WALLA WALLA, Washington—When Courtyard by Marriott No. 1 opened in Atlanta 32 years ago, the property’s welcoming gift to guests was an acorn that signaled the growth of something new. And from those initial seeds have sprouted 1,000 Courtyard by Marriott properties.
Marriott International celebrated its 1,000th Courtyard-branded property with a gala celebration Tuesday at the 120-room Courtyard Walla Walla in southeastern Washington that is owned by Walla Walla Hospitality and operated by The Hotel Group.
The industry has changed a great deal since that first Courtyard was born in Georgia and filled a hole in the industry that was largely unfilled, executives said during a press roundtable following the hotel’s official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Paul Novak, who currently is executive director of hotel acquisitions at Whitman Peterson, developed the first 225 Courtyard properties. When the brand launched, it competed primarily with Holiday Inn, Ramada Inn and Howard Johnson in pursuit of the business traveler customer.
“When we opened the first Courtyard, there was no Hilton Garden Inn, or Hampton Inn, or Holiday (Inn) Express, or Hyatt Place, or Aloft, or any of those brands,” Novak said during the roundtable.
During the past three decades, the brand has had to evolve to stay relevant, executives said. Part of that evolution has come via its pursuit of the millennial customer. The Courtyard Walla Walla has plenty of nods to this generation, including an active lobby that features a test kitchen, separated seating “pods” that come complete with in-unit television monitors, and a large communal seating table.
The millennial-focused design continues in the guestrooms, which have a “lounge around chair” that is meant to be sunk into rather than sat upon. The cost to develop the current generation of Courtyard properties is approximately $114,000 or $115,000 per key, officials said. The average Courtyard property has between 120 rooms and 150 rooms.
“(Millennial business) customers want to blend work and play,” said Callette Nielsen, the current global brand manager for Courtyard. “The room is designed so people relax first and work second.”
She added these travelers want to celebrate their successes at the end of the day with a glass of wine (which can be had at the in-property food-and-beverage outlet The Bistro) or by lounging on the guestroom’s sofa chair.
She said the changes are simply a result of following what the emerging class of business traveler wants. Novak agreed.
“The Courtyard that opened (32) years ago is a little different than the Courtyard you see today,” Novak said. “Our customers have demanded us to be more stylish; (have) more technology. Things have changed.”
Growth of the brand
Change has been a constant for the Courtyard brand over the years. Another constant, 1,000 times over, has been growth. There remains room to continue to add Courtyard flags across the global hotel landscape during this cycle, executives said. The brand has more than 300 properties in its pipeline.
Janis Milham, senior VP of modern essentials and extended-stay brands and former VP of Courtyard, said Marriott’s President and CEO Arne Sorenson has challenged the Courtyard team to reach 2,000 properties. Marriott’s competitor Hilton Worldwide Holdings marked the 2,000th opening of its own select-service powerhouse Hampton Inn brand just about 250 miles away in Bellevue, Washington, in December.
“Arne loves to give us stretch goals,” she said with a laugh.
The flag will look the world over for growth, the executives said. For instance, the brand marked its initial entry into Brazil with the recent opening of the Courtyard Recife Boa Viagem and into Abu Dhabi with the Courtyard Abu Dhabi.
Nearly 90% of the brand’s growth will come via new construction, Nielsen said. Conversions will occur in those markets that have a higher barrier to entry, such as New York City and San Francisco.
Novak said the cycle should still have several years left in which developers can put hotels into the ground. According to data compiled by STR, parent company of Hotel News Now, the number of rooms in construction in the United States increased by 31.9% year over year as of the end of February.
“Historically in this industry, when things have gotten good we tend to overbuild and shoot ourselves in the foot,” Novak said. “I don’t see that as much.”
Editor’s note: Marriott International paid for travel, food, hotel and activities during the trip. Complete editorial control was at the discretion of the HNN editorial team; Marriott had no influence on the coverage provided.