Next Wave Of CHEAP ‘CHIC’
By Karyn Strauss, Senior Editor -- Hotels, 1/31/2007 11:00:00 PM
 25hours Hotels Company is a hot, new chain from Germany offering style without the high price tag. Pictured here, the company’s new Frankfurt hotel. |
WORLDWIDE A new infl ux of affordable design hotels aims to tap into the lucrative Gen X and Gen Y markets. No longer a new concept, this “cheap chic” segment seems to only gain momentum. For over the last couple of years HOTELS has reported on the many new stylish yet budget-conscious offerings from the UK—EasyHotel, Dakota and Yotel—to Millennium & Copthorne’s M Hotel in Singapore to Andres Balaz’s Hotel QT in New York. Next came the big brands with their ambitious plans for Indigo, Cambria Suites, aloft, Hyatt Place, among others. The latest crop of up-andcoming alternatives expands the concept even further with properties distinctly connected to their locales and the latest in entertainment technology. The good news for the consumer is more choices than ever before. The challenge going forward for hoteliers no doubt will be the mounting competition.
While UK concepts may have set the bar for cheap chic, the idea has been quietly gaining ground across continental Europe. As yet most often one-off properties, such as the Hotel Fox in Copenhagen, a lifestyle concept by Volkswagen, or the hotel daniel in Graz, Austria, where an espresso bar doubles as reception, a new, German-based concept called 25hours Hotel Company is set to create a chain of such affordable style-driven hotels across Europe, with a goal of at least 10 properties by 2010, according to Christoph Hoffman, founder and managing partner. The core concept of the company, which opened its fi rst hotel in Hamburg in 2003 and its second property in Frankfurt in December, is to offer trendy, affordable accommodations that are individually designed to refl ect their location. “We’re not into cookie cutter. Each hotel needs to be individual to its destination,” Hoffman says, adding, “Our marketing is about their individuality.”
 Up-and-comer CitiStay Hotels aims to offer contemporary design, high-tech amenities and reasonable prices for the Gen X and Y crowd. |
With a target audience of “young urban nomads,” 25hours hotels tap into the local scene of each property to bring a little something extra to the table. For example, the new Frankfurt hotel is called Goldman 25hours Frankfurt to leverage its association with well-known local nightlife owner Ardi Goldman, who operates a restaurant and bar there. “So we’re using his name to market it locally,” Hoffman says, adding that similar branding plans are underway with a well-known chef for a new hotel in Berlin. “Each hotel will have the core 25hours name with a concept name related to the destination.”
The mission of 25hours properties is not about meeting a star-rating, rather the hotels are about answering a lifestyle trend, Hoffman says. “I believe the future trend of hotels will be very different from what we know today. It’s not about stars; it’s about a way of life and communing together.” Similar to trends seen by his U.S. counterparts, Hoffman cites the growing number of customers who opt to stay in affordable hotels and then eat at 3 Michelin-star restaurants. “There are fewer rules. Nowadays people are more individual in their decision-making process.”
The goal is to develop 25hours hotels in major European cities, but to keep development costs down, not necessarily in the most prime neighborhoods. The company currently is negotiating for additional hotels in Berlin, Vienna and Cologne and has set up subsidiaries to grow the concept in Italy and France. Generally speaking each hotel will have up to 120 rooms, often each with its own décor theme. All hotels will feature a “living room” lobby concept, marketed as a cozy gathering place. Additional features such as restaurants and bars will be determined by the needs of the particular market. Rates will average around €100 and include free Internet access.
Back in the United States, New Yorkbased CitiStay Hotels LLC is one of the newest players aiming to offer style- and budget-conscious travelers alternatives.
“As a young traveler and coming from the airline industry, I spent a lot of time going around the country and found that the hotels didn’t seem to fi t what my generation wants and expects from a hotel [in terms of] services, look and feel,” explains Gregory Tubeck, the company’s 24-year-old founder and president. “CitiStay was created over coffee. A few of us sat down and discussed where the industry was going and what we thought we could do to change it. So many of the big hotel companies are spending millions trying to re-invent themselves and their respective brands—trying to fl ip a switch and have a whole different way of doing business overnight.”
By contrast, Tubeck believes CitiStay will offer a more authentic approach to meeting the needs of these travelers. “We’ve promised to create a brand that’s honest from the start. We are not some sub-brand hiding behind a huge corporate structure.”
To emphasize its “anti-corporate” stance, Tubeck says the service component— friendly, accessible—will be a big part of its modus operandi. From a design standpoint, think clean lines and modern, functional spaces with elevated features to save space. The other major focus is technology. Podstyle kiosks will be used for check-in, and the company is building patent-pending “CitiScreens,” a communication system—or virtual concierge of sorts—accessed through the guestrooms’ fl at-screen televisions. The company will partner with local vendors, including restaurants, day spas, theaters, car services and the like, wherein guests can order take-out, reservations and tickets from their rooms and have all charges appear on their folio. CitiScreens also can function as a mini business center, Tubeck says.
The company also is working on adding a twist to loyalty programs by offering frequent guests a permanent room keycard. They would then be able to check-in online and through the use of its electronic lock system, immediately access their room upon arrival.
The first CitiStay hotel is set to open in Miami by the fourth quarter of 2007. Other development deals are pending in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, San Diego and San Francisco. All properties will be conversions of what Tubeck calls “undervalued properties,” and all will be less than 100 rooms. The company aims to grow to 12 hotels in the next fi ve years, retaining full ownership or by doing joint-venture deals. And while a bit cryptic on discussing rates, Tubeck says they will be “signifi cantly under local market value.”
In other New York “cheap chic” news, BD Hotels, which owns upmarket The Chambers and The Mercer hotels, among others, has opened the 347-room Pod Hotel, a tech-savvy budget property where about half the guestrooms have shared bathrooms. With rates starting at US$89, the former Pickwick Arms hotel features iPod docking stations, free WiFi and personal LCD-screen televisions.
No related content found.
View All Podcasts
