-time role. There are no reference materials and no single source to help industry professionals in keeping track of the changes.
I have undertaken an exercise that tries to understand the changes. I have tracked the number of changes which have been publicised across several websites.
Changes in the Hotel Industry
Over the years I have seen many changes to the hotels and I will try to categorise the changes into a number of categories:
This is a definition which can be often misinterpreted/misused by the press announcements. Frequently the hotel/brands will identify that the hotel is a new opening, but in reality, the hotel is undergoing a rebranding exercise. I intend that any hotel captured under this category will be genuinely a New Hotel. This can be as a result of 2 scenarios:
New Build
a totally brand new hotel, e.g. Shangri-La in the Shard in London
New Openings
Conversion, a building has been converted from previous use, e.g. Mondrian London at Sea Containers
Rebranding
This is the most frequent change in the hotel industry and can fit into a number of sub-categories:
Becoming Independent
The hotel owner(s) / management company take the decision to no longer market the hotel with a recognisable brand – e.g. Hotel du Collectioneur (Previously Hilton Arc De Triomphe Paris)
Change of Brand
The hotel owner(s) / management company decide to change the branding of the property. This may be a different brand within a hotel group or as is more frequently the case, they select a brand from another group to market the hotel. Often this rebranding also requires a degree of refurbishment to meet the new brand standards – e.g. AC Hotel Nice (Previously Four Points By Sheraton Elysée Palace)
Joining a Brand
The hotel owner(s) / Management company feel that the hotel can gain better marketing by joining a recognised Hotel Group / Brand e.g. Four Seasons Hotel Moscow (Previously Hotel Moskva)
Splitting This is a more recent scenario, which has seen some existing hotels, being rebranded and also split into 2 brands from a hotel group.
E.g. Clarion Hotel Downtown Columbia SC becoming in 2016
- Home2Suites by Hilton Columbia
- Hilton Garden Inn Columbia
Expansion
Sometimes a hotel will open up part of its facilities when they are completed, but the whole of the building plans are not completed. The hotel as such is not under a “refurbishment” as such, but I find it easier to capture the information under this caption.
Closures
Sadly some hotels are forced to close or their owners feel that they would derive greater benefit in utilising the building for a different purpose. In either case, the hotel bed stock is removed from the supply for that location.
Occasionally a hotel is closed and down the line, the owners reverse their decision and then re-open the property. The only hotel I can recall that has done this is the Plaza Hotel in New York.
In short, I would like the site to be the Hospitality Reference Site. Any suggestions, ideas, contributions and advice would be welcome.
The Team at Hotel Search Engine team / Hotel Search Website