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The decline of beauty has led to corporations convincing people that “Walmartifying” your life is the right move…don’t care about aesthetic, just focus on value. Fluorescent lighting is good! Ugliness and utilitarianism? Excellent.
But the market has shifted. These younger generations have exceptionally refined aesthetic tastes and service expectations. I believe corporate slop hotels will slowly give way to more experiential boutique brands.
The mid tier is being squeezed and for good reason.
#hospitality #hotels #hotels
Transcript
Mid tier hotels are dying and when people ask me why I point them to images like this. Heck, even upscale is going to be cooked in the coming years. I know you best it. You've stepped into a Hilton, a Sheridan, a DoubleTree, or a Hampton, and you feel something is off. And if it feels like corporate slop, that's because that's exactly what it is. Hotels that once had some semblance of a soul went through an exorcism once they were acquired by big money. Hospitality used to be a long term game characterized by taste, discernment, a willingness to care for your guests, and best do things to improve the guest experience. These things would be done even if they didn't generate short term cash flow and were more conducive to long term success, referrals, and repeat purchases. Better a couple decades ago, big money, private equity investors got involved and turned something that was uniquely human into something that became about p and l's and spreadsheets. Hence, the rise of scalable designs, AKA corporate slop. The sameness problem is exactly why I think boutique hotels are the future. They aren't shackled to the confines of their their commercial overlords. Hotels that have unique concepts and that craft unique guest experiences, brand worlds, and find new ways to drive loyalty. And it's really a two part problem because not only are mid tier brands uninspiring, but their service also doesn't match the price point. So people are are going to save to spend up for these luxury experiences or they're just gonna spend down and go for the bargain route. And this is not throwing any of these corporate brands under the bus. I have worked with many of them, consulted on them, and there are a lot of owners who want to try to change. The onus is more on the brands themselves to support and enable the franchisees or asset owners to make the necessary changes. Better we all know, investors have different priorities. So let me know in the comments where I'm right or where I am brutally wrong.
