Challenges to Hotel Companies (Part 3)

the choice of words to define the intent of traveller is only so much. and hotels are meant for people to travel for such "few purposes "only.hence the marketing/ sales efforts in terms of defining / explaining what the brand or hotel can give them is limited to words , who describe thier fullfillment of these "Travel purpose". but thats about marketing and sales only. a brand in its essence is meant to share/ sell an "attitude " of living or travelling. in terms of amenity , there is only so much one can do - at the moment. but withing the same "constraints " something like -aloft -is an attiude people will either like or dislike it. and i think thats a differentiator. a risk , but nonetheless...

When I started going down the list I thought I was doing pretty we'll differentiating between the different brands. But 23? I could spent alot of time agreeing with alot of what the people above posted and say I got lost in all the names. I think this test and all the comments simply state how the majority of the people think of these differnt brand names (they all sound alike). When it comes down to it I feel people are always going to make their ultimate purchasing decision based on price.

It is very interesting to see how all these hotel companies describe their properties in all those different ways. Some of them seem to be more focused on the business traveler, they emphasize on offering them such comforts as the ones they might have at home, while others tend to give a description more in terms of affordability, but still keeping the high quality they are known for. In my view, most of these hotels offer the same services, their properties have the same quality and the only aspect that might set them apart from the rest is the marketing and advertising methods they employ.

I strongly agree with this statement posted. After looking at the different brands it is very hard to match them correctly up. All though many answers seem the same, I think it’s more of an individuals own experience to separate the following match up. I could put together only a few and the few that I found were all the past brands that I stayed at.

As all of these hotels are competing against one another they feel the need to match anything there competitors do. as a Result much of these descriptions all feel similar and related. it is a very interesting observation indeed, that many hotels may only be different by our perception of them.

I agree with many of the people's respnce's to this article about brand proliferation. It seems that many of these brands are so similar that only a person who travels very frequently could tell the difference between competitors. So many of the brands described sound very similar to their competiotors I think that they need to come up with a more unique description of their brand to set them apart from the others!

I never thought that hotel brands offer different services with their competitors. I read all descriptions which you post and it looks almost same to me. I believe those brands try to distingush their hotel brands as your saying.

I tried to match those brands and their own description but it is really hard. I think there are no certain differences between various brands. The descriptions show what each brands and each hotels want to emphasize. Anyways it was interested challenge for me. Thank you for posting about this topic.

Wow I am surprised that there are so many hotel brands on the list. To be honest, I do not recognize the most of them. May be it is because I have never stayed at those extended hotels in my life. By the way, one thing that I can see from the description that you wrote, I can recognize that many of these brands are marketing for business travelers to come to their property. It was good experience to realize the real examples that can see the business travelers take a large part of hotel customers. (Textbook said that business travelers take more than 50% of whole travelers that stays at hotel) I hope one day I can actually experience most of those extended stays and match all of numbers to alphabets by my one.

Wow I am surprised that there are so many hotel brands on the list. To be honest, I do not recognize the most of them. May be it is because I have never stayed at those extended hotels in my life. By the way, one thing that I can see from the description that you wrote, I can recognize that many of these brands are marketing for business travelers to come to their property. It was good experience to realize the real examples that can see the business travelers take a large part of hotel customers. (Textbook said that business travelers take more than 50% of whole travelers that stays at hotel) I hope one day I can actually experience most of those extended stays and match all of numbers to alphabets by my one.

Wow I am surprised that there are so many hotel brands on the list. To be honest, I do not recognize the most of them. May be it is because I have never stayed at those extended hotels in my life. By the way, one thing that I can see from the description that you wrote, I can recognize that many of these brands are marketing for business travelers to come to their property. It was good experience to realize the real examples that can see the business travelers take a large part of hotel customers. (Textbook said that business travelers take more than 50% of whole travelers that stays at hotel) I hope one day I can actually experience most of those extended stays and match all of numbers to alphabets by my one.

