"Hip" Hotels Successful Despite Struggling Economy

            Over the past year, hotel companies have been some of the hardest hit businesses by the recent economic recession. However, despite the struggling economy, hotel companies have been competing to create a new generation of hotels, known as “lifestyle” or “boutique” hotels. The idea for these hotels is to create a more hip and urban environment to attract affluent travelers that want a more unique and trendy experience. The race to create these new hotels seems to have stemmed from the success of Starwood Inc.’s new W brand hotels, which have grown to forty hotels around the world in the past ten years. These hotels include lavishly decorated lobbies, stylish bars, and top restaurants, which have been reported to attract more outside customers than hotel guests. Hoteliers have noticed that these hotels have been more profitable than traditional hotels, even though they cost more to build than a standard chain hotel, because the atmosphere alone piques the customers' interest much more. As a result, many large hotel companies have jumped on the bandwagon in an effort to create a larger profit. 

             I believe that this is a really great strategy for large hotel companies because the only way to gain customer interest is to cater to their tastes and create a fresh, new look that will make customers want to stay at their hotels. The only problem I see with these hotels, which was mentioned in the article, is that if large companies continue to create more and more of these boutique hotels, the hotels will lose their "unique-ness" and won't be anything special to go to. Overall, I feel this is the right move for hotel companies and a great strategy to use to make money in these tough times.

          


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