Hotel Chains Go for the Suite Life : Larger Quarters No Longer Just For the Wealthy

While hotel suites may once have been the province of the rich, the concept is now at a more accessible level, and has become one of the fastest-growing marketing segments of the modern-day hotel industry.

Annual growth for suite-oriented hotels is projected at 25% to 50%, compared to an estimated 2% to 4% for conventional hotels. Market researchers attribute this largely to growing acceptance of the format by today’s travelers who expect more because they have more to choose from in the highly competitive lodging market.

Special needs for special travelers are very much in the marketing plans of hotel owners.

Some, like the Ramada Hotel in San Jose, have created separate floors for women travelers that are designed with a deliberately more feminine decor. And there are the executive lodge wings in some facilities that function more as a private club with a common area and meeting rooms devoted to separate clusters of deluxe suites.

The popularization of the all-suite concept is widely credited to Robert Woolley, who founded the Granada Royale Hometels in 1969. In fact, the Granada chain has done so well that it was sold in 1984 for a reported $111 million to Holiday Inn for its Embassy Suites division.

Marsha Curtis, a hotel designer, initiated the all-suite interiors of the Holiday Inn’s Embassy chain for United Suites Development Corp. of Newport Beach--Robert Woolley’s current company-- which continues to develop Embassy and other turnkey and joint-venture hotel projects.

Curtis attributes some of the success of the Granada concept to the “freebies”--the courtesy social hour and free breakfast that have created a new marketing dimension for its facilities.

“These amenities have been provided in light, open spaces where guests can congregate and interact. Women, especially, favor this environment to going to a bar,” she added.

“Suite Only” Floors

Hyatt hotels have found that by directing the concept to the upper-middle-range executive, and by setting aside “suite only” floors in their hotels, income could be doubled and tripled. This approach also has been successful for the Sheraton, Ramada, Radisson, Marriott and other chains including Lexington Hotel Suites, the Residence Inn system, the Doubletree (Compri) Hotels and the French-based Ibis chain (both with hotels in Orange County and leaders in the mid-price markets).

Quality Inns International, the Washington-based franchise lodging chain, joined the all-suite hotel race with an aggressive sales campaign aimed at making Quality a top contender both in the mid-priced and luxury budget markets (Quality Inn Suites and Comfort Inn Suites).

Another all-suite luxury business hotel group now firmly established in the market is Guest Quarters Inc. which operates seven hotels with all-suites that are roughly double the size of a regular hotel room and include living room, dining area, separate bedroom and kitchen, all for the regular price of a luxury hotel room.

Variations on a Theme

It would be impossible to cover the full spectrum of hotels focusing on the new marketing concept, even though some developers are “fudging a little by labeling any larger size hotel room with a sofa as a suite,” according to Curtis.

Practically every major hotel chain and scores of developers have been experimenting with variations of the all-suite format, from the simplest arrangements to, for instance, the nine palatial suites in the recently added Westin Century Plaza Tower, including one of the largest penthouses in the world measuring 8,000 square feet. It was designed by Louis Cataffo of Intradesign as the “ultimate suite” with fine antiques and art works.

A cluster of all-suite hotels has also been developed by the Ashkenazy Group in West Hollywood. Its latest is Le Mondrian Hotel, which opened officially this spring.

Ramifications of the growing trend have been equally challenging.

Meeting Special Needs

The move into the suite market has created a need for interior designers of the caliber of Cataffo, who also is responsible for the recent renovation of the Hotel Bel-Air and the landmark Mayflower Hotel in Washington, in addition to the new 444-room Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach.

Hirsch/Bedner & Associates, pioneers in contract interior design for the hotel industry, has set out to meet the special demands of enhanced hotel accommodations by creating its trademark around the principle of utility.

On the threshold of its third decade and ranking among the top consultants in the field, the look of a Hirsch/Bedner suite is closer to that of a luxury apartment than that of a hotel room.

“The suite concept should reflect a proprietor’s wish to communicate personalized caring for his guests, and this image pervades to all public areas as well,” Michael Bedner, a senior partner, said. “The designer must deal in many disciplines of scale and function. Rooms and suites are residential.”

New Approaches

For Hyatt’s first entry into the British market in 1982, Howard Hirsch and Bedner renovated the Carlton Tower in London to create the image of a private club. The San Diego Intercontinental, designed to work equally well for business travelers or vacationing guests, features suites with spacious desks, refrigerator/bars and dressing room alcoves.

In other projects, where the hotels were designed to compete with the grand-scale tourist attractions such as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center, Hirsch/Bedner was challenged to create a setting of fun and fantasy at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Fla. The visual promise of its dramatic, 18-story atrium lobby had to be carried through the entire hotel and into the suites.

The skills required for interior hotel design must be versatile and encompass a broad handling of the suite concept, especially where strict budget requirements have to be met, according to the design firm.

Budget and Timing

Firms like Concepts 4 Inc. of Santa Monica, are specializing almost exclusively in hotel design with an eye to keeping budget and timing under control and preventing design costs from getting out of hand.

John Mamer, a partner in that organization, said his firm has between eight and 10 projects that are all-suite hotel assignments. He believes the greatest impact on this market has been from women and business travelers who appreciate the amenities of holding business meetings in a separate area from the bedroom.

The merchandising of hotel interiors requires knowledge of specific building access codes, safety and hazard regulations, lighting design, landscape planning and, most importantly, an understanding of the dynamics of hotel management and its procedures for food and beverage.

Total Design Goal

Concepts 4, whose clients include Sheraton, Radisson, Westin, Hilton, Ramada and Holiday Inn, operates on a total design and furnishings package. “The program we have to offer a client includes the coordination of research, special budgetary needs and specialized technical assistance from the beginning of a project through implementation and final installation,.” Mamer said.

The suite, said Mamer, has a widespread range. “It has even permeated to the motel level,” he said, citing the Best Western motel/hotel chain as one of the more active promoters of the concept.