ATLANTA — When it comes to brand family relationships, the executives at Radisson Hotel Group Americas want you to think of the established Country Inn & Suites brand and the new Radisson Inn & Suites brand as sisters.
Launched earlier this month, the upper-midscale, limited-service Radisson Inn & Suites, will be established in airport locations, metropolitan areas and mixed-use development. Country Inn & Suites is established in primarily suburban markets.
Tom Buoy, interim CEO, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Radisson Hotel Group Americas, said now is a great time to launch the brand because “there’s an enormous desire for people to feel human again, getting excited and emotionally embracing people and life.”
“Over the next two years, people will really reconnect with things, people and experiences,” he said. “It’s the Roaring Twenties again, and all about exploration.”
That description hearkens back to the Radisson brand and company name, Buoy said, which is named after 17th century French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson. He explored much of the Great Lakes region of the U.S. including Minneapolis, home of the first Radisson hotel.
Development Strategy
Radisson Inn & Suites will grow primarily via conversion, then can expand into new construction as market conditions dictate, said Phil Hugh, chief development officer for Radisson Hotel Group Americas.
While the company does offer the full-service Radisson Blu and Radisson brands in metropolitan locations, Hugh said the company’s existing franchisees noticed a lack of a select-service product under the company's umbrella.
“This will get us into higher revenue-per-available-room markets,” Hugh said. “It’s a true sister brand to Country Inn & Suites in that you won’t see them next door to each other.”
Company executives are talking with some current Country Inn & Suites franchisees to convert hotels to the new Radisson Inn & Suites brand, and Hugh said several deals are signed at varying stages of opening. The first Radisson Inn & Suites hotels should open this year.
Hugh and Buoy said the company has interest from a new subset of Country Inn & Suites franchisees “who are developing a lot and want to be active with this new brand,” Buoy said.
Above all, Hugh said this brand was designed with owner-franchisees in mind.
Similar to moves the company has made to streamline costs for the Country Inn & Suites brand, executives are ensuring Radisson Inn & Suites provides “great ROI for owners,” Hugh said, with streamlined brand standards that “allow our franchisees to flex.”
In addition to the United States, the company plans to expand the brand in Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America.
In addition to Radisson Inn & Suites, Country Inn & Suites, Radisson Blu and its flagship Radisson brand, the company also offers Radisson Red, Park Plaza, Park Inn, and collection brands Radisson Collection and Radission Individuals.
Amenities and Design
Buoy said the new brand “leverages the 40 years of experience we have in upper-midscale limited service.”
“It provides the same thoughtful, caring hospitality, but it modernizes it and feels like a refuge in an urban center, and that appeals to a modern traveler,” he said.
The public space will feature a café-style lobby, where people can gather for breakfast, coffee, work and socializing.
Another brand hallmark will be the Creative Content Studio, which the company describes as a flexible workspace designed for social media influencers, gamers and other content creators with monitors, gaming chairs and high-speed internet to maximize connectivity.
Design centers around natural light, wood grain, plants and other natural materials.