How to choose a hotel brand for your investment? - part 3

The investors I work with often ask me for advice regarding the hotel brand selection strategy. The basic principle is simple - you have to choose a brand that you know, which you have experienced and which you simply like, appreciate, understand.

If we have the right "chemistry" with a brand, if we are convinced of its philosophy of action, we will be convinced internally to invest in it. However, the hotel's brand is something more than a recognizable logo on the facade. A brand is also a specific model of activity, satisfying the needs of clients (not only those from the base of Maslov's pyramid), building their experience and communicating with them. This is a proposal addressed to a specific client and it is primarily the potential investor who needs to understand before deciding to choose it.

The brand of the hotel is also a whole range of elements that we perceive with our senses: sight, touch, hearing and smell. Materials, colours, furniture, equipment, lighting, music in the elevator, morning coffee, floor temperature, the texture of towels, the fragrance of cosmetics - are chosen long and meticulously to meet the requirements of a certain group of recipients. It is a complex, non-accidental whole that needs to be understood and that cannot be arbitrarily dismantled, because in this way we will only harm our own business goals.

Travel educates

Recently, I went along with new MIXD clients to London just to personally see the objects of a few hotel chains, to experience their diversity, to know the specifics. I can not imagine a situation where we can start two large hotel investments without this trip, without finding out for ourselves, what suits us, without thinking and discussing exactly what will work in our conditions and what not necessarily. I see my role not only to design interesting, functional, memorable interiors, but also to inspire the investor, help him discover and understand the hotel industry in depth. Not everyone has experience in it, not everyone follows it closely - and believe me - it changes faster than you think ...

It's worth talking

It is also worth establishing a good relationship with the architect and listening to what he has to say. Investments in hotels are quite complex, and knowledge about the industry is definitely niche. Every time you think you already know everything about the hotel industry, someone somewhere in the world drops a clean towel onto the floor in the hotel bathroom... Therefore, ask good experts with good questions, use their knowledge, tips, and rich practice. Travel, experience, get to know - new, exciting hotel concepts appear every day, which we have not even dreamed of yesterday. Maybe among them is the perfect one for you? Recognized brands also revise their status and character - if you remember a holiday hotel 10 years ago, today it may turn out that it has changed dramatically.