Embassy Suites Hotels' new Global Head, John Rogers, announced today the brand's plans to grow the portfolio by 25 percent over the next three years to reach 300 properties in the Americas. Embassy Suites has honed in on a strategy that will drive the brand forward to aggressively increase market share, which focuses on leveraging the brand's development flexibility to spur growth in urban markets while strengthening the core brand pillars and implementing smart, new innovations that meet the needs of both guests and developers.
"Embassy Suites Hotels fits a unique niche in the marketplace, as there are many cities where both business and leisure travelers are seeking an upscale, full-service, all suites hotel option that provides great value and excellent customer service"
While Embassy Suites will seek to deepen relationships with existing owners who want to build additional properties, the brand also sees an opportunity to grow its user base with owners who are new to the category, specifically focused service developers who want to move into the upper upscale segment. The Embassy Suites offering has proven very attractive to this audience due to superior premiums and operating margins on par with those found in focused service, a well-defined, proven operating model, and the fact that a very high percentage of rooms are driven by brand systems.
"Embassy Suites Hotels fits a unique niche in the marketplace, as there are many cities where both business and leisure travelers are seeking an upscale, full-service, all suites hotel option that provides great value and excellent customer service," said John Rogers, Global Head of Embassy Suites Hotels. "We're confident that our growth strategy enables us to bring the brand's value proposition into new markets and evolve our product offering to effectively respond to changes in guest preferences and developer needs."
Development has been on the rise for the brand since introducing a new Design Option III prototype and flexible "kit of parts" approach to development in 2009. This prototype – the biggest change the brand has made in the past 25 years – has played an integral role in spurring growth in key urban markets like Houston, Denver, Miami and Seattle. The design decreases the amount of land needed and creates efficiencies for both construction and operational costs, enabling the brand to capitalize on a variety of new development opportunities, including conversions, adaptive reuse and mixed use projects. Currently, nearly three-quarters of the properties in the pipeline feature Design Option III (or elements of it) that bring the key brand elements to life in a non-traditional way without impacting the integrity of the core offering.