Well..In my opinion, they've been trying to adverting themselves for attracting customers, by showing their own features. It seems usually works for most cases, but some of their features duplicate with those of some other brands. In the worst case, it makes no difference among other brands, and makes the hotel less competitive.

What a challenge this was, but it sure gets your mind going. I found this matching section, a little "broad" with the way the word can get. However, it made me think and really do some hard research on what brand matched what answer. Each brand offers the pretty much similar amenities to the customer whether its a full service, eco-lodge,resort, etc. The main thing that all these brand names have in common is serving the customer and providing great service to make a loyal customer.

What a challenge this was, but it sure gets your mind going. I found this matching section, a little "broad" with the way the word can get. However, it made me think and really do some hard research on what brand matched what answer. Each brand offers the pretty much similar amenities to the customer whether its a full service, eco-lodge,resort, etc. The main thing that all these brand names have in common is serving the customer and providing great service to make a loyal customer.

WOW! I really think that there should be some award for all of these advertising representatives for being able to say the same thing 23 different ways (slight sarcasm!) I think that the people that they are marketing too latch on to one brand and no matter how hard or how many other ways you can say the exact same things, word of mouth is still the best advertising you can have.

It seems like these brands don't really realize how similar they are to their competition. They say that they are offering amenities to their guests that no one else offers but in reality they are offering everything their competitors are. with our economy the way it is i think it's only a matter of time before these brands start actually begin delivering something that really does distinguish themselves. Until then there is going to be some cut throat competing for guests

It seems that many of the key words I pick up in the matching are new, innovated and priced. It seems somewhat hard to tell the difference between these matching with the definitions of each so closely related. It seems like the corporations are similar in comparison but do not have its own specific thing about them that makes the company special. I have stayed at a few of these hotels and I agree that the words that you have given each match with some of the hotels but like I have mentioned you can use more different keywords to differentiate some of the hotels.

Seems like every each hotel give us same service. I haven't thought about how the brand hotels distinguished. It might be the image of marketing and quality all together. Thanks for let me think about it.

I can't believe how many of the descriptions sounded the same. To set themselves apart from other hotels that are so similar, the different brands need to start coming up with more intriguing descriptions so they don't get lost with all of the other hotels that are so similar. It may be seem unimportant to some people, but in our economy you need all the edge you can get.

Of course people cannot match a hotel to these descriptions. While some hotels exceed others in terms of quality and service, all lodging operations basically do the same thing: offer the best possible space for travellers to sleep in. Especially since these are mostly limited service hotels, the generic descriptions on the websites are not going to be too destinctive. But is this a problem? No. Because people are not going to choose a hotel base on the short sales pitch about creating a quality atmosphere. They are going to chose it based on photos, price, and reputation.

I tried matching the description and hotels and I realized how many I got wrong. I would of imagined myself getting a lot of them right because I frequently travel. This is interesting because a frequent guest can't distinguish the difference of these hotels.

This is interesting, I have never noticed this similarity between the brands before. Maybe its because travelers are so used to the similarities and the hotels do not want to risk becoming more different from the other brands.

This is really hard to me actually. The hotel companies have really similar description. However they have their own distinct description. These descriptions are helpful to people who are in hotel industry because they can see a lot of hotels' characters and they could think what is best and what is not really good. When I read these Challenges, I actually learn that there are so many kinds of hotels.

To me it appears that all of these brands struggle daily to stand out. Every hotel wants to be the best and have the highest numbers. this could be a problem considering a majority of them are selling the same brand. I never really thought about this until today while I was looking over this challenge and the comments that have been posted. Today my eyes have been opened to larger and greater things!

