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Have you ever felt a sense of bewilderment on approaching your favourite hotel to find that it’s NAME HAS CHANGED!!!!! What last week you knew as the Hilton Anytown, now sports the laurel-wreathed “S” of Sheraton … or your regular roadside Holiday Inn has somehow morphed into a Radisson.
The first time I experienced this, I thought that the hotel had been sold to a competing chain – but no, the staff said, we’ve just re-branded. Turns out that this is now a pretty common thing in the hotel business. I know one hotel in Toronto, which went from an independent, to a Ramada Renaissance, to a Sheraton, to a Canadian Pacific, to a Delta.
Of course this can happen when the ownership of a hotel changes hands. But this is not necessary.
Basically, there are three constituencies in any hotel venture – the owners, the management, and the brand. All three roles – or any two – can be held by the one party. For example, Loews generally own and manage all their hotels, and call them the family name too! But this is not the rule. Very, very frequently an owner of a hotel, inexperienced in running this type of business, will find a company, which specializes in managing them. They, in turn will consider which franchise, or BRAND, best fits the facility or market.
Of course things change. Ownership changes hand. Owners become dissatisfied with management performance. At these times, a change of brand is frequently at least contemplated.
And the brands, from Days Inn to Ritz Carlton fiercely compete to put their signs up and their reservation systems into hotels, which fit their image.
So you see, the joke amongst hotel people is that brand sometimes changes so often that signage should be attached by Velcro for ease of removal!
But what about us, the paying guests? We can be excused for being confused – and more than a little skeptical that our best interests are being considered…
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