Hospitality

Tomorrow’s hotel guestroom is small and sustainable, pretty and personalized. It might look like an office; it might just be a chill place to crash. It might not have a closet, but it will definitely keep the in-room coffeemaker. 

Hospitality has changed in remarkable ways over the last decade, as major brands have jostled to introduce boutique-y brands, attract the Instagram generation and keep up with the global tourism boom. What does the future hold? These are the hospitality trends we believe have staying power over the next five-plus years.

Hip London-based hostel brand Generator recently announced that it doesn’t want to be a hostel company anymore. “The moment we call ourselves ‘hostel,’ it limits us in certain markets,” Generator CEO Alastair Thomann said.

So is Generator a hotel company now? No. Instead, it will simply be called “Generator.” More than a hotel branding quirk, the change reflects the widespread convergence in the hospitality industry, Thomann said, in which hostels are becoming more like boutique hotels (aka poshtels) and boutique hotels are offering dorm-style accommodations. These experiments in community-driven, non-traditional hospitality also enable hotel companies to better compete with Airbnb and its cousins.

So, when is a hotel not a hotel? Let’s look at some ways hospitality companies are bending their brands.

The future looks rosy for the hospitality industry. Growth forecasts continue to be strong. Tourism numbers are booming worldwide. And as travel becomes easier, swifter and more reliant on technology, hotels are striving to keep pace.  

“What’s happened over the last three to five years, and what we expect over the next two or three, are unlike what we’ve seen in this industry before,” Heather Balsley, SVP of global marketing mainstream brands for InterContinental Hotels Group, said at the 2018 Hunter Hotels Conference. Here’s a look at some hospitality trends that promise to reshape the industry.

What’s the one thing that can make or break guest satisfaction? It’s not the pillow menu or the fitness offerings; it’s the hotel breakfast.

Because the breakfast bar is often included in the room price, its quality factors heavily into guests’ assessment of value. Limp offerings of off-brand yogurt and underripe bananas dampen the guest experience; surprisingly good coffee and creative combinations elevate it.

How do the best hotel breakfast bars bring guests back again and again? Here are five fresh ideas.

One of the biggest hospitality trends isn’t big at all: It’s the incredible shrinking guestroom. Five years ago, the standard room in a newly built business hotel was 350 square feet; now it’s 275. Boutique hotels that aim to attract millennials are reducing rooms even more. Vīb by Best Western has “comfortably chic” rooms measuring 200 square feet. At Tru by Hilton, they’re 225.

Smaller guestrooms are cheaper to build, easier to clean and have a better ROI per square foot. The trend fits changing guest expectations and a reimagination of hotel lobbies as places to socialize, work and play. But no guest wants to feel squished — so how can small rooms be designed to feel big?