Sean ONeill - 10 Minutes News for Hoteliers

1 min

Trouble with the Soho House & Co merger? MCR Hotels, a cornerstone investor, has gone wobbly at the finish line. MCR was supposed to bring $200 million to the table to help Soho House go private in… | Sean O'Neill

💰 MCR Hotels, a major investor, backed out of a $200 million funding commitment for Soho House & Co's $2.7 billion privatization deal. On Monday, MCR, the third-largest U.S. hotel owner-operator, notified Soho House it couldn't meet its financial obligation by the closing date. Despite this, Soho House plans a stockholders meeting on Thursday. Majority shareholder Yucaipa, owned by Ron Burkle, is seeking alternative funding, potentially from Apollo or other investors.

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The feature story I'm proudest of at Skift (so far) is The New Science of Hotel Pricing. While reporting, I learned that hotel pricing used to be guided by gut instinct and an obession with… | Sean O'Neill | 11 comments

🏨 Hotels are redefining profitability strategies post-pandemic, with a shift from occupancy-focused pricing to maximizing total guest value. This involves tracking various metrics, from airline bookings to pickleball court reservations. Revenue managers are transforming from data crunchers to leaders of commercial strategy and cross-team collaboration. Despite weakened pricing power since pre-pandemic times, luxury hotels remain an exception. This new approach is crucial as the industry adapts to current economic realities.

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Barry Sternlicht rewrote the hotel loyalty playbook with SPG a couple of decades ago. His team's latest attempt at hotel loyalty ditches significant parts of the formula, like tier status and free… | Sean O'Neill | 17 comments

🌳 Barry Sternlicht's 1 Hotels, part of Starwood Hotels, revamped its loyalty program by replacing points with tree plantings and charity donations, doubling membership to 200,000 since July. Members receive a planted tree upon joining, and 1% of spending goes to environmental causes. With only 14 properties, 1 Hotels focuses on community-building as average loyalty nights have dropped from 1.8 to 1.0 since 2016, despite program memberships rising. Skift Research notes travelers typically join 15 programs but engage with few.

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Hotel Loyalty Race: Top 14 Programs, Ranked by Members Per Room

🏨 H World Group leads hotel loyalty programs with 243 members per room, outperforming Marriott Bonvoy's 143. Global Hotel Alliance ranks second with 219 members per room, while BWH Hotels secures third at 190 members. Hilton follows with 174 members per room. Hyatt and Radisson both report 159 members per room, highlighting the competitive nature of hotel loyalty programs. These metrics underscore how companies measure success beyond raw membership numbers.

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Most U.S. hotels won't get robots anytime soon. But it's not because the robots aren't up to the job. IHG has deployed robots at dozens and dozens of its hotels in China, where they are performing… | Sean O'Neill | 20 comments

🤖 IHG has implemented robots at numerous hotels in China for tasks like room service and cleaning. However, IHG is hesitant to introduce them in the U.S. due to concerns about potential damage from American guests, as noted by Cynthia Czabala. Similarly, Josh Dow from Wyndham, after visiting China last winter, shares this view. These insights were gathered at the Destination & AI conference, expertly managed by Nazpari Aydin.

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Hyatt has begun to let guests earn and burn loyalty points for travel experiences, such as cabana rentals or special chef's table meals. “Several Hyatt properties participating in Way’s platform… | Sean O'Neill

💰 Hyatt is now allowing guests to earn and redeem loyalty points for travel experiences like cabana rentals and chef's table meals. Several Hyatt properties using Way's platform have generated millions in ancillary revenue, according to Arlie Sisson, Hyatt’s SVP and global head of digital. This initiative is unique among major hotel groups and showcases Way's tech platform. Michael Stocker, CEO of Way, emphasizes the need for hotels to offer unique, branded experiences rather than standardized offerings.

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The Ritz-Carlton beat 181 other luxury brands to win advertising's top prize, a Cannes Lion Gold award. | Sean O'Neill

📱 The Ritz-Carlton outpaced 181 luxury brands to clinch a Cannes Lion Gold award for advertising. The ad, featuring Josh Hutcherson, cost under $1 million to make, achieving 50 million impressions and becoming the most-shared content for Marriott International's luxury portfolio last year. Jamie F. Kerr highlighted this as the first hospitality brand campaign to win in the luxury category. The campaign was innovatively crafted without an ad agency, involving a streetwear fashion brand and a new production company.

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Barry Sternlicht Brings Back Starwood Brand – Full Timeline

🏨 Barry Sternlicht, creator of hospitality giant Starwood, sold it to Marriott for $13 billion in 2015. In February 2025, Sternlicht’s SH Hotels & Resorts will rebrand as Starwood. The new Starwood begins with 14 hotels across Baccarat, 1 Hotels, and Treehouse brands, unlike its predecessor's 1,300 properties and 11 brands. Sternlicht, aged 64, plans to expand with 22 hotels by 2028 and is open to selling a stake for faster growth. Starwood Capital Group, headed by Sternlicht, manages over $115 billion in assets. The company’s innovations include the Westin Heavenly Bed and the Starwood Preferred Guest rewards program. Starwood’s historical milestones include a $561 million acquisition of Westin in 1995 and a $9.8 billion purchase of ITT Sheraton in 1997.

3 min

Google to Let Hotels Show Real-Time Rates in Search Ads

📈 Google introduced "rich data" search ads, now including real-time rates, images, and user-review star ratings for hotels, with a small set of hotel advertisers seeing up to a 20% increase in click-through rates. Globally available, these enhanced ads aim to expand to other sectors such as car rentals and event operators. Google's earlier 2022 update allowed free hotel booking links on Google.com and Maps. The new ad format does not affect Google Hotel Ads but aims to increase visibility and click-through rates for advertisers without additional costs.

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