LAS VEGAS—Wyndham Hotel Group is shaking the rust off three of its brands, thanks in no small part to a revival in hotel operating performance.
Executives announced during the company’s 2013 global conference that refreshes are in store for both the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham and Travelodge brands. Executives also said the company is continuing to push forward on the reimagining of its Howard Johnson brand that was previously announced a year ago.
Included in the changes made for each of the brands:
- Microtel: new color schemes for guestrooms; furniture package; redesigned bathroom; new wet bar design in suites; open lobby with additional seating and new front desk design; flex room for meetings or additional breakfast seating; and a micro mart option featuring snacks, light meals, soft drinks and sundries.
- Travelodge: a warm color scheme; sandstone flooring; and an outdoors feel to the hotel.
- Howard Johnson: a fresh, clean look for each of the properties and an orange and white color scheme. Brand executives are also considering bringing back ice cream as a signature offering at their properties.
“Every brand has to be continually reinvigorated to tell the story of the brand,” Eric Danziger, Wyndham Hotel Group’s president and CEO, said during a press briefing Wednesday at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino.
The refreshes for Microtel and Travelodge come while hotel operating performance continues to be positive. At Microtel, for instance, the brand in 2012 showed a revenue-per-available-room index of more than 120%, said Patrick Breen, brand senior VP for Microtel. Breen added that a reawakening of the debt markets is also helping to make the redesigns come to fruition.
“In general, our hotels are performing very well,” Breen said during an interview with Hotel News Now.
Following the downturn drought, Aly El-Bassuni, VP of operations for Microtel, said there was pent-up demand for a Microtel refresh.
“It’s time to start running better hotels,” Danziger said.
The leaders for each brand took time Wednesday to sit down with HNN to discuss the redesigns.
Microtel
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| Rendering of the new Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham room design. |
The most recent refresh for Microtel was in 2007, El-Bassuni said.
There are more than 300 Microtel hotels operating globally, a majority of which are in the United States. A handful of properties are located in the Philippines, Mexico and Canada. There are six or seven Microtel hotels under construction, El-Bassuni said.
“It was time for us to refresh our go-to-market prototype,” El-Bassuni said.
The cost to upgrade the property amounts to approximately $50,000 to $55,000 per key, excluding land, El-Bassuni said.
Jessica Huggins, GM at the 56-room Microtel by Wyndham Inn & Suites Brooksville in Brooksville, Florida, said she is impressed with the changes she saw for the first time this week. She said she hasn’t yet spoken to her hotel’s owner about upgrading.
“I like that it’s a little more modern, more contemporary,” she said during the conference. “A little more convenient for guests.”
Travelodge
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| Rendering of the new lobby design for Travelodge. |
There never really was a design scheme in place for Travelodge, said Mark Young, brand senior VP for Travelodge. The company was founded in 1935, with the first hotel opening in 1940 and the official brand name created in 1946. He said the brand had seen a lot of demand for owners for a turnkey design solution.
“As business has gotten better, people have asked more and more,” Young said.
The cost per key to incorporate the Travelodge upgrades is $2,000 per room for soft goods and case goods. “We want to be economy-minded for our owners,” Young said.
It was important for the brand—which counts 350 properties in the U.S. and another 100 hotels in Canada—to have a warm, clean look, he said.
“It was a perfect time to say, ‘If you wanted a turnkey solution, here’s an option,’” he said.
The brand had a 97.4% RevPAR index in 2012, said Adam Cannon, VP of operations for Travelodge. “There’s additional money to be spent on renovations,” he said.
Howard Johnson
Danziger said he is especially fond of the Howard Johnson brand because of the amount of equity the brand has built up over the course of its nearly 60-year history in the hotel industry.
“Owning that brand is like owning Nike,” Danziger said.
He said he remembers the days of moms and dads pulling off the side of the road to stay at a Howard Johnson-branded hotel for the night while on vacation with the kids.
“It’s not like I owe it to the brand or it owes it to me; it’s just, why can’t we do that again?” Danziger asked.
The challenge is making the brand as relevant to a 27 year old as it is to his or her parents, executives said. So in the ongoing rejuvenation of the brand, executives kept in mind that it had to retain at least somewhat of a modern look, said John Valletta, president of the Howard Johnson and Super 8 brands.
“(Howard Johnson) did not want to design something in 1954 that looked like 1934,” he said, adding, “Why put something out there that’s not going to excite?”
Brand officials are getting estimates now on case goods, Valletta said. The next step for the brand is the proof-of-concept stage. Goal for rollout of the newly imagined hotels is 2015.
Future refreshes?
Danziger hinted during the press briefing that Wyndham might not yet be finished with brand refreshes.
One potential target: the Ramada brand.
He said Ramada has performed well, especially outside the U.S., but it might be time to update the design of the brand’s hotels.
“What should it be? It’s been around a long time, too,” he said.