Issue 794: Boutique Hospitality Finds Growth Amid Economic Uncertainty
Boutique hospitality is proving its resilience once again, navigating economic headwinds with a focus on guest personalization, innovative design, and strategic growth. As consumer confidence wavers, a new report in Travel Weekly notes that luxury hotels—including boutiques—are outperforming, thanks to their emphasis on service, experience, and authentic connection. Meanwhile, Starwood's recent development analysis highlights fresh opportunities for growth within lifestyle and boutique segments—confirming that investor appetite for creative, experience-led hotels remains strong.
DailyPoint's new Profile Snapshot tool is changing the game in guest recognition, giving boutique operators the ability to personalize service on the spot and build loyalty in an increasingly competitive landscape. In the hospital communities segment, new hotel concepts are emerging to meet unique needs, underscoring boutique's adaptability and its potential to shape non-traditional markets.
New hotel openings continue to dot the map with design-driven experiences. From the newly opened Carriage House Inn in Elmira—an adaptive reuse project that just received $1 million in funding—to the upcoming 1 Hotel Copenhagen in Denmark's historic Latin Quarter, the week's highlights showcase how heritage, sustainability, and modern luxury are merging. In Sarasota, Cirque St. Armands Beachside brings a touch of bohemian design to the Gulf Coast, while a just-unveiled boutique hotel in downtown Jacksonville is already turning heads.
Design remains the heartbeat of boutique hospitality. Wallpaper's 'Best New Hotels' feature highlights how design-led properties are defining the guest experience—reinforcing boutique's leadership in aesthetic innovation. From the dramatic refurbishment of the Adelphi Hotel in Portrush to the reopening of The Brunswick Hotel after a multimillion-dollar renovation, design is both a differentiator and a value driver.
Food & Beverage continues to serve as a storytelling platform within boutique hotels. Eddie Huang's new pop-up restaurant on the Lower East Side merges bar culture with culinary experimentation, while Dishoom's micro-hotel concept in London offers a fresh take on immersive F&B. From design-forward restaurants featured in Hospitality Design to intimate dining experiences like Chez Nous in New York, this week proves that boutique hospitality is expanding its influence far beyond the guest room.
Boutique hotels continue to thrive by prioritizing creativity, culture, and connection—showing that even in uncertain times, their commitment to craft and community remains a winning formula.
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Hospitality Net
13-06-2025
- Hospitality Net
How Hotels Can Win at eCommerce & Drive Direct Bookings
Independent hotels have a competitive edge in their DNA – offering rare, remarkable experiences that guests want to talk about, post about, and relive. According to Expedia Group's Unpack '24 report, more than 90% of travelers say the vibe of a hotel is important when booking. Additionally, 67% of travelers would pay more to stay at a hotel that aligns with their preferred vibe, highlighting the significance of personalized and unique experiences in the hospitality industry. While the unique vibe sets independent hotels apart, success in today's digital marketplace depends on how effortlessly guests can discover and book that experience online. As consumers grow increasingly tech-savvy, how can independent hotels put their best foot forward in the digital marketplace? This article goes back to basics in terms of online usability, and highlights practical tools and strategies to bring eCommerce to hotel websites and drive more direct bookings. Hotel eCommerce starts with usability Danish usability pioneer Jakob Nielsen once said: The first rule of eCommerce is that if you cannot find the product, you cannot buy it either. Back in 1994, he developed his renowned 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design, which are still highly relevant for websites across all industries, including hospitality. In fact, a recent study by Forrester shows that websites with all usability principals applied have up to 400% higher conversion rates than those that don't. Today's guests are increasingly tech-savvy, digital natives who expect a fast and seamless transition from browsing to booking. Adding another layer of complexity for hotels is that the digital world is overflowing with glitzy website design agencies and shiny tech solutions which can make it difficult to know what works best for your brand, your website, and, most importantly, your guests! Hotels with a strong brand and story already have a powerful advantage in the online marketplace. The next step is usability, and a good exercise to evaluate how user-friendly your hotel