Independent hotels tips

Premier Inn’s owner Whitbread said on Wednesday that a shrinking supply of budget hotels in the UK will strengthen its pricing power for years to come.

Tel Aviv-headquartered Brown Hotels saw evacuees and stranded travelers pour into many of its rooms at its 24 hotels in Israel in the aftermath of brutal attacks on Saturday.

While luxury boutique hotels have always appealed to a certain set, Small Luxury Hotels of the World is trying to create more converts. In October, it launched a marketing campaign around a so-called “private collection” to amplify the message that “smaller is better.”

When guests walk into Jams Music Hotel in Munich, Germany, they encounter a floor-to-ceiling mural of Prince and a chance to pick out albums from the hotel’s vast collection of vinyl to play on the record player in their room.

When international travelers visit Portugal, some may look for a big chain you’d find in, say Phoenix. But AlmaLusa, a boutique hotel brand founded in 2016, is banking on travelers looking for something more authentic.

Few stories are more romantic than Romeo and Juliet, and few places embody the tragic love story more than the courtyard with Juliet’s balcony.

Talent retention, digital marketing tactics, partnerships with local brands, and sustainability strategies were among the topics that independent hoteliers discussed the most at last week’s Independent Lodging Congress 2023 event in Austin, Texas. 

When guests drive up to Marina Riviera, a boutique hotel in Big Bear, California that opened in the autumn of 2022, they won’t see a big sign for Casetta, the parent company that founded the hotel portfolio in 2019. Nor will they see its Casetta floral logo splashed on every corner of the lobby (look closely on the bath products and robes, though, and you’ll find it).

Some industry observers speculated that the pandemic would speed up consolidation of the hotel sector, as owners of independent hotels might find cost and other pressures too difficult and would essentially sell out to the big brands. So what was the state of the independent hotel sector in 2022, as the pandemic subsided, according to just-released numbers?

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, March 2. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Some hoteliers take a stand-back approach, outsourcing most of the concept creation and design. Then there’s Palisociety’s founder and CEO Avi Brosh — who’s involved in every last detail.

One of the more interesting U.S. innovators of boutique hotels had humble origins. Atit Jariwala is today the founder and CEO of Bridgeton, a New York real estate development group managing $1 billion in assets, including hotels. But Jariwala got his first taste of the hospitality industry living in an EconoLodge motel that his parents managed in Bridgeton, Missouri.

When Phil Hospod started his hospitality firm, Dovetail + Co, back in 2018, he was coming off some pretty big wins as part of the Sydell Group, helping launch the Freehand New York and The Line DC. Still, he knew he wanted to go out on his own.

The new Grand Hotel Son Net, which opened last month, is set at the foothills of the Tramuntana Mountains on the island of Mallorca — and does not want to be referred to as a boutique hotel. Nor does it consider itself a resort.

One of the most influential players among boutique hotels, Eagle Point Hotel Partners, didn’t set out in 2010 to sidestep the major global hotel brands.