There’s no place like home: HOTELS bloggers Ed Ng and Terence Ngan, co-founders and principals of hospitality design firm AB Concept, recently moved their office in Hong Kong to the Victoria Dockside, a place that “is not just about business returns and stock market valuations, but about building a cultural hub, enabling artists and creators, and building a platform for others to prosper,” they write. Their most recent piece is a lovely ode not just to their new neighborhood but to the spiritual and personal associations of their professional history.—Barbara Bohn
Airbnb-hotel comparisons: Independent research from Edison Trends (an e-commerce intelligence company) compared how Airbnb and hotel companies fared in performance for 2018. Of note, Marriott hotel customer spend volume peaked in October 2018, with Hilton also seeing a noticeable uptick. All hotels saw customer spend volume decline in November and December, while Airbnb saw an increase in the final month of the year. Compared with other vendors, Marriott leads in highest average price per night in New York (US$237), Los Angeles (US$194) and Chicago (US$186). Airbnb follows close behind in Los Angeles at US$189 per night.—Jeff Weinstein
Indies rock small towns: For the third consecutive year, Expedia Group data shows that independent hotels continue to experience demand growth, with a nearly 5% growth in 2018. Interestingly, indies seem to do especially well in secondary markets. For example, overall independent demand growth in room nights in Albany, New York, increased more than 20% year over year; under 5% for branded properties. Gatlinburg – Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, saw an almost 20% increase YOY for independents compared with nearly 10% for branded properties. Data also shows that ADR for independents continues to increase, and for just these smaller markets, ADR increased at a pace 2x that of branded hotels. Expedia also found packages continue to be a source of great opportunity for independents in smaller markets as, again, Albany saw a nearly 45% increase YOY for independent package bookings.—J.W.
At least the “American” part is true: Those of us in the U.S. celebrated our Independence Day yesterday, and like most holidays, food plays a pretty important, although informal, role – hamburgers, ribs and hot dogs on the grill, ice cream and beer in the cooler. It doesn’t get more American than American cheese, even though it technically isn’t cheese. What is it? Mike Sula, writing in HOTELS sister publication Plateonline.com, unwraps the mystery of the orange, melty goo (free registration).—B.B.