Ben Harper, CEO Watergate Bay Hotel, Beach Retreats Holidays and Another Place Hotels, puts choice in the hands of the guest at the group’s newest brand, SeaSpace.
Choice is at the heart of the modern consumer experience. In our world of hospitality, the days of the guest getting what they are given and being happy about it are long behind us and rightly so.
The hospitality sector has realised that delivering a combination of personalisation plus experience equals lifetime loyalty and choice is at the core of this.
The evolution of choice happened slowly, then quickly. The grind of the mid-market hotel offering a beige buffet to the corporate sector and grey roast beef dinner on a Sunday was pushed behind us with the advent of budget airlines and budget hotels. Travellers’ money went further and choice grew to meet demand.
Hotels are now battling to deliver on the promise of personalisation and we have seen some remarkable properties offering breathtaking stays where everything is possible – at a price.
For me, overnight stays took their most significant evolutionary leap with the growth of serviced apartments. My experience at SACO (now edyn) taught me that, for the road warrior, the ultimate choice was a replication of the choices they had at home.
Serviced apartments delivered the freedom to eat a microwaved lasagne instead of a lonely steak dinner in a hotel restaurant. They were no longer tied to fixed times or fixed menus and the sale of SACO to Brookfield Asset Management in 2018 was a testament to the growing appetite of investors as well as guests for this flexible product.
The road warrior could enjoy an experience closer to that at home, keeping their daily exercise routine, their familiar foods, being able to live rather than stay, but all while being close to the local community.
The realisation in the corporate travel sector that the cost of travel could be better controlled, viewed as a cost per trip rather than a stack of expenses piling higher and higher, drove the ongoing expansion of serviced apartments in cities before spreading to the leisure market.
Self catering has always been a feature of the leisure market, but very much as an unbranded product and with very little provided on the side other than the occasional small grocery shop or children’s ball pool. Today’s guest wants the flexibility of being able to cook a meal for themselves, in their own space, but with the knowledge that, should the mood take them, they can just as easily eat out three times a day and that in between they can pick from a range of activities.
As we have seen in the corporate market, brands are important. The needs and aspirations of leisure travellers have changed in recent years and the domestic market is being revitalised, with innovative and inspiring hospitality offerings encouraging people to explore within our shores. Despite this encouraging environment, the UK remains underserved by truly exceptional brands – a rare few stand out.
We believe the sector is ripe for a strong brand which offers lifestyle-led, leisure-driven stays combining the best of self catering with hotel hospitality. It’s why we have launched SeaSpace: Porth in Cornwall, the first in a series of coastal aparthotels.
Flexibility will be at the heart of the stay, with SeaSpace created for the changing way we live our lives. It will offer spaces and experiences for visitors and locals, leisure and business guests, everyone who wants to spend time recharging at the beach.
The flagship site will be supported by a team delivering 24/7 hosts, housekeeping and community, to blend the best of apartment living with lifestyle-led hotel services. Light touch and tech-driven, operations will facilitate the freedom guests desire during their stays, that control that they crave to enjoy their break the way they have been envisaging for months.
We will be there to facilitate and suggest, to ensure that guests have access to the very best in local partnerships, so that they feel connected to the community and all it has to offer. But once we’ve deployed our expertise to create the backdrop for their break, we believe that the people who can make the best choices about the most memorable stays are the guests themselves.
Read about the debut of SeaSpace later this year here.
