Hotels That Endure In Every Economic Climate

This week, I am turning the reins over to my associate, Dan Welborn. Dan heads up our offices in Irvine as a vice president and principal, and was in attendance at last week’s Lodging Conference 2008. He has some interesting insights that I wanted him to share.

Dan: At last week’s Lodging Conference, set in the middle of the Arizona desert and surrounded by stunning mountains and palm trees, our industry met and stayed in one of the country’s most beautiful and historic hotels: The Arizona Biltmore. Surrounded by truly inspirational Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design, I came home every night to sit in my well-appointed suite and tune in to the 24-hour news – catching up on the week’s roller-coaster ride of current events in the U.S. – from bailout bills to bank busts. I am sure many of you who read this will agree with me: It was a surreal experience.

However, my outlook changed as I gazed out from my sliding glass doors that overlooked the celebrated Paradise Pool. (Incidentally, the lore of this stunning poolside is that it was among Marilyn Monroe’s favorites.)  This hotel, steeped in tradition and history, was crowned the “jewel of the desert,” upon its opening on February 23, 1929 – almost exactly eight months to the day before the stock market crash of October, 1929. 

Surely, the Wall Street crash that ultimately launched The Great Depression was scary news for then-financer and soon-to-be Biltmore owner William Wrigley Jr. And yet the Arizona Biltmore still stands today, surviving and thriving through 13 administrations, six wars and countless downturns (and subsequent upturns) of the economy.

So, with instability being the only consistent sentiment that most of us are feeling right now, I thought it would be wise to take a moment to remember what qualities lend themselves to a hotel property that endures through good times and bad. Taking cues from my dazzling surroundings at the Arizona Biltmore, I made a list of enduring qualities: 

Quality and attention to detail
Timeless design is something that we advise our clients on often. The question that inevitably arises is: How does one marry fashionable design with timeless design? The answer is: Quality and attention to detail build the bridge between fashionable and timelessness. Are materials used on your property of the highest quality? Is craftsmanship solid? Has the issue of scale and proportion been properly handled? Has the design taken into account the hotel operations, ensuring a hotel that not only looks good, but functions flawlessly? Craftsmanship and quality speak through the ages.

Concept clarity
Timeless design starts with a great idea, and then connects all of the dots throughout the space and experience.  In other words, follow through. By having all stakeholders on board with a great concept, then executing the concept in design, service and offerings, one can achieve a transcendent experience for guests. 

Luxury is an attitude. It isn’t 19 pillows.
Contrary to popular belief, the number of superfluous pillows on a guestroom bed and the quality of the artisan water available for purchase in a room do not define luxury. Luxury in design only succeeds when the experience that surrounds the design is luxurious. That means operations must deliver on the promise of a luxury experience, therefore allowing luxury design to support that promise.

Does your hotel create a need or fill a need?
As Danny Meyer, superstar restaurateur says, location, location, location can always be trumped by context, context, context. Great real estate allows owners to fill a need… whether it be convenient to the airport or a downtown shopping center. And that’s great until the airport loses one of its major airline carriers or the shops become passé. 

The benefits of a particular piece of real estate can change through the decades. Taking our cue from the Arizona Biltmore, create a need by creating a destination (complete with a golf course, eight pools and a life-sized chess board, for example) and find that your business will be far less affected by external influences and far more affected by the quality of the experience that you offer.

Indigenous design – always stylish
These days, everyone’s language is peppered with terms such as “sustainable” and “local.” And while it seems trendy in today’s landscape, indigenous design is anything but. Designing a structure to complement its surroundings by using like materials and colors, as well as culturally linking a building to its environs, gives it a reason to exist as if it is a part of the natural environment itself, and therefore a greater chance that it will still be standing a century later.

At the Biltmore, using indigenous sand and clay to make the concrete “Biltmore Blocks” on the property has helped this design to look as if it naturally arose from its surroundings, and therefore it is always viewed as an asset to the marvelous sightlines as opposed to a distraction.

In conclusion
There will be many wonderful hotel properties that will survive this economic crunch that the United States currently finds itself in, and future downturns as well. By considering these principles of timeless design and realizing that great design has more to do with a great location, solid concept and flawless execution than with picking the right “style,” hotels can transcend the trends and become an icon.

Some of us are working on bringing projects to life right now; others are waiting for life to settle a little bit before pursuing the next big thing. But all of us should be considering qualities of design that endure when we are ready to be back in the game.