Hilton has just announced plans to introduce Apartment Collection by Hilton, as the hotel company gets into the furnished apartment accommodation business, thanks to a new partnership.
Continue reading: Apartment Collection By Hilton: Hotel Giant Enters New Lodging Segment
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
A.K.A - Overpriced furnished apartments that you can find elsewhere for much less.
Not sure how they will reconcile the rental rate of furnished apartments with their overpriced hotels in the same area.
AIRbnB complete apartment rentals are typically at 25%-50% discount to nearby hotels from major chains.
If they price these proportionately higher than hotel rooms (more space and amenities), then they can only depend on brand cachet for the well-heeled or provide deep corporate discounts.
The partners will suffer low occupancy with high rates and low margins with corporate discounts whose benefits go to the Hoteliers.
AirBnB model is very exploitative of the apartment owners but it sets up a price ceiling for apartment rentals. Not what Hoteliers are used to.
I'm sure they WILL price the apartments higher than similar AirBnBs. Hilton has a lot of brand loyalty (there are people who insist on staying only at Hiltons even for personal travel) and is likely to be able to command the higher price. Their hotels are often no better than a no-name competitor in the same neighborhood, but cost considerably more. They get away with that because people don't want surprises when they check in to a hotel, so they'll pay more for a brand that offers consistency. The more averse to surprises you are, the less likely you are to book an AirBnB - but that doesn't mean you wouldn't book an apartment if it were offered by a brand you trust.
I think Hilton will do fine with these. As long as they don't mess it up the way Marriott did with Sonder.
Honestly this describes so much of US business today, management and marketing and not much else, outsourcing everything and then wondering why US industry is hollowed out and incompetent...
"Companies like Hilton and Marriott aren’t interested in owning hotels, or even particularly interested in managing them. Instead, they’re interested in taking a cut on anywhere that someone could sleep at night, whether it’s a hotel room, an apartment, or something else."