IHG Sees Room to Take Kimpton Worldwide as Lifestyle Hotel Brand – Skift Travel News

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Sean O’Neill, Skift
December 12th, 2022 at 2:30 AM EST
Ah, the challenges of delivering quirkiness at scale.
Sean O’Neill
Editor’s Note: Skift Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill brings readers exclusive reporting and insights into hotel deals and development, and how those trends are making an impact across the travel industry.
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Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is a boutique hotel brand created by Bill Kimpton in 1981 in San Francisco. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) bought it for $430 million in 2014 and has been scaling it up as a mid-priced lifestyle brand.
“International is a huge part of our expansion strategy,” said Kathleen Reidenbach, Kimpton’s chief commercial officer. Reidenbach has been with the brand for two decades.
What’s the pitch to developers?
Yet some developers might balk at the Kimpton product.
The brand claims it has drivers in place to produce premium rates and profitability as consistently as possible.
To add to the menu, Kimpton has been spinning a couple of variations on the brand.
Is it difficult to expand internationally while staying true to brand principles?
Reading some online reviews and social channels suggests that some Kimpton hotels have fallen out of favor with loyalists.
Kimpton has strived to stay close to guests through “social listening,” which could have a side benefit of making its digital marketing more cost-effective.
Talk of creativity and talent may sound expensive and headache-inducing to some potential capital partners.
Whimsical creativity was a key to the original Kimpton brand. Industrializing quirky is a tricky task.
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Sean O’Neill, Skift
December 12th, 2022 at 2:30 AM EST
Tags: boutique hotels, Early Check-In, future of lodging, ihg, kimpton, kimpton hotels, lifestyle brands, lifestyle hotels, Skift Pro Columns
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