Hotel Investments: Facility Types

FACILITY TYPES:

DELUXE:
Very top of hotel segment in regard to service, physical facilities and amenities. Common associated brands - Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton. Likely to contain independently-owned hotels who have established reputation over many decades. Eg: Lenox in Boston and Mark in New York.

LUXURY:
Commercial facilities catering to business traveler - generally situated in downtown or commercial districts. Amenities include restaurant, lounge meeting facilities, fitness room and gift shop. Service offered include room service, business center, concierge and valet services, shoe shine, daily newspaper, airport shuttle and local transportation. Modern facilities provide work desks, multiple telephones with dual lines and data ports, in-room coffee makers, irons and ironing boards and copy/fax services. Convention hotels are large facilities that have meeting spaces with capacity to handle large groups of people. Convention hotels are large facilities - 30 sq feet of meeting space per guest-room located near convention. Contains large inventory of guestrooms with high % of double/double bedding configuration. Convention hotels provide large ballrooms and small breakout rooms for meetings and conferences. Some hotels feature exhibit space and auditoriums.

UPSCALE:
Hotels and all-suite brands that cater primarily to business travelers who do not need the amenities of full service luxury hotel. Segment also appeals to leisure travelers who want more amenities that can be found in a midscale hotel.

MIDSCALE WITH FOOD & BEVERAGE:
Largest single segment in the nation. Represented by old brand names such as Holiday Inn or Best Western.

LIMITED SERVICE SEGMENTS:
Three segments: Midscale without F&B, Economy, and Budget. Eg: Comfort Inn, Hampton Inn
Economy segment offer larger rooms than typical budget hotel.

Budget segment is popular among senior citizens and people traveling on very limited budget.

EXTENDED STAY:
Provide residential atmosphere by offering larger, apartment-type guestrooms with separate living and sleeping areas, full kitchens, exterior entrances and recreational facilities. Extended-stay resemble garden apartment complexes and usually have a small administrative building that houses the front office and lounging/dining area. Guest suites furnished with residential style goods and feature fireplace. Attracts travelers who must stay in the area for an extended period of time. Average length of stay at Marriott Residence Inn is 10 days. Typical guests include relocated employees, auditors working on long-term projects attorneys involved in lengthy trial and engineers assigned to building project.

CASINO HOTELS:
Provide guests and visitors with on-site gaming facilities. Casino hotels offer buffet-style restaurants, cocktail lounges, retail outlets and entertainment facilities. Depending on extent and orientation of gaming facilities, guestroom range from moderate to luxury. Suites are provided for "high rollers" and other high-profile guests.

BED & BREAKFAST
Offer quaint, residential-style accomodations along with breakfast. Usually in historic areas.

MOM & POP MOTELS:
Small, independent, family-operated motels. Older-style lodging facilities usually have fewer than 50 units and offer limited amenities. Tourist cabins and camps are included in this category.

BOUTIQUE HOTELS:
Small lodging facility that caters to upscale patrons looking for intimate, quiet sorroundings. Often converted from historic structures, these properties offer high-quality amenities and furnishings, signature upscale restaurants and expensive personalized guest services. Public areas and meeting facilities are minimal in this category.

HEALTH SPAS:
Hotel that provides various health-oriented services and activities such as special diets and dining plans, exercise programs, medical supervision, massage and therapy and health education and training.

BOATELS:
Lodging facility that is specifically associated with a marina development. Generally accomodates leisure travelers who wish to enjoy nearby bodies of water along with boat owners seeking accomodations and other amenities on shore. Amenities typically offered include restaurant, lounge, ship's store, laundry facilities, docks and marine equipment repair and service.


LOCATION & CLIENTELE:

AIRPORT:
Situated either at or near airport facility, this type of hotel attracts commercial travelers, small meetings and groups, airline related visitation such as crewes and distressed passengers.

HIGHWAYS:
Designed for guests traveling by automobile. Properties with highway locations attract commercial and leisure travelers. Proximity to major roadway, accessibility and visibility are major attributes required for this type of property. Features limited meeting facilities, restaurant on property or nearby, and amenities such as swimming pool, playground, complimentary hot beverage service, sundries and road maps.

DOWNTOWNS:
Cater mostly to commercial and meeting and convention market segments.

SUBURBS:
Generally located near office, retail, and light industrial areas. Development costs are lower for suburban hotels than for downtown properties.

CONVENTION CENTERS:
Draws patronage from events held at the nearby convention center. Typically provide food and beverage facilities.

RESORTS:
Located in areas with considerable scenic beauty or recreational opportunities. Attracts leisure demand segment of the lodging market and leisure-oriented meetings and conventions such as corporate-incentive groups.

MIXED-USE FACILITIES:
Facilities situated in multiple-use developments that contain both hotel and non-hotel elements (office space, retail property, residential property).


GUESTROOM DESIGN

Microbudget motel:
Total area is 190 sq feet and provides enough space for one bed. Although guestroom is small, it has all normal amenities found in conventional budget motel guestrooms.

Budget motel:
Total area is 236 sq feet and provides space for two double beds. Window is adjacent to entry door which means property has exterior corridors.

Mid-rate facility:
Total area is 300 sq feet and includes larger bathroom, separate closet and sleeping area containing king-sized bed and two chairs. Guestroom contains desk/dresser with television. Corridor to which room has access is interior.

Luxury:
Total area is 450 sq feet. 25 feet length and 18 feet wide - creating feeling of greater open space. Bathroom is above average in size and sleeping area has capacity for desk, two small couches and coffee table.

Suite:
Contains separate sleeping and living areas. Rectangular guestroom in which living area is in front and leeping area is to rear. Approx 400-500 sq feet space only slightly larger than typical luxury guestroom.

Extended stay:
Provides greatest amount of space of any lodging facility. Guestrooms consist of full-size living rooms, kitchen and bedrooms. Two floor duplex - 580 sq feet 1st floor; 244 sq feet second floor - Total of 824 sq feet.

AMENITIES:
Such as swimming pool, room service and personal care items play large role in marketing of hotel rooms. A survey was done to quantify usage of amenities. Although swimming pool is frequently an expected feature - it is used by less than one-third of the guests. Should a costly swimming pool which guests expect but rarely use be included in design on property? The answer is yes because the need to conform with the local competitive environment - despite the low usage.