My First Stay At A Dual-Brand Hotel (I Think?)

Every time I see a dual brand hotel all I can think of is a combo KFC/Taco Bell.

This is a top 10 OMAAT comment.

There is a triple branded hotel in Chicago. The Aloft-Hyatt Place-Springhill Suites or something like that. Separate receptions.

I stayed at a Homewood Suites in Midtown Atlanta that also houses a Hilton Garden Inn. The only common element was the parking garage. The entrances were different, different lobbies, and their breakfasts were geared towards their brands. Homewood had a breakfast buffet and evening hot snacks while Hilton Garden had their made to order breakfast and brand standard restaurant. The back of the house probably shared common kitchens, staff, etc. But there was a distinct difference in the rooms and service.

Are the Hyatt House rooms significantly different in price from the Hyatt Place?

Well I have stayed at a triple brand hotel. It was in Moscow at an Accor property. It’s located above a commercial mall in Kievskaya (a business district and also train station) and there are 3 brands comprising of Ibis, Novotel and Apario (aparthotel). The interesting thing about that hotel was the check-in areas were all at the same floor. Once you got out the elevator, the left door took you to ibis, the front one to Novotel and the right one to Apario. And all of them also had a separate restaurant of their own in their own sections on the sam floor

Though that being said, i noticed some weird pricing at the Novotel and Ibis. I learned from staff that the laundry were the same for all three of the hotels but each brand charged a different amount for it, with ibis being the cheapest, Apario somewhere in middle and Novotel at the high end.

I don't ever stay at Hyatt, so do the House vs. Place rooms come with different perks/amenities? I would be pretty ticked if I paid a lot more for a House room than a Place room and everything was the same, considering the rooms don't look all that different (looks like a kitchnette is the main difference?), or vice-versa.

Another interesting one is the Thompson/Tommie in Austin. Amenities, including a huge gym, are shared, but the Tommie has check-in occur at a coffee shop in the hotel, rather than the front desk for the Thompson. Rooms are also incredibly different

This is similar to resorts world in Las Vegas where 3 brands under one building right?

There’s a dual Element/Marriott AC in Brickell that opened this year. Home to the overpriced (but beautiful) rooftop bar Rosa Sky

Ha this Hyatt House/ Hyatt Place LAX Century Blvd was partly developed by the former Congressman Aaron Schock... Funny coincidence.

I stayed at a Hampton Inn/Home2Suites property in Tuscon this year that was the same- one check-in desk, one lobby, one breakfast room, etc. In fact, every floor actually had rooms from both hotels! The only sign was that the decor changed over so slightly halfway down the hallway on each floor (with no door or partition separating them).

Aloft/Element in Austin is the same

As are a lot of newer Courtyards/Residence Inns.

Or the somewhat elusive KenTacoHut.

I recently stayed in this hotel and wanted to maximize my Hyatt room night credits so I booked (and received) one night credit from each hotel for the same night.

On checkin I asked if I could have the rooms as close as possible to each other and they put both rooms on the same floor, on opposite sides of the same hallway. The doors were almost exactly across from each other.

I found it very odd too but it worked out in our favor. Two nights closer to globalist and two night credits for brand explorer.

Very nice airport hotel.

My go-to NYC hotel is the Courtyard New York Manhattan/Central Park, which also houses a Residence Inn. The brands are on different floors and have separate elevator banks (almost always crazy busy on the Courtyard side), but share a reception area, restaurant, gym etc.

first thing i thought about as well.

I'm at the Hyatt House
I'm at the Hyatt Place
I'm at the combination Hyatt House and Hyatt Place

Earlier this year, I stayed at the Element/Aloft in downtown Austin, TX. They shared the same ground lobby, and elevators, but had different skylobbies (although, I arrived late at night, so I checked into my Element room at the Aloft skylobby, since the Element reception area was closed).

The floor I was on was half Aloft-themed, and half Element-themed (i.e. turn left from the elevators and it was Aloft wallpaper and sconces, turn right and it was Element fixtures and carpet, etc. [I may have flipped the directions in my memory, but still]). Apparently, the different skylobbies would typically offer different breakfast (a complimentary cold continental on the Element floor, and hot food to purchase in the Aloft lobby), although only the Element level was open during my visit (apparently due to occupancy). Both hotels shared the gym and similar public spaces.

Remember the Westin and Sheraton at FRA Airport?

Yes, a kitchenette is the main difference between the two brands in my experience.

