Page 12B—
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
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April 20-May 3, 2016
T
he history of hotel
design since World
War II has been
favored and guided by the long
and steady rise of franchising
and standardization.
Familiarity and certainty, with
consistent qualities across
geographic locations allow
guests to be assured of a clean
and peaceful stay. Groups as
well as leisure and business
travelers have known what
they are getting from Marriott,
Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn
and the like.
Over the past 30 years, the
influence of Ian Schrager, Bill
Kimpton, Chip Conley (Joie de
Vivre Hospitality) and others
has been enormous. Conley
defined the term “psycho-
graphics” as a means to focus
on the intangible needs of
travelers in California, in
lieu of the more traditional
demographic approach of the
industry.
In the late 20th century,
boutique/unique/lifestyle
hotels influenced hotel design
across the board from three-
star to five-star properties. In
1988, there were roughly 15
commonly known American
hotel “brands.”
Today that number has
skyrocketed. The left column
in the chart is a snapshot
of hotel brands from 1988
that remain today. The right
column shows a mere sampling
of hotel brands that have
emerged in the last 30 years.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
reported in April 2008 that
38 new hotel brands were
introduced in the previous
three years.
With franchise proximity
restrictions relaxed for
“sister” hotels, the effect on
Denver and other cites was a
larger number of guestrooms
under the same umbrella.
This has the opposite of the
intended boutique/unique
effect, blurring consumer
perception. The brand chains
borrow successful ideas from
each other and multiply them
through their distribution of
multiple brands.
The partnering of Ian
Schraeger and Bill Marriott
to form Edition Hotels is
the ultimate merger of
once distant hotel branding
philosophies. In previous
years, that would have been
akin to having Barack Obama
and George Bush on the same
political ticket. Marriott has
long been the perpetrator
of standardization while
Schraeger has been king of
originality and uniqueness.
Now comes the rise of the
independent hotel. Millennials,
Gen X , boomers and even
the Greatest Generation
crave unique experience over
standardization. We live in
lofts and micro housing, drink
third-wave coffee and craft
beer, and fly on Southwest and
Virgin Airlines, all experience-
oriented choices. We like
design-driven, community-
focused, high-tech experiences
for a good price. Once you
finally look up from your
smartphone, you want to be
somewhere cool, with a sense
of place.
Hotel choices can be
made from easily accessible
research with Google, Siri,
social media and ratings
apps, not 1-800-BRANDED.
This demand increasingly is
captured by entrepreneurs who
have the flexibility to create
independent hotels and highly
customize boutique brands and
franchises.
Denver is a leader in the
growth of the independent
hotel, as noted by three
current examples. Each of
these properties is a new
offering of Sage Hospitality
and was designed in whole or
in part by our firm.
•
The Crawford Hotel –
Denver Union Station.
This
hotel speaks for itself as the
ultimate in unique design
and experience soon to be
Jim Johnson, AIA
Founding principal, Johnson Nathan
Strohe, Denver
The hotel at Dairy Block will be an independent offering that is part of a greater synergistic mixed-use project.
Commonly known American hotel ‘brands’ in 1988 and a sampling of brands from today.