website is would be to benchmark it against Nielson's principles. Hotel Website Usability Checklist: Availability, rates, and booking confirmation are clearly displayed at every step. Language and visuals match how guests talk and think—clear, friendly, and intuitive. Guests can change dates, room types, or restart a search without losing progress. Design, branding, and tone are consistent from homepage to confirmation. Inputs and prompts help prevent common errors (e.g., invalid dates or empty fields). Key booking info (room details, pricing, dates) stays visible during the journey. Navigation is smooth for both new and returning guests, across desktop and mobile. Layout is clean and focused, with visuals and calls-to-action that guide, not distract. Clear, friendly error messages help guests understand and fix problems easily. Support like FAQs or live chat is available during critical booking steps. Aesthetics alone won't drive bookings. A beautiful website that lacks clear offers, prominent booking buttons, and compelling calls-to-action is just expensive décor. 5 Practical Ways to Bring Hotel eCommerce to Your Website & Drive Direct Bookings In hospitality, inspiration sparks interest—but it's a smooth, intuitive booking journey that turns that interest into revenue. From the moment guests land on your site to the final confirmation screen, every step should feel seamless, relevant, and easy. Here's how to bring eCommerce best practices to your hotel website to boost direct bookings and reduce drop-offs. 1. Deliver a Seamless Website-to-Booking Experience Guests feel confident and comfortable when they can explore, select, and book without leaving your site—creating a seamless journey that reflects your unique brand and values. Imagine a guest browsing your photo gallery, captivated by your beachfront suite—and then clicking 'Book Now' only to be redirected to a page that looks completely different, with a different URL. That disconnect creates doubt. Instead, ensure that the booking flow feels like a continuation of the website experience—same design, same branding, same domain. This consistency builds trust and keeps guests from bouncing. Why it matters: 75% of consumers admit to judging a business's credibility based on its website design (Stanford Web Credibility Research). Any break in that design can break their trust. 2. Let Guests Book While They're Inspired Think of a guest exploring your romantic getaway page and seeing the perfect suite for their anniversary. 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Timely reminders and gentle prompts can recover up to 30% of those lost opportunities. 4. Make the Booking Experience Feel Personal If a guest visits your site in French from Paris, why force them to navigate in English and see default offers for the U.S. market? Today's travelers expect digital experiences that adjust to their needs—whether that's recognizing a returning visitor, displaying content in their language, or highlighting relevant deals based on where they're browsing from. Why it matters: 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that offer personalized experiences (Epsilon). Booking journeys should feel intuitive, not transactional. 5. Meet Guests on their Preferred Device—and Add Value Picture a group of curious young adventurers planning a summer vacation from their phones, until they find a link to your hotel website on Instagram. If your website loads slowly or doesn't adapt to their device, you've lost them. Ensure your site and booking experience work seamlessly on mobile, are discoverable on travel platforms, and offer simple add-ons—like airport pickup or a family picnic package—that enhance the stay and generate revenue. Why it matters: 72% of mobile bookings happen within 48 hours of a last-minute search (Sojern). And upsells can increase revenue per booking by 18% on average (Skift). Success in Hotel eCommerce comes from putting the Guest First Independent hotels have something no algorithm can replicate: unique experiences that guests crave and want to boast about to their friends or across social networks. But that value only translates into direct bookings when the guest journey is thoughtfully designed from the very first interaction—not just at the check-in desk, but from the moment someone lands on your website. Prioritizing direct relationships starts long before the booking. It begins the instant a potential guest interacts with your brand online. The tone of your content, the clarity of your offers, and the ease of making a reservation all contribute to whether a guest feels confident booking directly—or decides to look elsewhere. Hotels that have invested in usability and guest-first design are seeing measurable results: doubling direct bookings and making them the majority contributor to overall revenue. When your website reflects the same care and hospitality guests