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Embassy Suites' Prototype Reshaping Brand Embassy Suites' Design Option III Prototype is changing the scale of the brand and looking to better connect with guests. Monday, August 06, 2012 Glenn Haussman

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While overall new hotel development is bumping along at the bottom of the trough, Hilton Worldwide’s Embassy Suites are being developed like it’s the peak of the market. With nearly 30 projects in the pipeline in various stages of development, the full service brand known for its iconic atriums and evening manager receptions is enjoying a burst of development any brand manager would crow about.

“Development is back, says  Jim Holthouser, Global Head, Full Service Brands and Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Worldwide. “Internally our team is saying they are as busy as they were in 2007.”

Holthouser attributes the continued success of Embassy Suites to the introduction of its Design Option III Prototype several years back which reimagined the brand to better meet the needs of developers, while also considering current and future guest trends. But more important – and the key to the success - is the newest prototype is created not just for cities but suburban markets too.

“When you see enough of them open and watch them perform, this is one of these exercises you can look back on your career and say we got it right,” says Holthouser.

Slightly different from traditional Embassy Suites, version III has a smaller atrium yet still maintains the area as a social hub for guests. Instead of being a large cavernous space, Holthouser says, the new atriums are broken down into neighborhoods where small groups can gather and enjoy the space. Yet the design still allows for the brands signature sensory cues in place such as greenery, running water and natural light.

And the look of the atriums are changing too. Whereas lush jungles and gazebos used to be en vogue consumer tastes have changed. Now atriums are utilizing design elements that incorporate more of a sense of place and incorporate natural materials.

“We are getting rid of gazebos and taking the greening level way down. It is tasteful but simpler and cleaner, which gives Embassy a more contemporary and less 1980s look,” says Holthouser. Gone are the meandering streams and huge waterfalls and in its place are smaller but more dramatic and tasteful water features. There is also a lot more pre-function space for meeting rooms as well as an updated FF&E package to keep up with savvier consumer expectations, Holthouser says.

 The good news for developers is the overall cost per key from the traditional style Embassy Suites is about $15,000 per key less.  Holthouser says many new build Design Option III Prototype properties are coming in for suburban hotels at about $160,000 per key. And that includes land and architectural costs. Of course urban ones cost more, but in the south they’re costing less to open.

Other new design elements include side by side suites with double loaded corridors and a more efficient use of space such as combining breakfast and restaurant spaces and combining kitchens. Tweaks like that means an Embassy Suites can be constructed on 2.8 acres rather than four.

“For developers, the message is with Embassy you get best of both worlds. You can charge Upper Upscale rates and get focused service margins,” says Holthouser. “They are a lot simpler and cost efficient to build than ever before. Plus they are running 10-15 points higher in GOP percentage.”

Properties are scalable from 130 to 300 guest rooms. The prototype can also be incorporated into adaptive reuse projects such as in the pipeline projects located in downtown Louisville, KY and downtown Miami. Other areas you where Embassy’s are slated to open are in Baltimore, Oklahoma City, Newark airport in New Jersey, more in Orlando, Springfield, VA which is just outside Washington D.C. and traditional suburban markets such as Knoxville and Chattanooga, TN.

Currently, 75 percent of Embassy Suites are in suburban locations, but with a flexible and scalable structure the mix is changing. 

“We are quality fanatics and this is something we are always reinventing even though we are 25 years old. You have to constantly push the envelope in this business,” said Holthouser.