In my gaze, they(hotels) have pretty much similar description. And the thing is every hotel try to single out their distinction but in mid -scale and economy hotel serve not much of difference. To appeal their hotel to the customer ,I believe brand takes large portion that makes people select hotels

Many hotels like to seperate themselves from others hotels, by offering specific amenties, incentives, discounts, etc., but they all offer the same service(a lodging location away from home). I've had the opportunity to stay in a sufficient amount of hotels and although I like some better than others, they're for different reasons. I believe that the hotel can't make the decision whether their hotels are better than others, but it should simply be a choice made by the guest.

This matching challenge proves a point about hotel competitors’

Hi Michael. I would say every hotel's majority competitors will come from the similar level/scale hotels. Because basicaly, those hotels in same level provide similar service. That makes a brand name became more important than what it really can produce. People can memerize the name much easier than memerizing the hotel's contents.

I agree, every brand is different depends on which group of people you're trying to attact. In order to be successful It takes a lot more for your brand to be better and to stand out more i like the way you listed everything it's very clear.

Michael, your challenge proves a great point. Properties must work hard to be noticed in an industry with immense competition. As I read the descriptions, I payed close attention to the adjectives used. Would a guest rather stay at a hotel that is "innovative" or "consistent"? "One-of-a-kind" or "specalized"? I wonder how much an impact these specific words make on an impression. Or if they make a difference at all. Although word of mouth marketing and repeat customers are both important for business, properties need to find ways to bring in those first time customers.

I completely agree, it does take a lot to really make your brand stand out from all the other similar brands. That is where hotels have to really pay attention to what will keep their guests coming back. Yes, for some travelers who rarely travel they may not have much to compare their hotel to, but for travelers who travel frequently they will remember where they had good service and stay and where they didn't.

I agree with you that it is difficult to tell the difference between the brands. None of them seem to have that wow factor that says i know exactly which hotel that is instead they just copy each other and become more alike instead of individualized. If I were a frequent traveler i would probably feel differently but just being a visitor to these hotels once n awhile, like most, i do find it hard to tell the difference. The thing that sets them apart is not what they say but what they do for there customers and that's what really makes them stand out.

I agree with someone who mentioned that each brand has their own uniqueness and touch to it so only the frequent customers that travel could possibly tell the difference between brands. This is so true. That is why they go back to the same brand hotel when they travel. In these days, there are tones of hotels offering same amenities. Each brand needs to have its own specialty to their guests.

Having worked for a hotel that went through a transition from Hyatt to Loews Hotel I feel that you have a point that there Brand Statments are all about the same. How ever they are all offering and copying each other more and more they are trying to constatly raise the bar above their competator. When One started putting in flat screens then everyone else followed. Another example if they put in a heavenly bed everyone followed. One thing that we need to look into know is weather or not they can survive the current economic problems we are facing and stand up to the standards they have set or are they going to fall back to their old ways. We can't expect these hotels to survive if no one is in them because of how much they cost just to open the door every morning.

Hi Michael, I would like to know is there any real difference between brands because don't they all offer the same exact thing?

I have only stayed at a few brand hotels, and it is really hard for me to match the descriptions with its counterparts based on just reading this alone. The descriptions all seem familiar with one another and I think these hotels are competing with one another so that its the way that it will naturally be, it is standing out that they want to do. I agree with Jamie Thomas in that they all sound the same on paper, but once you get to that website and book those rooms and experience what each hotel has to offer, you wont be able to see just how different they really are. This can be by service or amenities, each hotel has something of there own that cannot be put into a general description.

Well it is very interesting to think about how all these brands market to a different segment of travelers or some in the same, yet so many of their descriptions are alike. Either they are extended stay, somewhat luxurious, home away from home, and cozy pushing for guests to stay 5 nights or longer, or they are moderate economy extended stay, so they are cheaper and not at "nice" or "homey" as the other extended stay. They seem to all focus on value of your stay whether its what they provide or the amount of money for the room, they target towards great guest service and want you to stay for more than 5 nights, whether for business or leisure. Many specify if its midscale or upscale, either way, they try to separate themselves from the rest of the brands or hotel chains, but in paper without pictures and details they all sound the same.

