Rise Of Independent Hotels: An Opportunity For Travel Agents

The independent hotel industry has surged in recent years – whether “true independents” with no affiliation; or the many independent hotels affiliated with soft brands like Marriott’s Autograph Collection and Hilton’s Curio.

According to Andrew Benioff, chairman of the Independent Lodging Conference (the fifth annual ILC will be held in Brooklyn in October) and a veteran hotel developer, “the rise of independent hotels makes travel agents more valuable. If they understand what a client wants and what a hotel has to offer, that makes for a perfect match.

“If the client is really into yoga and hiking,” said Benioff, “there will be a hotel for them. If they like unusual foods, another hotel would work. The choice of independent hotels is so broad that the agent’s knowledge can really come into play.”

Erik Warner, vice chairman of ILC and also a hotel developer, said, “Agents do an amazing job with the big picture matching of clients and itineraries. At some point, we would love if they pass guests along to us where we can really drill down to the community level to make sure their clients have the best possible trip. In other words, we have to connect with agents – and that might mean flying associates from say, our Anvil Hotel in Jackson Hole to meet with agents elsewhere in the country.”

Just as with boutique and lifestyle hotels, the definition of an independent hotel appears to be in the eyes of the beholder. Said Benioff, “There seem to be two camps at our congresses: hard core independents who are truly stand-alone properties unaffiliated with any brand or network. Then there are all the independents who are joining soft brands like Autograph and Curio.”  The first camp, said Benioff, can stay independent because technology “has mostly leveled the playing field; an independent can do the same things as a branded hotel 85% of the time as far as marketing, technology and the rest without paying large fees to the brand.” 

Garner said that a true independent hotel offers a non-standardized expedience. He said that even though soft-branded hotels operate autonomously they must follow brand standards of some kind. “They have so many boxes to check that being an independent that is part of a soft brand can seem like a contradiction,” he said. However, he added that the emergence of soft brands has been valuable in “opening travelers’ minds” to independent hotels. “If they stay with a soft brand the next step might be staying at a true independent,” said Garner; “it gives them the push to jump out from under the brand umbrella.”

Warner called soft-branded independents “chameleon hotels,” explaining, “they are not really independent. They have an independent feel but you will still see the same standards in Istanbul and Kansas City. At our hotels, we train staff to be themselves, not to act in some prescribed manner.”

High-level agents, said Benioff, could get a lot out of the ILC. “We have mostly had developers and others from the hotel side,” he said, “but agents would be able to see where the independent hotel movement is going.” This year’s ILC, as usual, will feature speakers from outside the industry – such as artists, entertainers and others “who think differently,” said Benioff.

“If we don’t listen to people from other industries,” said Benioff, “we will never progress.”

“If we just talk to each other about hotels all the time we will keep doing the same things. Things happening in the culture and society outside of hotels have a huge impact on the guest experience.”