I stayed at a Hyatt House/Place combo in Denver in 2016. There were separate check-in areas in the lobby and two different breakfast areas but there seemed to be no restriction on which you can use. While they shared the same elevators, Hyatt Place rooms were down one hallway and Hyatt House rooms down the other.

I think this has to do with brand commitments based, for example. The Delta Kunming and Sheraton are literally on opposing towers, and for an extensive part during 2020 and 2021, the Delta was temporarily closed due to COVID, everyone booked for Delta will be directed to Sheraton. However, those who book Delta as a Platinum guest will NOT receive club benefits as Delta is not part of the club perk, while those who book with Sheraton directly will receive so, and the management strategically prices Delta cheaper than Sheraton even knowing that it is public that Delta won't operate in the near future so that they can sell club perkless rooms.

@ CMS -- I am in disbelief, wow. I'll save my judgment for now, but I am curious. In stories he's referred to as the owner and developer. What am I missing here? I imagine this is a nine figure property...

Didn't you review the dual Marriott/Sheraton at FRA, Lucky?

I may be wrong. But you can't really avoid 'em. LHR has got it, too.

Yes Accor does that a lot, but contrary to this one Eve, it is often two different entrances in the same building.

So your experience is interesting.

Not sure about the ownership but the HP & HR Zurich Airport are not connected (9 min walk between them) so I would not call them connected. So staff is not shared as HP is franchised and has staff that works for the owner. While HR has Hyatt employed staff.

Residence Inn/Courtyard in Downtown Richmond. The only redeeming qualities I'd that it is downtown and has a nice enclosed patio.

I stayed at the combo Hilton property at LAX (H/Curio and I can't remember the other.) Not quite the same as your experience because it's one building with 2 check-in desks but it didn't seem odd to me.

I've stayed at a Hyatt House in Firt Lauderdale (near FLL airport) and it was quite an old property with cramped rooms and dated decor. That was also a dual-branded property, with a (sold out) Hyatt Place right next to this hotel. They were separate structures, but shared the same lot.

Stayed at the Aloft\Element Dallas Love Field. As I recall, they had separate receptions, elevators, etc.

I've stayed at several dual brand hotels pre-covid internationally and none are setup as this hotel. The first one I stayed at was the Hilton Kuala Lumpur which is shared in the same building with I believe the Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur. Needless to say they had two separate check-in desk, separate restaurants, and even separate pools. I also have stayed ate the Sands Cotai Macau which used to feature 4 hotels, a Sheraton, a Holiday Inn, a Conrad, and I believe a St. Regis. They all had their own restaurants and check-in desks as well and separate pools. The last dual brand hotel I stayed at was the Holiday Inn Express T5 at LHR which is shared with the Crowne Plaza T5 and once again, they had separate entrances, separate restaurants, separate elevators. I also recently stayed at the Marriott FLL Airport which is dual branded hotel with the AC. Once again, separate check-in areas, separate elevator banks, separate restaurants, etc. So this new setup sounds really strange and unique and I'm not sure how I feel about it. At least all of the dual brands I stayed at were truly 2+ hotels sharing one roof but were otherwise separate. I mean you could have dined at the other brands restaurants if you wanted because they were connected.

Did you attend the Cranky Flier meetup on Saturday by LAX by chance?

Charlotte has at least a few, probably more interesting ones.

Sheraton & Le Meridien 555 McDowell
AC Hotel & Residence Inn 210 Trade St.

The main thing with these hotels is to avoid staying in the one that earns half the points - imagine realizing you earn half the points for staying in the element vs. the aloft in Austin or the AC vs. the Residence Inn in Charlotte.

Residence Inn includes breakfast for everyone while AC hotel doesn't. How can they tell who goes to eat the breakfast then?

Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn at FRA

Great & smart strategy!

Usually the separate HHs offer an omelette bar & overall much better breakfast than HP.

In this case, the two brands are known for having very specific room types, so I think it makes a lot of sense. If there isn't much else to differentiate the brands, it makes less sense.

Agreed. The JW Marriott Parq slash Douglas in Vancouver, separate and distinct under one roof, different elevators, rooms, amenities, etc.

There's also the H Hotel and Homewood Suite combo, former of which is the obvious choice for any avgeeks...

@ Ben, not entirely sure. Seems like it is owned by the California Real Estate Regional Center (CARE) which is a major EB5 hotel owner and developer.

Seems like he's assisting in some way in a multifamily asset and the Barriere Fouquet in NYC. Schock and Haywood, have offices in Atlanta and Miami with five apartment communities in development between Florida and Georgia.