It amazes me that this brands claim to be so different but if you pick out one key point of their brand it is easily match up to another brand. Whether it be home away from home or outstanding customer service. It is impossible to determine the uniqie brand for that company and which one it stands for. With this idea of branding a hotel franchise. I believe the hotels should focus on great customer service because honestly that is what is going to bring the customer back to your business or develope a loyal customer is a satisfied customer. Back to the Basics People

Brand proliferation is hard to understand but even though many of the companies have similar criteria I believe if they have the better advertising and marketing and it is what catches the customers eye then that's that if the guest's choose a specific place they took all of the brand proliferation and marketing into consideration.

In my opinion, hotels are different by the type of people of they are trying to attract by what is offered at the hotel. Looking at the descriptions, I agree with you. It seems each aren't distinguished from others.

Hotels tend to have some of the same amenities as well as some things they specialize in. Every hotel has their "thing" that they are known for. It is important for hotels to have their specialty because that is what they are known for. The hotel industry is very competitive and hotels have to strive to be better and more successful than others.

Hotels tend to have some of the same amenities as well some things they specialize in. Every hotel has their "

It seems that a lot of the key words i pick up in the matching are new, innovated and priced. It seems kind of hard to tell the difference between these matching with the defintions of each so closly related. It seems like the corporations are similar in comparison but do not have its own specific thing about them that makes the company special.

I like the way you listed all the hotels brand and the service they are more likely to offer, but definitely it is hard to math them up. Since they are almost all similar to each other. I'll keep trying.

I agree; it is often hard to differentiate between hotel brands (especially in a specific segment) because they usually offer the same amenities and customer service promises. But that does not mean that a certain brand of hotel cannot leave a lasting impression on its customer. For example, I have stayed in both a Holiday Inn Express and a Double-Tree Family Suites Hotel. I had a better experience in the Double-Tree and they are more likely to receive my repeat service. But it is also difficult to base what your experience will be like just by a hotel’s description of their product, you must actually be a guest to truly have an opinion on the services of a hotel. When looking at an advertisment it is going to be hard to determine how one brand is different from the other. But if you experience these different types of hotels, you will probably notice and be able to point out the differences.

With the brand names I noticed that it is very hard to distinguish the difference between most of the hotels. I have also never heard of some of the brands which made it difficult to try to match them. It seems most limited service, luxury, and extended stay hotels all have similar classifications amoungst themselves to have distinct traits established between them, and the different brands.

I do agree with this concept, but the problem is that there are lots of brands which look alike. Probably we might tell scale of hotel or type of amenities they have by recognizing band, but it is not all about a picking a hotel by name of brand.

I like the way you put different hotels and its descriptions. I really got to know something that I haven't been aware of. I believe that the brand name plays an important role with the reputation of each company. It gives such idea of how the company would like to be. However, all companies must provide their own special services in order to attract more customers. I've seen this hotel in California where many people recognize their brand name, but has very low customer satisfaction. The problem is some hotels offer almost same services that others do. It is important to make customers to notice about your special services. Once they aknowledge the difference, I believe that more people would recognize your brand.

Every hotel will have a branding statement. I don't believe any branding statement in a limited service hotel will give you an edge. I believe it is the location, price and features. Most have internet, free local/800 calls, and possibly breakfast. To a guest they expect these things. Leaving nothing but the location and price. In today's economy the price is what really matter to the traveler.

While all the hotels look to individualize themselves from other chains and stand out, many of these businesses offer the same ammenities as the next. Every chain strives to slightly edge out thier competition in order to draw more and more customers. However, its seems that the most important factor for long term growth is repeat business. As a result the best way to be successsful is to deliver a consistant quality product, rather than constantly upgrade and offer new incentives.

