The hotel industry’s branding bonanza continues.
This time, it’s moving on to a newer subset of hospitality, known for properties that don’t necessarily fit the mold of a “normal” hotel brand.
Accor on Thursday launched Handwritten Collection, the latest in the Paris-based hotel giant’s collection brand segment. Accor already has the emblematic luxury collection and the top MGallery collection. The handwritten collection will fall in the middle segment of the market.
There are already 12 confirmed offers for Handwritten Collection hotels and the first seven are scheduled to open over the coming months in Europe, Asia and Australia. There are approximately 100 potential future hotel deals, including in the US, and Accor aims to have 250 Handwritten Collection hotels by 2030.
“From a guest perspective, there was actually an unmet need, so we decided, ‘Let’s go into that space and provide Manuscripts as a medium-scale collection,'” said Alexander Schellenberger, chief of Accor’s marketing for premium, medium and economy brands. interview with TPG ahead of the launch of the Handwritten Collection. “We haven’t even announced, and we’re already 12 hotels in. I won’t put too much pressure on the development team, but I think they’re good.”
The launch of the handwritten collection is part of Accor’s wider effort to attract independent hoteliers to join its network. The idea behind each of these brands is to target travelers who desire more of a unique experience with a hotel stay as opposed to the more standardized product found in traditional hotel brands.
This notion took off in recent years as the growth of leisure travel as well as combined leisure and business travel fueled interest in lifestyle and independent hotels. Accor is a distinct leader in this space: It built some of its brands, such as Delano and SO/, into a lifestyle hotel partnership under the Ennismore umbrella with brands such as The Hoxton and Gleneagles.
While there will be newly built hotels included in Accor’s new collection brand, 80% of the Handwritten Collection’s current growth trajectory comes from existing hotels associated with Accor’s new brand.
“We want to make it as simple as possible for independent hotels to sign up without having to make a huge product investment,” said Schellenberger.
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What is a collectible brand?
A collection brand, or what the wider hotel industry labels a soft brand, is associated with a parent hotel company and its loyalty and reservation network. However, it retains the bespoke design, food and experiential offerings of an independent or boutique hotel. These are unlike the strong brands of Accor Fairmont or Sofitel, which come with strict standards around room layout and bathroom fittings.
Accor still plans different standards around the quality of each Handwritten Collection hotel, and each property will be more intimate with a typical size of 50 to 100 rooms. Still, the guiding principle for this collection is to offer a “charming, more authentic feel,” Schellenberger said.
A hotel that fits this model would be a smaller property in a local neighborhood with staff that can direct guests to restaurants and off-the-beaten-track activities. Another hotel may offer freshly baked cakes at check-in.
“We try to keep it as flexible as possible, but there are certain standards when it comes to quality that must be respected,” he added. “We want to at least create some form of consistency around quality for guests to experience, but for the rest, it’s a bland brand.”
Pricing will depend on the hotel and destination, but a typical Handwritten Collection hotel rate will fall somewhere between a Novotel and a Mercure, Schellenberger said. For context, rooms at a Novotel in Paris’ Les Halles district in late February start at $359 a night for Accor Live Limitless members ($378 for nonmembers); rates at a nearby Mercure start at $152 for all members ($160 for nonmembers).
Debut hotels of the handwritten collection
Accor highlighted several properties that will drive the growth of the Handwritten Collection over the next year:
- Shanghai Sheshan Oriental Hotel, Shanghai Handwritten Collection. The Handwritten Collection’s debut property is now open. This former Sofitel near Sheshan National Park features a spacious garden and outdoor beach pool. There is a dedicated team to organize activities such as tea breaks and curated dining experiences for guests.
- Le Saint Gervais Hotel & Spa, handwritten collection in Saint Gervais, France. Originally built as an art-focused vacation home, Le Saint Gervais Hotel & Spa (now open) features an enhanced guest experience beyond art with offerings such as a library corner, Turkish coffee, and herbal tea infusions in the spa. the hotel.
- Wonil Hotel Perth, handwritten collection in Perth, Australia. Opening next month on the banks of the Swan River near Kings Park and minutes from Perth’s central business district, the Wonil Hotel features modern designs and plenty of outdoor spaces for socializing.
- Morris Hotel, handwritten collection in Sydney, Australia. Opening next month within an Italian Renaissance-style building, this 82-room hotel is all about embracing history in an elegant setting that blends European and Australian styles.
- Le Splendid Hotel Lac d’Annecy, handwritten collection in Annecy, France. Scheduled to open in April, Hotel Splendid features art deco flourishes with decor by designer Thierry D’Istria that wraps a mix of antiques, sculptures and artwork in this property near France’s Lake Annecy.
- Hotel Les Capitouls Toulouse Center, handwritten collection in Toulouse, France. This hotel, which opened in May in the historic city center of Toulouse, was originally built as a private residence. Hotel Les Capitouls Toulouse Center features a blend of classic design (including the use of the building’s brick vaults) and modern hospitality.
- Oru Hub Hotel, handwritten collection in Tallinn, Estonia. The Oru Hub Hotel – slated to open in May after an extensive two-year renovation – is located in Tallinn’s historic old town and a short drive from the Estonian coast. The hotel features yoga facilities and a tea room, as well as a new guest experience program that combines leisure, work and food.
- Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur, Paris handwritten collection. Scheduled to open in spring 2024 (and potentially under a different name, Accor noted), the Paris Montmartre Sacré Coeur is a short walk from the Sacré-Coeur basilica and features comfortable rooms with interesting designs.
Additional hotels planned for the handwritten collection include Square Lodge Hotel La Roche-sur-Yon in La Roche-sur-Yon, France and Sunrise Premium Resort in Hoi An, Vietnam. Properties yet to be named are also planned for Bucharest, Romania and Madrid.
Increased competition
As Accor expands its portfolio of soft brands, its competitors are making similar moves. IHG added the Vignette Collection in 2021 to bring more independent luxury and lifestyle hotels to its ecosystem.
Marriott’s extensive network of soft brands includes the Luxury Collection as well as the Autograph Collection, Design Hotels and the Tribute Portfolio. Hilton’s soft brands include LXR luxury hotels and resorts as well as the Curio and Tapestry collections.
Hyatt continues to drive growth in its independent-minded collection brands (Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Destination by Hyatt and JdV by Hyatt) through various initiatives such as the recently announced partnership with German hospitality company Lindner Hotels AG. This deal will bring 30 hotels to the Hyatt brand portfolio – mostly under the JdV umbrella – and give World of Hyatt customers more options across Europe, where Accor has the largest hotel presence of any major conglomerates.
With all the competition, including Hyatt pushing into Accor’s backyard, is anyone losing sleep at Accor’s Paris headquarters? Not enough.
In fact, they see a lot of room to make inroads by attracting more customers; the collection’s various brands nicely complement the company’s more than 40 brands, thus targeting customers at all price points.
“We are able at this point in time to match something for everyone’s budget, from a budget Ibis or a Hi to ultra-luxuries such as the Orient Express and Raffles,” said Schellenberger.
But if the soft brand’s orbit is now expanding beyond luxury and luxury hotels to more affordable properties in the midscale segment, does that mean a collection of budget hotels is also in the pipeline?
“I would probably never say no, but at this point in time, we don’t necessarily see that,” Schellenberger said. “But I can understand why soft brands are such a huge success because it allows people to retain their identity.”
