Big Hotel Chains Ditch Full-Service Properties in Favor of the Light-Touch Approach
Photo Credit: Hyatt Place Delray Beach. Hyatt Hotels and its hotel peers have seen relative success in growing their select-service brands like Hyatt Place and they don't seem to be backing down from investing into them. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts
Skift Take
The growth of select-service brands from the major hotel companies isn't slowing down at all, and for good reason: They're easier to finance, build, and there's a clear demand for them. In short, it's a clear sign that hotels are learning to listen to what customers really want, as well as adapt to the new on-demand economy.
Is the full-service hotel on its way to becoming obsolete?
Not necessarily but when you consider the select service brands that the major chains are focusing on, there is a case to be made that full-service hotels are losing their star power.
When onefinestay CEO Greg Marsh spoke to Skift last month, one of his statements — "I think the full-service hotel is dead" — struck a definite chord.
His argument was that as on-demand services continue to grow, whether for ride-sharing or food delivery, the need for the full-service hotel, as it is currently constituted, will no longer exist.
For hotels to survive, Marsh said they have to become low-cost leaders and go "ridiculously" select by charging guests for ancillary services and amenities or they have to go in the opposite direction and do something "truly differentiated" and exclusive.
In many ways, Marsh's assessment is slowly becoming a reality, especially if you look at which brands major chains appear to be most in
