IN FOCUS
Mission possible: design hotels on a budget Independent hotel groups are combining designer
style with budget prices and turning the eye of the corporate crowd. Andy Hoskins fi nds out more about this evolving sector
young upstarts in this emerging sector. The brand’s recipe of smart, functional guest
G
rooms, open-plan social spaces with nods to the local culture, Arne Jacobsen ‘egg’ chairs and, most striking of all, its trademark turquoise splashes arrived in the UK last year and is spreading across the country. Its Edinburgh hotel has basic but well planned guest rooms complemented by impressive bathrooms, but where the hotel really comes to life is in the ground floor lobby and social space, called the ‘one lounge’. It was decked out with dark wooden flooring,
stone and slate, chunky rugs, innovative lighting, sleek bar and a long, rustic wooden table. There were sofas, stools, easy chairs and window seats aplenty – many upholstered in turquoise tartan – and a pair of those iconic egg chairs sat in front of a large TV screen displaying a flickering fire place. And what about the price? Rates at the
group’s first London hotel will start from £89 per night when its Tower Hill location opens later this year, while in Edinburgh £59 rooms are readily available. It's hard not to like Motel One, and others of
their ilk, which are at the forefront of growth in the 'budget design' sector. The group is firmly established in Germany with over forty hotels but is now stretching its reach in the UK. A second property is due to open in Edinburgh early this year, followed by the aforementioned London hotel. They’ll be joined by two Motel Ones in Manchester next year and one in Glasgow after that. The group’s marketing and PR director, Ursula Schelle-Mueller, visited London in November to help raise Motel One's profile in the UK. She says the group aims to take business away
“ Travellers today don’t want to feel like they are in a corporate setting,
but thrive in environments where they can interact with people
”
reat design for little money - that’s what German hotel group Motel One claims, and it’s an ethos shared with a host of other
“ Good design is more accessible and consumers appreciate and want it ”
from the likes of Premier Inn, Ibis and Holiday Inn Express, adding that “our distinctive design and quality is what differentiates us from them”. But Motel One is far from alone in being an independent, budget design hotel group. Schelle-Mueller names Moxy Hotels – a collaboration between Marriott and Ikea – as a likely rival when it launches (though its price point is unclear), while Bloc Hotels (‘combining smart and style-led accommodation with honest pricing’) and Yotel (pedalling a 'First class experience at an affordable price’) have put their own spin on the category. Imported from the Netherlands, meanwhile,
are the fledgling Qbic brand – a ‘low-cost design hotel company’ with rates from ¤69 per night – and citizenM which welcomes ‘mobile citizens of the world: the suits, weekenders, explorers, affair-havers and fashion-grabbers looking for boutique hotel accommodation’. Rates at its Glasgow hotel start from £59. Beside the design element and budget
prices, the groups have in common relatively small guest rooms, locations near transport hubs, free wifi – “it’s a must for business travellers”, says Schelle-Mueller – significant social space and few extras such as meeting rooms, all in a bid to keep costs low. Qbic’s modular ‘Cubi’ rooms allows it to move into and convert properties in double-
quick time, but still manages to incorporate Philippe Starck design elements. According to a report published in November
by hotel research specialist HVS we have a new breed of traveller to thank for the proliferation of budget design hotels. “Travellers today don’t want to feel like they
are in a corporate setting, but thrive in environments where they can interact with people, be it face-to-face or virtual,” says the report. It points out that guests want distinctive products, and that “good design is accessible and consumers appreciate and want it”. But where do these budget design brands fit
into corporate travel programmes? Motel One enjoys a roughly even split between corporate and leisure guests but the group does not have a rewards scheme, there are no meeting rooms or gyms – “the lack of overheads keeps prices down” – and GDS distribution is “not big for us”, explains Schelle-Mueller. The group is nevertheless a preferred supplier to many big names. “We’re on corporate travel programmes – Siemens, for example – but we don’t offer discounts,” says Schelle-Mueller. It’s an exciting and colourful corner of the
hotel industry that is evolving slowly but surely, and one that the big wigs at giants such as Starwood, IHG, Marriott, Hilton and Accor will surely be observing with interest.
THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE 27
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