The last 12 months have been a busy time for new hotel brands, with the major groups playing catch-up following Covid-19, adjusting to a new hospitality landscape, and chasing growing markets including the extended stay sector.
Here we round up ten new brands which have launched in the last year – please do let us know in the comments if we have missed any…
IHG - Garner
IHG Hotels and Resorts launched its latest conversion brand in August 2023, aimed at the midscale segment.
The group has an ambitious target of 500 Garner properties in the US over the next ten years, and 1,000 over the next 20 years, with “a goal to expand globally”.
The group said that the brand will be ready to franchise initially in the US by early September, with the first hotels expected to open by the end of 2023.
Guests will benefit from a free hot breakfast including “sandwiches, egg bowls, yogurt parfait, fruit, and more”, and will also be offered “complimentary flavour-infused water on arrival”.
Other features will include a 24/7 Garner Shop for coffee and snacks“, as well as guest-influenced playlists, snacks and drinks; flexible lobby designs; pet-friendly touches such as welcome treats, loaner items and outdoor relief stations”.
Marriott - Project MidX Studios
In June 2023 Marriott announced plans for an “affordable midscale extended stay brand” in the US and Canada.
Currently going by the working title Project MidX Studios, the brand will aim to deliver “reasonably priced modern comfort for guests seeking longer stay accommodations”.
Marriott said that Project MidX Studios has been designed “for guests in search of affordable, flexible accommodations for an extended stay, typically 20+ nights or more, who are seeking to pay around $80 per night, depending on the market and demand”.
Features will include suites with in-room kitchens, as well as an on-site laundry and fitness centre.
Hilton - Project H3
Hilton announced its 20th brand and the group’s latest extended stay offering in May 2023, going by the working title of ‘Project H3’. The lower-midscale concept will target travellers looking for apartment-style accommodation for 20 nights or more.
Features will include apartment-style suites with fully equipped kitchen, as well as “ample storage space, efficient closet design, and movable, multi-purpose furniture enable guests to seamlessly enjoy the space as both a place to work and rest”.
Design elements will include “a modern farmhouse-inspired palette with light industrial touches”, with facilities including a fitness centre, outdoor patio with grills and a communal fire pit, and The Hive lobby area which will offer “sight lines from the front desk to fitness, laundry, and a simple retail market”.
Hyatt - Hyatt Studios
In April 2023 Hyatt unveiled its first upper midscale brand in the Americas, and the group’s latest extended-stay offering.
Letters of interest have been signed for more than 100 Hyatt Studios in the Americas, with the first property set to open in in Mobile, Alabama in late 2024, followed by a second hotel in Marysville, California in 2025.
Few details have been released about the new brand at this stage, although Hyatt said that it would offer guest room kitchens with convection microwave, as well as a grab-and-go-breakfast offering and 24-market.
Hyatt said that the brand had been designed “to be flexible based on developer needs, accommodating both extended-stay and shorter length-of-stay leisure and business transient guests depending on the hotel’s market and guest base”.
Accor - The Handwritten Collection
Accor launched its latest collection brand in January 2023, aimed at independent hotels in the midscale segment and describing the concept as “a global portfolio of charming bespoke hotels that offer an intimate and stylish hospitality experience”.
A total of 12 hotels were signed up at launch, which will either open or convert to the brand throughout 2023, and the group said it had leads for 110 Handwritten properties totalling more than 11,500 rooms, which the aim of growing the brand to 250 hotels by 2030.
It is envisaged that the majority of properties joining the brand will be conversions rather than new-builds, with Accor stating that the brand’s standards “are designed to be flexible, light, and easy to attain”.
Hilton - Spark by Hilton
Hilton unveiled a new brand aimed at the “premium economy” segment in January 2023. The group said that it had more than 100 deals “in various stages of development” across the US, with the first properties expected to open this year.
Signature features will include rooms with a multi-purpose adjustable work station, open cupboard and fridge; complimentary breakfast consisting of premium coffee, juice and a bagel bar; and a 24-hour retail shop.
Hilton said that all hotels joining the brand would first be required to complete a full renovation across all guest-facing areas, in order to ensure “the goal of a consistent, quality guest experience”.
Langham - Ying'nFlo
In November 2022 Langham Hospitality Group unveiled Ying’nFlo, a new lifestyle brand aimed at Millennial and Generation Z travellers.
According to the group the brand “is designed as a place which feels like a friend’s apartment, only better”, with “spaces for inquisitive, urban travellers looking for a practical, well-designed place to stay, for whom standard hotel offerings are not the answer”.
Signature facilities include “a powerful shower, comfy bed, fast and reliable wifi, as well as a laundry station, smart home features, great coffee and breakfast”, as well as an app enabling guests to check in, control in-room amenities and charge in-hotel purchases.
There are currently two Ying’nFlo hotels in Hong Kong, with a property also under development in Xiamen as part of a dual-branded project.
Marriott - Apartments by Marriott
Apartments by Marriott was launched in November 2022, and will be positioned in the upper-upscale and luxury segments, with apartments featuring a separate living room and bedroom, full kitchen, and in-unit washer and dryer.
Properties will be distinguished from the group’s existing extended stay concepts in that they will not provide traditional hotel services such as food and beverage, meeting spaces and retail.
No locations have been given for the brand at this stage, but the group said that it expected Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy to bring the serviced apartment concept to guests in the US and Canada.
Wyndham - Echo Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham
Initially going by the working title ‘Project Echo’, Wyndham officially launched its extended stay concept in November 2022.
The new-build prototype for the brand calls for 120 rooms across single and two-queen studio suites, with facilities including a fitness centre and 24-hour guest laundry.
The first Echo Suites properties have broken ground in Plano (Texas), Sterling and Richmond (both Virginia), and Wyndham says it has 120 hotels under development, making it the group’s fastest growing development pipeline brand.
Melia International - Falcon's Resorts by Melia
In September 2022 Melia Hotels International launched a new all-inclusive brand in partnership with global entertainment development company Falcon’s Beyond.
Falcon’s Resorts by Melia will be housed within the wider Falcon’s Beyond Destinations, which will be jointly developed by the two firms “in prime leisure markets across the globe”.
The first property under the brand will see two existing Melia hotels in Punta Cana redeveloped as Falcon’s Resort by Melia All Suites Punta Cana. A multiphase project will transform the Paradisus Grand Cana and The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real, which currently total 622 rooms between them.
