Skift Take
Commune sits squarely inside the growing boutique and lifestyle sector, putting it in a prime position to discover and adapt to guests' changing expectations faster than large hotel corporations dipping into the segment with a newborn brand.
Editor’s Note: This interview is part of Skift's CEO interview series. This series is with hospitality CEOs talking about the Future of the Guest Experience and the evolving expectations and demands of hotel guests. Check out all the interviews as they come out here. Also, enjoy the previous series on the Future of Travel Booking, with online travel CEOs.
Commune Hotels and Resorts is a relatively new hotel company, which formed in 2011 when boutique hotel brand Joie de Vivre merged with luxury lifestyle brand Thompson Hotels. In addition to the two founding brands, Commune recently launched tommie, a value-oriented that combined the luxury and bespoke lifestyle elements of the former brands.
Niki Leondakis, the company's current CEO and one of very few women leading a hotel corporation, joined Commune in 2012 after serving as COO and president of Kimpton Hotels & Restuaurant. Her experience puts her in the center of the lifestyle hotel sector whose growth was evidenced by IHG's $430 million offer to acquire Kimpton last week.
Leondakis recent spoke to Skift about hiring for spirit, how diversity of staff impact guest experience, and the role of content in engaging new customers. An edited version of our interview can be found below.
Skift: What are the biggest challenges that you're facing today to improve the guest experience?
Niki Leondakis: The biggest challenge is understanding changing guest attitudes and travel habits. They've been changing at a rapid rate in the last few years for a variety of reasons. The challenge is interpreting how those changing attitudes and habits can best be incorporated into the way we program our hotels and engage our guests. Those changing attitudes and habits, combined with globalization, the breaking down of barriers, and cultural differences is redefining how we bring the hotel experience to the guest.
Skift: What are some of the major shifts that you're seeing in guest expectations or demands?
Leondakis: A lot of people focus on millennials and what that particular demographic wants from a hotel stay, how they make buying choices, and how they engage, but I think that the millennial
