How many double-queen rooms does a
hotel need? How many single-king rooms? What about suites? A lot can factor
into determining the guestroom mix at hotels; these industry experts walk you
through the process.
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REPORT FROM THE U.S.—Many factors go
into determining the guestroom mix at hotels, such as demand generators, guest
preferences and market location. Sources said all of those factors and more can
help hoteliers decide the best room mix to appeal to different types of
travelers and thus maximize revenue.
“We look at what is driving people to
the city, what are they going to do while they’re there, to determine how our
room mix shifts,” said Farrah Adams, SVP of hospitality at LBA Hospitality, a
management company with 60 branded hotels comprising 6,252 rooms in its
portfolio.
For example, she said double-bedded
rooms are rented by families and leisure travelers, such as sports teams. King
rooms are generally rented by business travelers or couples on weekend visits.
Dave Pollin, co-founder and president
of developer-owner Buccini/Pollin Group, said that for his company, it starts
with the brand. BPG develops only branded hotels from the ground up. It also
has one independent hotel in its well that it purchased and redeveloped.
“The brands give us ideal direction,”
Pollin said. “They’ll say, ‘Based on the demographics of our travelers, based
on the demand patterns associated with this brand … here’s the recommended
breakout between, say, double queens and kings.’”
For example, BPG is developing a
Canopy by Hilton hotel in Bethesda, Maryland, which will contain 15 suites,
including two presidential suites. This number of suites is more than what that
brand would typically see in its room mix, but Pollin said there is a lot of
social, military, education, religious and fraternal—or SMERF—business, which
warrants that many suites.
“So that’s how we approach suburban,”
Pollin said. “What does the brand say we should do, then we look to understand
the local demand generators in the market and make an intelligent decision on
the breakout.”
Shrinking square footage shifts mix
Urban settings and adaptive-reuse projects require a different
approach.
“We’re subject to a lot more limitations
on what’s possible,” Pollin said.
Double queen rooms require more
square footage and are more costly when it comes to furniture, fixtures and
equipment, he said.
“In an urban environment, we’ll
typically be constrained on what we can do. We’ll pick a minimum number of
double queens that we can ‘live with’ and try to accommodate that,” he said.
“And even sometimes we’re not able to accommodate that based on the
configuration of the site or other limitations that we might have, such as land
uses.”
For example, BPG recently developed a
Homewood Suites hotel in Manhattan. Pollin said the team wanted to have more
double queens than they ended up with. However, they were constrained by the
site in terms of square footage.
Adams agreed that square footage is
at a premium in urban markets, which can cause the room matrix to shift at
hotels in those areas.
As a result, Adams said she sees more
single-bedded rooms featuring either a queen or king bed in urban areas.
“Urban locations are generally good
for couples traveling or single business travelers,” she said.
And in general, rooms across the
board are shrinking, Pollin said.
“Developers know we need to be really
efficient, so if we can get an additional 20, 30, 40 rooms into a hotel, that
makes a project feasible that might not otherwise be,” he added.
Pollin said that this trend will
continue long term as land becomes more expensive and difficult to come by.
Double queen rooms require more
square footage and are more costly when it comes to FF&E. (Photo: LBA,
Courtyard by Marriott Shenandoah, Texas)
Best practices?
While sources said a hotel’s room matrix depends on the
specific property, they identified some possible best practices when it comes
to determining the mix.
Adams said LBA errs on the side of doubles. She cited the Orlando,
Florida, market as an example.
“Orlando is one of the top convention
cities for the country, but also huge for Disney and Universal and several
things family-related,” she said. “We look at hotels in areas like Orlando and
err on the side of doubles. And then look at the capability of connecting rooms
or family suites.”
The thought process of favoring
doubles comes down to considering the business mix of all travelers in the
market, she said.
“Even a traveling salesman that’s
only going to be in town for a day or two is not going to be put off by having
two beds in their room,” she said. “You can rent a double-bedded room type to a
single person. You cannot rent a king room type to a soccer team or a baseball
team that needs to have double occupancy or four kids in a room.”
That said, Adams wouldn’t have an
entire hotel comprise double rooms. It’s important to have the right mix, she
said.
“If I think I’m going to need more
than 50% doubles, I might go to 60% or 70% doubles,” she said, adding that
double rooms are more expensive to furnish and become cost-prohibitive if there
are too many in the mix.
“You also wouldn’t want to be known
as only having one room type in the whole hotel,” she said. “You want to have a
variety in room types.”
Adams said guestroom variety is
important so that the hotel can accommodate all types of guests, whether they
are families or single travelers. She said the company also takes into
consideration how the guestrooms will be laid out and whether they will have
connecting rooms. Some hotels also have great views, and Adams said it’s
important to take that into consideration when determining the room matrix and
placement of guestrooms.
When it comes to the financing side,
Michael Harper, VP of operations for Stonehill Strategic Capital, said there’s
a lot of faith in the developer.
“We look at it. We don’t put as much emphasis on it as
perhaps the franchisor does. They’re looking at it more from a
revenue-management standpoint,” he said. “I’ve never killed a deal because of
the room mix.”
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