Knowing your place
Economy hotels, however, must be kept simple; getting carried away in the design and development phases can lead to trouble, according to the hoteliers.

“There is always a temptation to have larger rooms and add more services, but we need to have a profitable model and these all represent additional costs. An economy hotel doesn’t mean offering no service — it’s a modern hotel you can be proud of, offering services such as a good bed, TV, good internet and value for money,” Accor’s Baretaud said.

But it is not the client’s expectations the operators are struggling to manage — it’s the owner’s.

“We’re trying to explain to investors about the differences between a limited-service and a big-service property and how it is reflected in the facilities. You cannot have a big banquet hall in a limited-service hotel. That will require investment in the back-of-house and you’re pushing into the next tier, then management becomes confused and return on investment becomes confused,” explained Samir Baidas, senior vice president — International Lodging Development, Marriott International Inc.

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“That’s a fine line that we’re working on to educate and support our investors about. If this is the product they believe the market wants, they need to go to the next tier,” added Baidas.

However, Crawford said you have to be prepared to adapt to market requirements.

“We have made rooms slightly larger to suit the market in this part of the world. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia you also need to introduce room service,” Crawford added, as an example.

“When we opened in the UAE we didn’t have room service and it became the number one service that people insisted on — so we’ve introduced it now. We don’t have it in the UK, but here it’s a culture. People expect it.”

Crawford concluded that costs are the main issue: “You have to be flexible but agree to keep it simple and find simple, low-cost ways of managing expectations.”