Brand in focus: DoubleTree by Hilton
Hilton Worldwide has ramped up its roll out of its upscale full service DoubleTree by Hilton brand in the Middle East in recent months, with six hotels now open and 13 more to come. Global head John P. Greenleaf reveals why now is the time for growth
For Hilton Worldwide in 2013, its claim to fame in the Middle East was undoubtedly the introduction of its luxury brands to the UAE, with two Waldorf Astoria resorts opening, firstly in Ras Al Khaimah and secondly on Palm Jumeirah, as well as the long-awaited Conrad Dubai.
In 2014, it’s been quite a different focus, with the upscale full service DoubleTree by Hilton brand taking the headlines. Two hotels have opened in Dubai, in Al Barsha and Jumeirah Beach Residence, a second hotel has opened in Ras Al Khaimah, and the brand debuted in Saudi Arabia. Management contracts have also been signed thick and fast, with 13 DoubleTree by Hilton hotels currently planned for the Middle East alone.
The expansion plans come in the wake of a brand relaunch in 2011, when the ‘by Hilton’ tag was added to the DoubleTree name. The brand had been US-based only until 2008, when it launched in Cambridge, UK, and the relaunch was very much aimed at enabling more global growth.
At the time, John P. Greenleaf, a marketer with a background in consumer packaged goods, was head of marketing for DoubleTree, before stepping sideways into brand performance for the Hilton Hotels and Resorts brand.
Eighteen months ago, Greenleaf was promoted to Global Head for DoubleTree by Hilton, based in the Hilton Worldwide global HQ in McLean, Virgina. Since then, he has been focused on “improvements” to the brand along the areas of food and beverage, core standards and service, as well as driving the development team to propel yet more expansion.
As a brand head, Greenleaf says he is “constantly listening and looking at the product itself”. He spoke to Hotelier during a brand leaders get together in London back in June and we met in the rooftop Sky Lounge on the 12th floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London — Tower of London, which is a hive of activity due to an obvious combination of business and leisure travellers.
Greenleaf reflects on the similarities, and “sparkling differences” between his previous roles as product director for major companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Sara Lee, and his move into the hospitality sector.
“In many ways the process itself is very much the same, you are designing the product, adapting the product to changing consumer tastes, you have an audience you are identifying that you want to constantly test to make sure it’s still relevant for the product that you’re offering and you’re trying to find the most efficient way to spend the resources you have in order to drive more revenue,” he says.
“I think where the difference is pretty profound is in a business where you are selling a packaged good, the product is the same no matter where you go. So if I buy a bar of ivory soap here it is the same as it is in many places in the world. The way I view our product is if you look at this hotel with 600 rooms there are 600 different experiences in each of those rooms in this hotel every single night,” he explains, gesturing to the mixed clientele around us, some in business meetings, others relaxing with family and some clearly preparing for a night on the town.
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“So we’re selling a brand yet the product that each guest experiences can be uniquely different from one to the next. So the question is what’s important to our guest given that all their needs and their expectations are different. How can you tell a story such that everyone can be satisfied with the result of their stay at one of our hotels when their expectations are different in all 380 hotels, that are different from one to the next?
“I view that as the significant difference between those kinds of products and this is why I love doing what I do, because there’s never a dull moment. Every day is different, every guest is different, every hotel is different, and yet the goal is to try to develop some semblance of consistency so I can talk to you about what DoubleTree is, how is it different and why should you stay here instead of across the street at the Novotel.”
So what is DoubleTree and why is it different? Greenleaf explains the company follows a set of core standards for DoubleTree, rather than rigid brand standards covering elements such as room size and décor. There are some facilities common to every hotel, including a business centre and fitness centre, and trademarked elements apparent in every hotel; the Wake up DoubleTree breakfast, Sweet Dreams bed; and famous chocolate chip welcome cookie given to every guest upon check-in
More than 300 million cookies have been given out to date, with a select group of bakeries around the world currently holding the brand’s secret recipe. The cookie has also inspired Cookie Cares, a consumer-focused brand initiative, which Greenleaf reveals is set to be launched in Dubai next month.
The programme varies according to location but most recently, in London, thousands of pairs of chocolate chip cookies were given away across the country to unsuspecting passers-by — intended to be one to share and one to keep.
