Hotel & Motel Management - October 6, 2008 - (Page 54)

54 News H&MM October 6, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Settle Inn, GuestHouse rants over the economy brand’s Continued from page 1 six months. From there, he wants name, but Watters expects resoluto branch out with more brands in tion before the year’s end. “I will not say everything has new segments, including upscale and extended-stay. Settle Inn is in been rosy. We have stubbed our the midscale segment, and Guest- toe with the Shoney’s Inn brand,” House moved up from its econo- Watters said. Another challenge was getting my ranking this year. “I want to be that alterna- GuestHouse to the quality level tive lodging brand that can deliv- of Settle Inn, which has primarier owners and developers, as well ly new-build properties. “We said, ‘Get up to speed as guests, a number of different quick;’ this isn’t a dumpbrand tiers,” he said. ing ground,” he said. The only way his adMany properties stepped mittedly lofty goals can up, but 18 properties exwork is to drive reveited the system. nue to owners. “Owners “I met with Guestwant to be part of someHouse members who thing bigger. They’re sitsaid, ‘You have to cut to ting on $6-million and grow.’ It hurt from a cash$8-million assets, wantﬂow perspective, but we ing to know how I’m go- Watters had to do it. It’s proven to ing to generate more reve- SETTLE INN, GUESTHOUSE be a good step; we’ve renue for them,” he said. Watters and his team already placed all those properties.” The move has attracted newhave achieved several goals in the past couple of years. They began construction properties to the franchising Settle Inn, a 14-year- mostly conversion brand. Rich old company, in 2006, and then Cane, president of Cane Hotel acquired GuestHouse at the end Co., built the 73-room, all-suites of that year. Along with Guest- GuestHouse International El Paso House, they also purchased Shon- (Texas), which opened in January. ey’s Inns and were set to resurrect Quality was an initial concern for the brand when the trademark Cane, but he has seen the brand came under dispute. The com- improve. Eight properties currently are pany is now in litigation with the new owners of Shoney’s Restau- under construction, including six The GuestHouse International El Paso (Texas) opened in January and is one of the new-construction properties that has joined the mostly conversion brand because of its improvement in quality and fair franchise agreements. DON’T LET YOUR HOTEL GUESTS GO TO BED WITHOUT PROTECTION ! t )ZQPBMMFSHFOJD t 'JUUFE TIFFU TUZMF XJUI BO BCTPSCFOU DPUUPO TVSGBDF t #BSSJDBEFT BHBJOTU BMMFSHFOT TVDI BT CBDUFSJB IVNBO TLJO DFMMT QPMMFO NPME QFU BOE EVTU EBOEFS t 8BUFSQSPPG BOE QSFWFOU CPEJMZ øVJET GSPN TUBJOJOH mattress t "WBJMBCMF JO BMM TJ[FT Premium Our tted sheet style mattress and pillow protectors are: 'PS DPNQMFUF NBUUSFTT BOE CPY TQSJOH QSPUFDUJPO count on: with #VH-PDL QBUFOU QFOEJOH #VH-PDL TJEFE [JQQFS TZTUFN BOE "--&3 ;*1 seal GPS DPNQMFUF QSPUFDUJPO BHBJOTU BMMFSHFOT EVTU NJUFT BOE CFE CVHT #FE CVH FOUSZ FTDBQF BOE CJUF QSPPG 'PS QSPEVDU JOGPSNBUJPO BOE QSJDJOH DPOUBDU 1FUSB + .JOPò 7JDF 1SFTJEFOU PG 4BMFT 1SPUFDU " #FE® )PTQJUBMJUZ %JWJTJPO QFUSB!QSPUFDUBCFE DPN t 5PMM GSFF XXX NZQSPUFDUBCFE DPN CIRCLE NO. 136 t 'BY GuestHouse properties and two Settle Inns. Cane cited the company’s fair franchise agreement as one of the major draws. “It’s not long-term, there’s a way to get out if you’re not happy and it’s priced probably best in the industry for what you get,” he said. Tim O’Connor, SVP of brand management, said the franchise agreement has been the premise of the company since it launched with Settle Inn. “It’s one of our largest single points of differentiation from the large franchisors, who have agreements heavily weighted in favor of the franchisor,” he said. “We’ve staked out this beachhead, and it almost feels like there are some larger companies trying to jump on this mantra. It’s the comfort level a lot of franchisees need with about half the fees of the majors and two- or four-year contracts.” The franchise agreement received a near-perfect score from the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers. Susan and Tom Wann converted a Comfort Inn they built in 1988 to the Settle Inn & Suites O’Fallon (Ill.) in April. “We were kind of pioneers for a new-build Comfort Inn,” Susan Wann said. “Eventually [Choice Hotels International] became publicly traded, and the focus changed from the franchisee and guest to shareholders.” She was impressed by the phi- By the numbers Brand Properties GuestHouse 68 GuestHouse China 2 Settle Inn 12 Shoney’s 2 Total 84 Guestrooms 5,429 294 948 158 6,829 States 22 n/a 6 2 26 Sources: Settle Inn and GuestHouse losophy at Settle Inn and how franchisees are treated like family. “They’re very demanding about their properties giving a high-quality guest experience, but there’s ﬂexibility in how to get there and things that are best suited to our market.” she said. Guest recognition A joint guest loyalty program also is on the horizon—but not a pointperks program. “I think we have to go into instantaneous recognition and perks,” Watters said. “Obviously for the Marriotts and Wyndhams, [points programs] make sense. It doesn’t ﬁt in line with our entrepreneurial approach. What I want is a recognition program, and I want it to fall to the consumer faster. I don’t want it to cost our franchisees and owners a truckload of cash.” Another move was the purchase 14 months ago of the InnLink reservation system, which has grown from 900 properties to 1,400. “We’ll be able to offer the ser- vices that will make it easier to compete with the big boys,” Watters said. In April, the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. chose InnLink as its preferred provider for central-reservations services. An updated offering will roll out this year, and an online property-management system will follow. The hotels are located in 26 states, and O’Connor said they’d like to be in more major markets and be located next to major hotels. “We can do well against those hotels with our [franchise] fees being about half,” he said. “It’s also the simple exposure.” The unifying theme for the brands’ conference in September was its mission. “I want our owners to recognize we’re not just two little brands that have no vision for their future in the lodging industry,” Watters said. “It’s really about the owners: If they can make money, they’ll stick with us.” hgunter@questex.com GUESTHOUSE INTERNATIONAL http://www.HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://www.myprotectabed.com http://www.myprotectabed.com

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Hotel & Motel Management - October 6, 2008 Contents NYLO Brands Mix Up Lifestyle Segment La Quinta Eyes Mexico, Canada for Growth Perspective Legally Speaking Marketing Matters Satisfaction Trends Maintenance Doctor HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Independent Hotels Top Hotel Multiunit Owners and Developers Survey Cleaning & Maintenance Music Wallcoverings Supplier News Transactions Softgoods: Bedding & Linens People Events Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - October 6, 2008

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