experience in person, it builds trust, drives conversions, and reinforces brand loyalty from the outset. If your goal is to build stronger guest relationships and drive direct bookings, your website must work as an extension of your hospitality—clear, helpful, and focused on making every interaction count towards achieving those goals. About GuestCentric GuestCentric is a leading provider of cloud-based digital marketing software and services that help extraordinary hoteliers promote their brand, drive direct bookings and connect with customers on all digital platforms. GuestCentric's all-in-one platform provides hotels with the only unified solution for managing their guests' online journey: award-winning, high impact websites; an integrated, easy-to-use booking engine; social media marketing and publishing tools; a GDS chain code and a channel manager to offer rooms on Amadeus, Expedia, Galileo, Google, Sabre, TripAdvisor and hundreds of other channels. GuestCentric is a proud provider of solutions that maximize direct bookings to hotel groups and independent hotels from collections such as Design Hotels, Great Hotels of the World, Leading Hotels of the World, Relais & Chateaux, Small Luxury Hotels and Small Danish Hotels. GuestCentric is featured on Skift Travel Tech 250, a list of the top 250 travel tech companies shaping the modern-day travel experience. Melissa Rodrigues Content Manager +35 196 157 3854 GuestCentric Systems View source
Hospitality Net
12-06-2025
- Hospitality Net
European Hotel Investment Market: Insights and Outlook After a Record Year
Hotel Investment Holds Steady in Q1 2025, with a Promising Hotel Investment Outlook in Europe European hotel transaction volumes reached €5.5 billion in Q1 2025, flat year on year with 2024 but still 24% above the 2020–2024 five-year average. With several deals in the making, we expect 2025 volumes to surpass last year and reach about €25Bn. This is assuming a continued gradual recovery of the lending landscape. With an increased maturity in the hotel sector and growing interest in the Hotels Sector from core institutional capital, market volumes are forecast to grow further in coming years. Hotels are typically more resilient than most other asset classes in a high inflation environment, due to their ability to quickly react and adjust to increase prices, whilst at the same time having opportunities to manage their costs. As such, the typical investment model offers investors value-add opportunities in a high interest rates environment. In addition, some assets, such as ultra luxury/iconic hotels, might suffer less from these impacts. European Hotel Deals Soar Above 5-Year Average in 2024 European hotel transaction volumes reached €22.3Bn in 2024, a +36% increase vs 2023, and also 19% above the 5 years' average (2019-23). This market volume was underpinned by the closing of several large portfolio deals (accounting for over one third of the total in 2024), as well as a number of major single asset transactions. The catalyst for this growth was a strong trading recovery and positive trading outlook, backed up by increased debt availability, at margins which were accretive to investment returns. Investors focused principally on urban markets with a solid leisure component (such as London, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome & Barcelona), as well as leisure-driven destinations (Iberian Peninsula, France and Italy). Alongside these core markets, there was notable increases in investment volumes (within the top-10 markets) in Greece (+290% vs 2024), Norway (+248%) and Ireland (+209%). Despite a cautious approach due to the current geopolitical uncertainties, the market sentiment remains very positive. Hotels are a 'hot' asset class at the moment, given their value-add opportunities (beneficial in a high lending cost environment), strong recent performance, hedge against inflation and offering an excellent opportunity for investors to diversify their investment holdings. Several landmark transactions and large portfolios drove 2024 results Key portfolio transactions included the acquisition of 33 Marriott hotels by KKR, Amante Capital and Baupost from ADIA in Q4, Blackstone's purchase of Village Hotels (33 hotels) from KSL Capital Partners in Q2, the sale of 10 Radisson Edwardian hotels to Starwood Capital Group in Q1 and the acquisition of 21 hotels from Land Securities by Ares Management and EQ Group in Q2. The most significant single-asset transactions were Amundi's sale of the Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel to Morgan Stanley and QuinSpark Investment Partners, Signa's sale of the Bauer Hotel in Venice to Mohari Hospitality and Omnam Investment Group, Kennedy Wilson's sale of the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin to Archer Hotel Capital, Blackstone's sale of the Hilton Paris Opera to City Development Limited and Hines and