Skift Take
Expect other hotel brand names to view the Graduate Hotels’ experiment. Professionally handling vacation leasings may be a course for hotels to broaden their reach while lessening some threats.
Carley Thornell
Fans of college football teams such as the Ole Miss Rebels and Michigan Wolverines are about to find that booking lodgings for home video games has actually gotten a bit easier– if they want to stay in a home instead of a hotel.
Graduate Hotels has just released Graduate Residences, a short-term rental program that targets significant college football markets while adding important stock during busy periods. It’s the Nashville-based worldwide hotel chain’s first non-hotel item. While hotel companies such as Marriott are promoting stays in getaway rentals, Graduate Hotels is taking a more hands-on method.
“Ben Weprin, our founder and CEO, had this concept to expand the brand without really expanding our physical footprint,” Graduate President Kevin Osterhaus said, describing the company’s 32 university-themed hotels.
“Offered our collegiate markets, our (space) occupancy is maxed out for home video games, graduation, homecoming, and we believed we had an amazing opportunity to leverage our existence while offering supplementary services for visitors and house owners.”
College football has for years been a big source of local tourism.
Graduate’s first rentals lie in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Oxford, Mississippi. The new program will assist the brand make higher inroads among football fans, a rewarding market that has produced millions of dollars for the hotel market.
While Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking.com hosts are responsible for duties such as cleaning their homes, providing fresh linens, and dealing with the proverbial 3 a.m. calls about lost keys, Graduate Houses presumes all of those jobs. The program likewise supplies homeowners discounts for stays at Graduate’s brick-and-mortar hotels.
Groups that would otherwise be split up into different hotel rooms– or even different hotels throughout hectic durations– can stay in the same, roomy system. Residences sourced by Graduate have 3 to four bed rooms and are geared up with dens and living spaces. House guests have access to Graduate’s swimming pools and gym as well as discounts at the nearby hotel’s eateries.
To be sure, skeptics question how Graduate or other hotel operators can extend their brand name to the maintenance of home rentals. Time will tell if it can provide a consistently branded experience that guarantees security and security at a rate indicate make it successful and without straining the existing hotel operations.
However the unique surging need for college football on a handful of dates of year makes this an excellent test case.
Opportunities for upselling might also assist provide a margin cushion. Graduate can arrange optional services, such as transportation to and from airports, tailgate celebrations, or refrigerators pre-stocked with food and drinks.
In addition, a collaboration with experiential platform Method provides extra in-home experiences, such as yoga classes, individual mixologists, and chocolate tastings.
“We’ve included all of these fascinating things that are extremely particular to these neighborhoods,” Osterhaus stated.
Graduate Hotels isn’t the only brand to utilize the platform for streamlined concierge-level activity reservations. Jenny Schipani, business director of experience for The Standard’s Austin, Texas-based store hostel brand Bunkhouse, said that there’s so much to do in the city that she “might invest a whole day creating an itinerary for one guest.”
However, what’s the something missing out on from Way and Graduate Residences? The easy ability to get tickets to the most significant games. All-encompassing packages, such as those provided by ESPN Events, frequently come with some caveats. Minneapolis’ Hotel Ivy once offered– in an Ultimate Tailgate Package– a one-night stay in a penthouse suite and 3 other hotel spaces with food and beverages credits, limo service, and six tickets on the 40-yard-line to a Vikings game for a tremendous $12,000. Those tickets were just for a preseason video game, however.
Other companies, like recently established Field Day, partner with hotel brand names like Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott to offer party packages that include lodging, an open-bar welcome event with a DJ, transport, and a pre-game tailgate. The $399 packages don’t include tickets to see any elite college groups play, however.
The least costly but perhaps less immersive experience may simply be a good old-fashioned car park party. House Inn by Marriott Pittsburgh North Shore allows guests, who can park over night for $27, to tailgate in their parking lot prior to Steelers video games, provided they don’t avoid others from getting in and leaving the hotel.