About 25 years ago, as the number of limited service hotels in the U.S. began to grow, hotel franchisers began to add perceived value to their brands by offering guests a free breakfast.
Today, the lines are blurring between limited and full service as hotels add a variety of paid and free food and beverage options no matter the chain-scale classification or price segment.
During the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles last week, Lodging Leaders interviewed hoteliers, restaurateurs and brand designers who are remaking existing F&B programs or introducing new dining concepts in hotels.
In today’s episode we feature Danica Boyd, global head of Wyndham Garden; Steve Palmer, restaurateur and managing partner of Indigo Road Hospitality Group, and Larry Spelts, president of its new hotel division; Tom Horwitz and Adrianne Korczynski of NELSON Worldwide, a hotel design and branding company; and Matthew J. Stone, associate professor of recreation, hospitality and parks management at California State University, Chico, and one of the researchers of the newly released report on culinary travel trends from the World Food Travel Association.
Resources and Links
Lodging Econometrics has tracked the hotel industry since 1998. Its global database includes new-hotel pipelines as well as renovations and brand conversions. Hotel franchisers once eager to launch new brands are focused on converting existing hotels because it’s a faster way to recover revenue lost to the COVID-19 pandemic than through new construction. In Episode 346, Lodging Leaders explores the increasing number of conversions in the U.S. hotel industry and what owners and operators need to consider before repositioning an asset.
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., financiers anticipated a swell of distressed hotel businesses. Some raised rescue funds to respond to what they thought was a pending crisis. Though there are financial rescues taking place, the level of such activity is far below what industry advisers and fund managers expected. Commercial real estate investors positioned to act in the early days of the pandemic held off and are now just beginning to unleash their cash hoards totaling billions of dollars. Episode 345 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the state of capital investment in the hotel industry.