Big interview
Residential hotels: A holiday that lasts
Residential properties traditionally have occupied a small niche in the hospitality world. But with the pandemic upending how operators think about development and their customer base, this is quickly changing. Andrea Valentino talks to Brad Berry, vice-president of global residential development at Rosewood, to understand how isolation has made the acquisition of branded residential properties more appealing for big spenders, how Rosewood puts as much care into its residential pipeline as it does regular hotels and how the new boom in long-stay properties could yet transform the operator’s relationship with its regular hotel guests too.
he pandemic may finally be slowing down, but its consequences are only just beginning. Nowhere is that truer than hospitality. From design and amenities, right down to how often maids change bathroom towels, the past two years are destined to change hotels forever. If nothing else, this is obvious from the statistics. As early as August 2020, a poll by Criton found that 80% of hotel guests would now download a hotel app that helped them check in – a 10% increase from a few months earlier. By the middle of 2021, the dial had slid even further, with 93% of guests now expecting hotels to outline their Covid-19 safety measures, as found in Hospitality Net’s 2021 housekeeping and hygiene study.
T
Yet, amid the surveys and think pieces, it is easy to forget that Covid-19 could also presage a change in the most fundamental tenets of global hospitality. Forget apps and cleaning protocols, the hotel of the future may not even be a hotel in the traditional sense. Instead, it could morph into something approaching a high-end apartment, allowing guests to enjoy both the comforts of home and the glamour of time away. At any rate, that is the feeling you get talking to Rosewood’s vice-president of global residential development, Brad Berry. Over the past few years, Berry argues that there has been a “fundamental shift” in how the residential market is viewed, suggesting that buyers are “now
16
Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com
Rosewood Hotels and Resorts
Rosewood Hotels and Resorts
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73