Henderson Park's sale of the Grand Hyatt Athens to Hotel Investment Partners. A growing trend in Europe involves converting commercial buildings into hotels, exemplified by the sale of London's iconic BT Tower to MCR Hotels for transformation into a luxury hotel. What's Driving the High Transaction Volumes in Europe? European hotels are liquid: in 2024, it represented about ¼ of the global room supply (27%) but more than 1/3 of the transaction volumes (37%). This is driven by: A good mix well-established urban markets and of established resort destinations with limited supply growth. Strong operating performance: 2024 RevPAR up 34% vs. pre-pandemic, surpassing Americas (+32%) and APAC (+6%), trailing MEA (+58%). High operational margins: our samples of branded full-service hotels in 15 major European markets show healthy Gross Operating Profit margins (ranging between 27%-47%). 13 out of the 15 markets recorded a growth of GOP PAR in 2024 versus 2023, with an average increase of 10%. This is positive news given the ongoing inflationary pressures and lack of labour. High levels of transparency of markets providing confidence for investors In the context of all asset classes (office, retail, industrial & logistics), the hospitality sector increased in attractiveness among investors, due to its positive growth metrics and strong value-add potential. In addition, investment was supported by favorable currency dynamics. In 2024, the USD strengthened notably against the Euro, enhancing the appeal of European assets for dollar-based investors. Sources: STR, HotStats Recent Changes in the Transactional Landscape A key change since the pandemic has been the shift towards investments in resort assets (as opposed to urban destinations), driven by positive consumer trends (more spending on experiences rather than goods, and the ability to combine work and leisure), as well as a recognition by many institutional investors of the resilience of leisure demand. We are witnessing a continued rising trend of conversions of existing commercial assets into hotels, especially in established mature markets, driven by constrained pipeline, hotels' growing appeal over other asset classes, and ability to deliver alignment with ESG goals. There has also been a trend from some significant investors (such as Brookfield AM and Archer Hotel Capital) to take direct operational control by integrating or establishing management and investment platforms into their structures, rather than accepting a traditional HMA or lease model, which may limit control and reduce returns. Top Investor Picks for 2025: Southern Europe Leads, Prague Sees the Sharpest Rise According to our latest Investor Survey (Investor Compass 2025), the most attractive cities for investors in 2025 are Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, London, Lisbon, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, and Berlin. However, the largest increase in attractiveness relative to 2024 is in Prague (+14%), Munich (+8%), Milan (+4%) and Edinburgh (+4%). In 2024, the most attractive markets (by investment volume) in Europe where: EUR, Millions — Source: Cushman & Wakefield & HotStats (data are rounded) Markets to Watch for Future Hotel Investment The most significant opportunity perhaps lies in Germany which has seen a significant drop in hotel volumes in recent years. Notwithstanding the weak short term economic outlook for Germany, as the largest economy in Europe, we expect a recovery of German investment volumes, which has historically been number 2 by investment volumes (behind the UK) in Europe. Emerging markets also include the South Eastern European region (incorporating countries such as Croatia and Greece) which has historically had lower liquidity, but experienced strong investment activity in Q1 2025, +553% vs 2019-23 5YRS average, as did the Nordics (Q1 2025 volumes +232%), as well as the Baltics (currently low due to impact of the War in Ukraine), and the Central & Eastern Europe region (especially Prague, with several landmark properties recently sold – including the Four Seasons and Hilton Prague, both acquired by PPF in 2025). ESG's Rising Role in Hotel Investment Decisions According to our latest investor survey, 31% of investors faced ESG-related issues with a major monetary impact (>€500K) during hotel acquisitions or dispositions in the last two years. Overall, about 67% of investors have encountered ESG-related issues (incl. non-monetary), but this is a decline compared to the preceding year (74%). The declining number of issues might be due to increased preparedness of assets ahead of dispositions as sellers seek to avoid ESG related negative impacts. According to our survey, investors are willing to pay a green premium for sustainable hotels (4.8% on average), but this may shift toward brown discounts as sustainability becomes a baseline expectation. Unlocking Potential: