With leisure demand thriving in many markets and corporate groups returning, hoteliers across the U.S. are offering packages and programming to further drive revenue.
Hotel News Now reached out to hotel brands, management and ownership companies via email for details on programs they've successfully rolled out for the summer.
Omni Hotels & Resorts
This year Omni Hotels & Resorts has introduced its "Summer of Water + Color" program across its properties, featuring unique room packages, on-site experiences and a wellness-focused poolside menu. It launched in May and runs through Sept. 29.
Michelle Felton, vice president of revenue strategy, said Omni sought to create a program that touches on several parts of the hotel guest experience, including food and beverage, accommodation and entertainment.
The poolside menu "is inspired by the colors of an artist’s palette," she said.
Each dish on this limited-time menu is associated with one of five colorful icons representing a different facet of health and wellness: red for energy, orange for positivity, green for immunity, blue for tranquility and clear for clarity.
Along with the limited-time the pool menu, the brand rolled out the "Splash of Summer" room package, which includes a $100 food and beverage credit per stay, a custom beach towel and water coloring sheet and paint brush set.
While these programs are meant to offer a unique guest experience, they also serve as opportunities to drive revenue, Felton said.
Lastly, all resorts will offer a tie-dye experience throughout the summer.
"The shirts feature the property logo, which makes them a fun activity for the family during their stay and a fun memento from the trip while also acting as great brand advertising when worn off property — and a great ancillary revenue generator," she said.
Due to the early success of the poolside menu, Omni has decided to feature the items at its warm weather resorts through Labor Day Weekend.
As of June 10, Felton said Omni demand has been steady from both families and couples.
"Thus far, we have seen over 2,000 room nights booked for our participating hotels, which is a much higher pace than previous packages focused on experiences," she said, crediting the broader appeal to adults and children.
Omni anticipated that this program would perform well at its resorts, but it's been a surprise that the highest demand for it has been at its city hotels in locations such as Boston, Dallas, New Orleans and Los Angeles, she said.
"What we are able to surmise is that many more travelers this summer, in comparison to last year, are looking for interesting experiences closer to home, therefore bypassing the cost to fly or drive," she said. "Thankfully, we expect this demand for the program to remain steady and even increase as we get deeper into the summer months and look forward to sharing this unique experience with both new and returning guests."
Charlestowne Hotels
Karl DeHaven, corporate revenue manager at Charlestowne Hotels, said summer demand across his portfolio still varies greatly by market. Hotels in many secondary and seasonal leisure markets that recovered early could end up outperforming summer of 2022.
However, hotels in other primary/city markets that began with a slower recovery in 2021 are also ramping up for this summer.
"Demand for summer 2022 is outpacing the last pre-COVID summer of 2019. [Average daily rate] continues to show signs of remaining strong over all previous years/records," he said. "We've learned that even if pace/demand slows, the industry has proven that there no longer needs to be a race to the bottom [on rates], and our products still should maintain a minimum value proposition."
Chris Harvey, corporate director of operations, said several of Charlestowne's properties in Charleston, South Carolina, are bringing back live music to their rooftops and lobbies this summer.
"That experience was one that went away during the peak of COVID, but now that guests are more comfortable gathering in public spaces, we want to make sure their experience is memorable," he said, noting the importance of enhancing the guest stay as room rates continue to climb in most markets.
Additionally, many of the hotels within the portfolio have also revived their complimentary historic tours, and wine and spirit tastings.
Harvey said hotel programming is often led by each property's general manager and on-site team to determine cost versus guest benefit.
"That said, programming is often rolled up into packages and promotions, both of which require in-depth discussions between operations, revenue and marketing [teams] to determine seasonal demand and consumer drivers," he said. "Interestingly, many time programming ideas start with front-line staff who hear feedback from guests and bring it to the leadership team."
One way that Charlestowne is combating supply-chain issues is through partnering with local vendors for products and services, he added.
Charlestowne's revenue and operations teams are forecasting family travel to be a major demand driver this summer, leading its hotels to offer more packages and on-site amenities that will cater to family members across all ages.
Outdoor experiences and dining are expected to continue to be popular this summer. However, intimate food and beverage experiences, such as wine and spirit tastings, have returned as well, providing an opportunity for guests and staff to connect.
Lark Hotels
Nikola Jasprica, group director of revenue management at boutique hotel brand, management and development company Lark Hotels, said the Lark and Bluebird by Lark hotels were balancing a lot of of unknowns regarding the summer season.
He said 2021 was a banner year for the Lark brand, with a large uptick in demand for leisure travel.
"We are happy to see this demand is continuing into the 2022 summer season, following impacted travel this past winter due to the omicron surge," he said. "Lark hotels is currently pacing 40% ahead of the same time last year with significant gains in average daily rate."
Through September, the company's Talta Lodge Bluebird and Field Guide Lodge, both in Stowe, Vermont, are offering experiential packages bundling the booking of a king, queen or junior king suite with outdoor activities led by a local operator. Guided activities include hiking and rock climbing tours.
"Travelers are eager to fully experience the location they are visiting," he said. "They are looking for unique things to do, good libations and lodgings that truly represent the local area. Given the impact of COVID on travel within the past couple of years, this summer travelers will be looking to make up for lost experiences."
Programs and packages offered by Lark are collaborated efforts of operations, marketing and revenue management teams.
"We believe that these decisions need to be cohesive across varying departments as each team feeds off and builds upon the others' work," he said. "Our marketing team has done a great job developing experienced-focused packages and promotions that are specific to a Lark or Bluebird by Lark Hotel's local market. We tend to push these more in the shoulder and off-seasons as its generally more favorable with the operations teams and our local vendors and partners."
Spire Hospitality
Theresa Hajko, regional director of revenue management at Spire Hospitality, said there's been healthy improvement in corporate transient and group demand across her portfolio.
Corporate group has been inching up due to the return of many smaller events and meetings as well as a sizeable number of short-term group bookings in the month, for the month, she said.
"With many new construction projects underway, construction-related groups are helping to drive the corporate segment. We are also seeing sales meetings, associations and training groups picking up in many markets," she said.
Leisure demand, however, is still thriving and outpacing the other segments, she said. Recent trends with leisure demand include "extended" weekends, with guests adding Thursday and/or Sunday nights to their weekend stay.
"We are seeing a flourish of vacation travel as many leisure travelers make up for lost time. It remains to be seen how rising gas prices will affect the leisure segment over time," she said.
Spire's Bed and Breakfast, Point and Parking packages have all been popular with guests, she said. The Bed and Breakfast deal remains the most popular.
"We have added Gas and Go packages that include a gift card for gas, Sip and Stay packages that include a drink or food and beverage credit and mobile app packages [through the brands] that include breakfast and a welcome beverage," she said.
Hajko said most of these strategies will stay in place through October and November as NFL games, youth and college sports tournaments as well as other college events and festivals will drive leisure occupancy well into the fall season.