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Hard Rock keeps rolling with new openings, developments

Despite the all-time lows brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Hard Rock Hotels continues to grow, recently announcing the opening of the Hard Rock Hotel Madrid, its first metropolitan Spanish city hotel, and unveiling its upcoming 446-key Hard Rock New York Hotel in midtown Manhattan, which is slated to open in 2022.

Hard Rock Hotels has also relaunched its new hotel concept, Reverb, which is designed to be a cultural hub for connection, creation and inspiration among music fans. Reverb Downtown Atlanta marked the brand’s first opening, with more properties expected to open across the U.S.

With 26 hotels and nine hotels and casinos globally, HOTELS recently talked to Dale Hipsh, senior vice president of hotels for Hard Rock International, on how they are driving business amid COVID, growth opportunities and their latest offerings.

Reverb brand lobby

HOTELS: How are existing hotels performing and what are you doing to drive business during COVID?

Dale Hipsh: We have been relentless in our commitment to our guests and their experience while visiting our properties, all while maintaining their safety first.

We have seen leisure travel come back positively. Pent up demand in some parts of the world has led to record breaking occupancies, while other regions remain under strict travel restrictions. In late spring and summer, we saw strong demand and performance particularly in The Americas.

To drive business, we created an attractive global promotion called Come Together, which offered exclusive rates, amenities and benefits at our hotels. The campaign celebrated the idea of guests uniting with friends, family and loved ones as travel reignited.

Additionally, we have seen a positive trend with performance in our European hotels. We were able to re-open numerous properties over the summer as well as introduce our newest Hard Rock Hotel Madrid. With vaccination rates continuing to increase globally, we are optimistic about the future.

H: What are your expectations for Madrid property from performance expectation and how you are driving business to the property?

DH: Hard Rock Hotel Madrid opened its doors this past July, marking the newest addition to our rapidly growing European portfolio. As our first metropolitan Spanish city hotel, we have high expectations for this hotel given its unique positioning in the market, yet recognize the hotel opened during a time of uncertainty.

We were thrilled to see within the first six weeks of opening, Hard Rock Hotel Madrid achieved the number one ranking on TripAdvisor amidst hundreds of other hotels. This rapid rise to #1 exceeded our expectations and set new goals for our future hotels to race to the top.

Before we opened our doors, we crafted a musically inspired campaign that created intrigue with Madrilenians to explore our new hotel. The campaign launched at The Callao Square, located at the center the city, with an eye-catching and artistic style. We coordinated additional digital marketing around the city and region to help drive awareness.

As restrictions on travel loosen and international travel increases, we have expanded our marketing reach and driving strong business through our website, sales teams and through the travel advisor community.

We expect the success of the hotel to continue onwards and upwards as Europe continues to re-open and the fall tourism season approaches.

H: Can you update us on the Reverb pipeline?

DH: In December 2020, Hard Rock relaunched our new hotel concept, Reverb. Following the success of our first Reverb in Downtown Atlanta, we have additional properties slated to open in major U.S. cities including Tampa, Florida, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Miami, Florida, in the next two years.

We have seen significant interest in the brand and development costs are in-line with our competitors in the upscale category.

We expect the Reverb brand will be mostly franchised and we analyze all deals based on key strategic metrics, with the ability to provide incentives to our strategic partners. Our company remains fully committed to strong growth plans for the brand.

“There are many opportunities ahead for Hard Rock Hotels as well as our entire enterprise. The hotel division remains the fastest growing part of the business with an exciting pipeline of international projects, including eight hotels in Brazil.” – Dale Hipsh

H: Is New York a strict management deal? Is it a new development or repositioning of existing asset?

DH: March 2022 will be a monumental moment for us as we open our new flagship hotel, Hard Rock Hotel New York. The hotel is a new development, located in the heart of Manhattan and features a line-up of restaurants, bars and flexible entertainment venues. It has 446 guestrooms and suites designed by Jeffrey Beers International.

We are thrilled to be partnering with Extell on the development of this stunning new addition to the world’s most iconic skyline. While COVID may have impacted the shorter-term market performance in New York, our deal was not at risk due to the strong commitments of both Hard Rock International and Extell. Hard Rock has long had its eyes on New York but it was important to us to find the right location and opportunity. The city is filled with vibrant culture making it a popular destination for both leisure and business travel and a highly desirable destination for our expansion. This hotel also offers Hard Rock the opportunity to continue to grow our managed hotel portfolio.

H: What is Hard Rock’s biggest challenges, opportunities moving forward?

DH: In this moment, our challenges remain similar to those of the industry as it relates to the impact from the pandemic. While certain parts of the world are reopening and booming with high vaccination rates, there are other areas that remain restricted and still deeply impacted. For all of our hotels, it has been important to stay positive and be able to pivot with the changing needs and expectations of our guests. The challenges over the past year and a half have been faced with great determination and collaboration, making us stronger each day.

There are many opportunities ahead for Hard Rock Hotels as well as our entire enterprise. The hotel division remains the fastest growing part of the business with an exciting pipeline of international projects, including eight hotels in Brazil.

A key focus for us will be future-proofing the business and ensuring we continue to create experiences that are engaging and entertaining to our growing fan base of all ages.

Our rapid expansion for Hard Rock Hotels, Hard Rock Casinos, Hard Rock Digital and more has created an inflection point for the deeper unification of our approach that will only benefit our guests and customers moving forward. We have strengthened our technology, data and analytics, and opportunities to further personalize guests’ experiences throughout the enterprise, creating a more rewarding relationship.

This past June marked Hard Rock’s 50th anniversary and it is amazing to see how far we have come while staying true to our roots. Our founders began with the mottos ‘love all, serve all, take time to be kind, and save the planet’ that mentality still guides us today through our ownership, the Seminole Tribe of Florida. We look forward to building for the next 50 years as we think about generations to come.

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