While all the hotels look to individualize themselves from other chains and stand out, many of these businesses offer the same ammenities as the next. Every chain strives to slightly edge out thier competition in order to draw more and more customers. However, its seems that the most important factor for long term growth is repeat business. As a result the best way to be successsful is to deliver a consistant quality product, rather than constantly upgrade and offer new incentives.

Brand proliferation is hard to understand but even though many of the companies have similar criteria I believe if they have the better advertising and marketing and it is what catches the customers eye then that's that if the guest's choose a specific place they took all of the brand proliferation and marketing into consideration.

I think that you are right about the brand proliferation being helpful and confusing at the same time. Helpful in that the customers get to know which brand is better. Yet very confusing because a lot of these brands sound alike and so when you try to mach them it is very difficult.

Hi Michael. How true!Its impressive to see a list like this that shows just how many brands are out there competing for the same market and the promises that they all make. It just goes to show how impressionable branding can be and what we associate with those names. I can't tell once description from another but if I see it with a corporate logo so much more comes to mind. Its a bit sad.

of course, for people who are frequent travelers, they must have a preference and a certain brand loyalty; but for new potential guest, these descriptions are very ineffective. sure, it gives a description of what kind of hotel it is, but in terms of standing out amoungst the others, a guest might as well just close their eyes and randomly pick one. Marriot is my preferred brand of choice because i have always had great experiences there and they are conviently located everywhere. ive stayed at a lot of marriots and from the descriptions, i couldn't tell which is fairfield or courtyard. the only thing i could differentiate is that extended stay is meant for guests that are staying for a prolonged period of time.

I personally feel that most brands are unique to a certain extent just minor difference depending on the brands focus. I do agree with some of the comments above that the frequent customers that travel could possibly tell the difference between brands.But most of the brands today offer about the same amenities with only minor difference, so sometimes it be harder to differentiate the brands unless they offer something really unique.

Each brand has their own uniqueness and touch to it but I honestly don’t agree with the idea that most people can’t tell brands apart. Obviously someone who doesn’t travel or stay at hotels much can’t tell, but for travelers who do, I’m sure they’d be able to differentiate the brands. Especially if they favor a brand, I’m sure they’d be able to tell. You’re always able to tell what’s different or what’s wrong or new when you’re not with your favorite brand. I don't feel that this exercise thoroughly demonstrates whether or not the brands can be told apart.

Each brand has their own uniqueness and touch to it but I honestly don’t agree with the idea that most people can’t tell brands apart. Obviously someone who doesn’t travel or stay at hotels much can’t tell, but for travelers who do, I’m sure they’d be able to differentiate the brands. Especially if they favor a brand, I’m sure they’d be able to tell. You’re always able to tell what’s different or what’s wrong or new when you’re not with your favorite brand. I don't feel that this exercise thoroughly demonstrates whether or not the brands can be told apart.

I found that this test was very tricky. None of the description were really concise enough to give away a particular brand. The descriptions with the most wording would help me make my decision, but that’s only attributed to the fact that they were more descriptive. The economy class hotels had limited descriptions for example: “Consistent, quality lodging at an affordable price”. Some would say that they are unique or that they are an alternative, but when various hotels make the same claim uniqueness becomes a surplus. They seemingly all say the same thing. Even those that say that they are “Forward Thinking” make the same claim as other hotels.

Michael, You and all the abovementioned comments were right! Most different brands are competing with one another by trying to stand out from the others. Some are trying to give out various kinds of complimentary stuff. For instance, some hotels are giving out cookies (as aforementioned) upon arrival. Some higher brands may offer a complimentary whole fruit tray. However, I think concerning services, features or other experiences, they are still pretty much similar for the hotels in the same class or same geographical area. (We can figure that out as we go through each hotel website and from the list above.) The things that would really matter in attracting people are marketing and promotion. Especially in this present economic situation, people tend to be more aware of the money they pay. They are interested in what they consider the worthiest. If the hotel offers nice promotion along with targeting the right marketing, it has a higher potential to get more clients than the other hotels.