"Managing Partner Josh Haywood has been a developer for two large national real estate firms including Cortland Partners and Transwestern Development, overseeing the execution of 3,406 residential apartment units.

Managing Partner Aaron Schock was a three term United States Congressman being first elected as the youngest member of Congress at the age of 26. Since his time in Congress, he has been focused on developing hotels across the U.S. His most notable development includes New York City’s first 6-star hotel the Hotel Barriere Le Fouquet set to open its door in 2022."

Was pretty shocked (or should I say schocked...) when I found out about this. I'm a hotel real estate professional so am aware of recent transactions for my role. I think it's currently managed by Prism Hotels & Resorts (well now owned by Aimbridge Hospitality)

You pretty much described the Downtown Denver Hyatt Place/House. The receptions are separate, but close to each other (I walked up to the wrong one at first). Otherwise, I couldn't tell much of a difference.

Yes Hilton/Homewood in Baltimore years ago! Stayed Homewood across from 4 Seasons! Beautiful innerharbor views. But I was initially confused as to the situation. A lovely woman & 4 cats who had stayed on the Hilton brand side for a year while her home was being remodeled explained. Basically same except for the snacks!

What I don’t like about these is that they tend to cater to the lowest common denominator. I expect a Le Meridien to have a different style than a Sheraton. They also have different standards. Sharing a restaurant, for example, seems like it dilutes the brand. I may be an outlier, but I don’t stay at a hotel *just* for the rooms.

They usually ask your room number.

Similar experience in Calgary, AB at the Hilton Garden Inn / Homewood Suites. 2 street entrances, 2 lobbies, but connected via a small hallway. Different elevators, different breakfast areas; since I stayed at Hilton Garden, but had some breakfast credit (diamond) I'm not sure how the Homewood side prevented the HGI guests from taking their breakfast.

Upstairs, every floor had a HGI wing and a Homewood Suites wing separated by a door. Slightly different hallway decor. The Homewood wing had farther-apart door spacing (very likely bigger rooms due to kitchenette etc). The HGI wing had a lot of used plates in front of the doors (room service). I didn't check out the pool/gym but based on the pictures, the two brands share these.

At Walt Disney World's Disney Springs Hotel Area, the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista and the Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista are sort of like this. Everything (check-in, pools, restaurants) is shared and the only difference is interior or exterior hallways and slight upgraded furnishings in the Wyndham vs. Wyndham Garden.

Here in KC we have a high rise Residence Inn and Courtyard combo. Aesthetically the new build property is just fine. Yet it feels like either brand standard.

Here in KC we have a high rise Residence Inn and Courtyard combo. Aesthetically the new build property is just fine. Yet it feels like neither brand standard.

Agree with you - that is not what I was expecting. Usually it is on the same property but different buildings and as you said some services are shared. No matter the case I generally do not think it is worth to pay more for the more expensive rooms for no reason unless there is a big difference. For example, I stayed at a JW Marriott once at a Courtyard/JW property but the JW was much more well maintained than the Courtyard and it was in separate buildings just next to each other.

Sure because they both belong to Yum brands.

I hate that hotel(s)

The Crowne Plaza / Holiday Inn Express at London Heathrow T4 is pretty weird. 2 separate lobbies and receptions sharing the same atrium and elevators. Both have half their rooms facing the same sun-less atrium. At least it's fairly new?

Crowne Plaza and HE Express at LHR T5 share the same elevators.

Let's not forget the Embassy Suites in DC that have a Hilton Grand Vacations Club "The District" on the top floors.

A lot of overseas Hyatt House has dual branding as Hyatt Place, and they're usually pretty nice, I imagine since Hyatt only had this strategy fairly recent years. Interestingly, the same Hyatt House usually play award availability game while Hyatt Place doesn't, seemingly to avoid WoH members getting more bang for points.

I wonder how they do the licensing process of two identities in the same building?! Do the taxation and P&L statements are separate if they have 2 licenses !!
Basically as said, two hotels are good for doubling the bookers traffic or increasing the online demand, but how does it go if one license is there with OTAs like booking.com or Expedia?!!

Even weirder is the Royal Sonesta Kaua'i Resort Lihue and the Marriott's Kaua‘i Beach Club, two different companies, both at the same location sharing amenities. The Sonesta is basically hotel rooms while the Marriott are timeshare rooms.

Developers also go the dual-brand route as a way to tie up multiple brands and the areas of protection that come with them. Why build a 300-room Homewood Suites (and risk a Home2Suites coming in across the street) when I can take both brands with smaller room counts off the market in my area?

Cancun hotels have been doing this for years.

Nothing new here.