under that – one of them lost one of their core clients, so they were prepared to negotiate on rate, but it keeps out hotels like The Savoy and Four Seasons. We don’t have a directive that says you cannot stay in luxury hotels but they don’t feature as part of the transient programme.”
to attract corporate business but the levels of investment in luxury hotels since the financial crisis tell the story. “Several billions have been invested into the luxury sector since the crisis – there is a significant appetite to invest,” says Deloitte’s Nick van Marken. “This is driven by two things: there are plenty of
“Several billions have been invested into the luxury sector since the crisis – there is a significant appetite to invest”
W London – Leicester Square
Ultimately, five-star luxury is not a serious option for PwC’s travellers: “It is still not the climate where we should be staying in five-star hotels and for the type of work we do – working on insolvencies and administration – it would not be deemed appropriate,” says van Leeuwen. It may require dedication and creativity for luxury properties
Rocco Forte Hotels’ The Lowry, Manchester 54
“Hotels have got much cleverer at managing their mix of business,” says Rocco Forte Hotels’ Power. “Five years ago, a lot of luxury hotels dealt only with the individual leisure traveller, but they learned that at times there are not many leisure travellers about and so have attracted business travellers. Revenue management is not just about moving prices, it is about moving the business mix.” To that end, the company has been developing stronger relationships with travel management companies to tap into the small- and medium- enterprise market. Kempinski Hotels aims to compete on service rather than price. “When it comes to business travel, we have people in the team who are negotiating with corporate companies on RFPs [requests for proposal],” says the company’s vice-president of sales, David Sparrow. “We try to be as competitive as we can but we want to maintain our position in the market. Sometimes, we will include breakfast and add value
but it is not about rate cutting. We do not compete on price.” The Royal Garden Hotel recently completed a four-year £45 million refurbishment. “We have corporate rates that are part of a partnership with people who have been staying here for 10, 15 years," says Mark Anderson. "We have grown with them. We offer good rates with last room availability, but we don’t have too many. Some hotels have a strategy of doing a lot of corporate rates but cannot fulfil them.” Part of that partnership is good communication and, during the building works, the hotel contacted customers to warn them about the noise. “It did not affect corporates because they tend to be out of the hotel during the day, but we did see a drop in entertainment business,” he says, adding that the honesty policy has paid off for the long term. Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ (PwC) travel programme is “very rate driven” according to head of UK hotels & venues for PwC Sam van Leeuwen. “We have a rate cap and we have got five-stars that come in
people able to spend for a stay in these properties; and the investment community believes hotels at that end of the market provide a great opportunity for putting in serious money.
“There is no recession in London, Paris, New York or Geneva – there’s no shortage of interest in major gateways.” n