Reintroducing Costly Hotel Brand Standards Threaten Owners Just Getting a Taste of Recovery
Photo Credit: Brand standards are always a costly tussle between hotel companies and owners, but the tension is especially heated coming out of the pandemic (Pictured: a Marriott in Boston awaits new signage with the brand's revised logo). Skift / Cameron Sperance
Skift Take
The U.S. hotel sector is performing relatively well this summer, but there is too much uncertainty heading into fall in cities that rely on business travelers. Hotel companies shouldn’t take a few months of strong performance as a signal to reintroduce brand standards and costly renovation mandates.
The U.S. hotel industry, buoyed by summer leisure travel, exceeded expectations in recent months and even surpassed pre-pandemic performance levels last week. But if another aspect of hotel operations quickly snaps back to normal, hotel owners could be in trouble.
Most hotel companies relaxed brand standards, which range from what kind of cereal to serve at a continental breakfast buffet all the way up to costly renovations of guest rooms and public spaces, during the pandemic as a way to help owners save money during a long stretch of minimal demand.
Should the U.S. hotel recovery momentum continue into the fall, enforcing brand standards are likely back on the table. That could spur a wave of long-awaited hotel property sales.
“It might be the looming capital expenditures and property improvement plans and lack of cash that might cause the capitulation,” said Alan Benjamin, founder and president of hotel furniture and equipment procurement firm Benjamin West.
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