Equinox Hotels president Josh Wyatt and DesignAgency principal Anwar Mekhayech joined Skift editor in chief Jason Clampet on stage at WTM London to discuss what the future holds for the boutique hotel sector.
Both were optimistic about the future, but when asked about the impact of Airbnb, Wyatt was clear he believed they were working on their ‘experience’ offering.
“With that contact you can’t quite recreate that magical sense of ‘anything can happen’ as when you walk into a boutique hotel which has a strong point of view,” he said.
“You can build great hardware but if you haven’t got great software to actually run the thing, it doesn’t work.
“Make no mistake, Airbnb is trying to solve this problem.
“They’re using technology to curate experiences and bringing the butterflies to the experience.”
Mekhayech added that “Airbnb is not for everyone”.
He said he was impressed by apartment rental site’s “collaborative community” concept.
BeMate.com’s proposition is that visitors to a city can rent an apartment but also receive the luxuries of a hotel, such as ordering dinner for their arrival or getting their clothes cleaned.
BeMate.com customers can also visit the nearest Room Mate hotel to use its facilities.
Despite the growing influence of big-name legacy hotel companies in the boutique hotel area, both Mekhayech and Wyatt were optimistic.
“Now when you’re talking about boutique hotels often the key count is 150 or 200 keys and very often is owned by an international conglomerate,” said Wyatt.
“I think we’re going to go back to the days where the hotelier has a very strong, independent point of view. I think it’s very exciting.
“Something has to change now with Airbnb, onefinestay and other threats coming into the market.
“In some respects it’s going to be a bit harder for some people, but the strong and creative voices will thrive.”
Mekhayech added: “It’s become less about the hotel and more about the experience in the common area.
“To me that’s where the change is going. Anyone can hire a great designer now.
“There are some amazing boutique hoteliers out there but there are a lot of bigger players who are I think bridging the gap a bit. There are synergies between bigger hotel groups and boutiques.”