It's truly funny how you go through the list of hotels and see about seven key words that are contained in all the descriptions. They say in order to be successful you have to do what the others are not. But these descriptions are doing just the opposite. Conforming to that which is the hotel industry. The place that will break out of their shell is one that will stop trying to be a conventional lodging facility with a few perks and totally redesign the industry.

I don’t agree with the statement that most can’t differentiate among brands. I could see where the person who travels only 2-4 times a year could not differentiate among the brands but someone who travels 6-80 plus times a year sure as hell could. Each brand has something different about it. Take for example The Doubletree. They offer fresh warm chocolate chip cookies upon arrival. Across North America, Doubletree gives out approximately 29,000 chocolate chip cookies each day. I don’t see any other hotel doing that. So after staying with a brand people are more likely to be able to differentiate that brand from its competitors. There is some differentiating among brands as per the companies own description yes it is hard to differentiate between which one is which when given a list. I believe this is due in part to the practice of benchmark in the sense that as one hotel differentiates themselves in terms of their description another hotel sees this and tries to compete. So in the end we end up with all these descriptions for hotels which in fact we can differentiate the classification of the hotel (I.e. Limited service, extended stay, luxury…) but not the actual brand.

I guess it was unanimous. All the work brand marketers do to induvidualize the operation make only slight and usually are not noticed. However, with the downfall of the recent economy, anything to possibly boost occupancy rates is worth a shot. Eventually someone will notice and remeber the difference they experienced at a particular location and use that brad for future use. Because 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers!

I believe each hotel must have their very own unique service, feature or experience provided for their customers. However, not all of the hotels want to bring their uniqueness to the web as a promotion or make it as their “signature”. They might want their guests to experience the actual feeling about their hotel, not just by looking at ads or word of mouth. And, maybe they keep adjusting their services to meet their guests. So, that’s how I make myself to understand why some of their descriptions are general illustrated and alike. But still, they distinguish themselves by price-concerned, experience-oriented or purpose-based.

After looking at these choices and answers I realized that I never noticed that before! Not only are the descriptions of the hotels very similar but the hotel names are close as well. The list of hotels is very long and personally, if I was looking for a hotel, just based on the name I wouldn't know any difference from the next hotel.

Hi Mr. Shindler. Wow!! I tried doing your challenge and its really hard! I believe that many hotels in the same hospitality segment can offer pretty much the same things but its the advertising and marketing that they give to their hotels that makes them stand out.

Hi Michael, I know that the brand name for a company is how they are judged but what I want to know is how hotels in each segment can compete with each other. Most luxury hotels offer the same things as do most full-service and limited service. What makes their name stand out to the public. I think that marketing and advertising plays a huge role in this.

Hi Michael, I just submitted a list, but it did not seem to take on the blog. Told me I used too many characters..you can see the start above. But the jist of it was that they are all so similar. It is dishartening to me as I have started a new business developing individualized art images for the hospitality industry. This has grown out of my travels, and work in the design industry (I'm an architect and interior designer) and have increasingly felt that what travelers want and need, even if they are on a business trip, (besides the high tech business needs and personal ameneties)is a sense of where they are! We have extensively travelled in Europe and find that even the chains have a charming individuality. So, C is Hilton Garden Inn, G is Ramada, K is definitely Microtel (why is this a benefit?), and Element could be A, G, N or T. Days inn is U and I've got some of the others but you can only take so many characters! Give me a call anyway, as I'm the only one who tried!! Thanks, Leslie 310-521-0122

Hi Michael, YOU ARE RIGHT!! I spent hours on the various sites trying to figure out if I could match the brand to the description. No way! I could figure out extended stay from a "

Michael, this is a very telling illustration of the effects of brand micro-differentiation. And in the current economy, I can't help but wonder: How much time, marketing hours, consulting fees and other $$$ were spent on these 23 "brand statements" - not a single one of which creates an understandable value proposition!