Challenges and Opportunities in European Hospitality Investment As ever, some of the challenges will present opportunities for hotel-savvy investors. The key challenges will likely include effective cost control (rising labour and inflation-driven supplier pricing), navigating the geopolitical environment (impact of border tightening on staffing and taxes on procurement), meeting regulatory and ESG compliance, and staying ahead of technological advancements. On the other hand, opportunities will arise for those who embrace technology (cost cutting opportunities, clearer vision with data-driven analysis). Demand growth is expected for transient accommodation driven by global demographics and lifestyle trends. European travelers are expected to live longer and are now allocating more time and money to leisure activities/holidays (shift from spending on good to experiences). Simultaneously, international travelers are seeing their populations and income growing. The growing trend of 'working from home' and combining work and leisure will benefit extended stay and hybrid formats of hospitality. As a result, we expect more capital to be deployed in the European hotel sector in 2025 than in 2024. 56% of respondents to our investor survey intend to deploy more or at least the same capital than in 2024, with an increasing pool of buyers (more institutional, willing to shift from traditional asset classes towards alternative/living sectors). When approaching European markets, investors should assess demand diversity (balanced mix of domestic/international, leisure/business travelers), understand the supply/pipeline dynamics (European markets are very polarized: i.e., Brussels and Dublin have a greater pipeline (>=4% 2023-2025 CAGR) than markets such as Paris and Barcelona, which are expecting very limited pipeline additions (<=2%)), and recent tourism taxes/VAT changes (e.g., increasing tourism tax in Amsterdam). Furthermore, investors should integrate sustainability into their hotel strategy and ensure effective cost management. This article is based on an interview conducted by ChosunBiz:
Hospitality Net
11-06-2025
- Hospitality Net
Issue 794: Boutique Hospitality Finds Growth Amid Economic Uncertainty
Boutique hospitality is proving its resilience once again, navigating economic headwinds with a focus on guest personalization, innovative design, and strategic growth. As consumer confidence wavers, a new report in Travel Weekly notes that luxury hotels—including boutiques—are outperforming, thanks to their emphasis on service, experience, and authentic connection. Meanwhile, Starwood's recent development analysis highlights fresh opportunities for growth within lifestyle and boutique segments—confirming that investor appetite for creative, experience-led hotels remains strong. DailyPoint's new Profile Snapshot tool is changing the game in guest recognition, giving boutique operators the ability to personalize service on the spot and build loyalty in an increasingly competitive landscape. In the hospital communities segment, new hotel concepts are emerging to meet unique needs, underscoring boutique's adaptability and its potential to shape non-traditional markets. New hotel openings continue to dot the map with design-driven experiences. From the newly opened Carriage House Inn in Elmira—an adaptive reuse project that just received $1 million in funding—to the upcoming 1 Hotel Copenhagen in Denmark's historic Latin Quarter, the week's highlights showcase how heritage, sustainability, and modern luxury are merging. In Sarasota, Cirque St. Armands Beachside brings a touch of bohemian design to the Gulf Coast, while a just-unveiled boutique hotel in downtown Jacksonville is already turning heads. Design remains the heartbeat of boutique hospitality. Wallpaper's 'Best New Hotels' feature highlights how design-led properties are defining the guest experience—reinforcing boutique's leadership in aesthetic innovation. From the dramatic refurbishment of the Adelphi Hotel in Portrush to the reopening of The Brunswick Hotel after a multimillion-dollar renovation, design is both a differentiator and a value driver. Food & Beverage continues to serve as a storytelling platform within boutique hotels. Eddie Huang's new pop-up restaurant on the Lower East Side merges bar culture with culinary experimentation, while Dishoom's micro-hotel concept in London offers a fresh take on immersive F&B. From design-forward restaurants featured in Hospitality Design to intimate dining experiences like Chez Nous in New York, this week proves that boutique hospitality is expanding its influence far beyond the guest room. Boutique hotels continue to thrive by prioritizing creativity, culture, and connection—showing that even in uncertain times, their commitment to craft and community remains a winning formula. Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA) BLLA