The initiative was driven by the DoubleTree by Hilton Little Things Index, which found that treating others to a random act of kindness was sixth in a list of little things that made people happy — all part of the DoubleTree philosophy that “the little things mean everything”.
As Greenleaf points out, the DoubleTree portfolio comprises everything from a 40-room resort in the Seychelles to a 1600-room casino resort in Las Vegas, so most important is the service provided — ‘CARE’.
He explains: “The one thread that knits together all these hotels is less about the actual physical product and more about the hospitality or the culture of the DoubleTree brand, which is something we work on very, very hard. The experience that you have with the staff and the teams in the hotels needs to be exceptional, and it needs to be different, and it needs to be ours.
“And we can’t have you finding yourself in a position where you don’t know you’re in a DoubleTree because the service feels like you are in another hotel. We call it ‘CARE’, which is an acronym for ‘creating a rewarding experience’ and the philosophy behind that is not just providing good service — because everyone who is in the hotel business is in the service business, that’s what we all strive to do.
“What we do is we clearly focus on the guest by listening carefully to what the guest is telling us, and adapting to system-wide needs or changes of what DoubleTree is, if we can do that system-wide.
“But more importantly, listening to the guest and what their unique needs are, so that we can serve them when they are here in this hotel. And that goes back to my example earlier — that we are selling 600 different products every night.”
Each hotel is expected to achieve this by building a “community” of staff and focusing highly on both guest needs and employee recognition. The third element of CARE is for the hotels to be involved in the community; either through bespoke projects suited to their neighbourhood’s needs or by implementing Teaching Kids to Care — an initiative “where we offer up to the hotels a handful of examples of how they can become involved in programmes that benefit children in the community”, says Greenleaf.
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Hotels track their progress in this via the ‘Care Cup’, an internal competition that, while not compulsory, resulted in every hotel globally bar five submitting a “quarterly care pack” in Q2.
“They’re all engaged in this, they’re involved, they track their progress and they’re proud of what they do and I think that’s the important thing and we believe that that commitment to the brand, to each other, the guest and the community shows when you come and stay at one of the hotels,” asserts Greenleaf.
Another area of engagement is social media, which has been important in each of the new markets DoubleTree has entered, including most recently Dubai.
There are various prongs to the strategy, including social media champions volunteering in each hotel, a socialite programme, in which some of the best of these social media champions gather for three or four days to share their expertise, which is then rolled out to other hotels, and the D Tour YouTube channel, which has seen multiple travellers post pictures and snaps during their travels.
“It’s basically a social site of our own that travellers can participate in done in partnership with Google, which is a clearing house for other social media. It’s unique to the industry and pretty neat,” says Greenleaf.
With these strategies in place, the plan is clear: “to grow fast and to grow smart”, with the Middle East “a real opportunity” for both the DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton brands.
“We need to make sure that we open hotels that are of the highest quality in the parts of cities and in cities that are going to be meaningful for our travellers and those who are aware of us,” says Greenleaf.
“So growth is where we spend a lot of time and in many ways you could say that is one of the key areas in which the brand is evolving. When you go from zero to six hotels in the Middle East in a relatively short amount of time, with 13 more yet to open, that’s a transformation of a brand that had no presence to one that will be one of the dominant players in a short number of years; and you can pick different markets in the world where we’ve been able to do that.
“In India we’ll go from three to six hotels this year, and our pipeline in China is significant. We have seven hotels in Turkey whereas just a few years ago we had none,” he adds, asserting his confidence for Middle East expansion.
Of competitors, he identifies global four-star brands understood as full-service hotels — the likes of Marriott, Sheraton, Crowne Plaza, and a number of regional brands. However, Greenleaf is confident DoubleTree has the edge.
“Most people would typically view Marriott as priced above DoubleTree. Most would view Sheraton as a brand that is older, both in its customer base and in the quality of the offerings in many of the markets; but the Middle East is different.
“So when you look at an opportunity for a larger number of hotels that are new, with a brand focused much more on service in a market where service is much more important than it is in some others, we believe that the brand of hospitality that we offer, the newness and diversity of the hotels, and the presence we have built in other parts of the world that are sources for business to the Middle East together is a real opportunity we believe, not just for DoubleTree but for Hilton as well,” concludes Greenleaf.”
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MIDDLE EAST DoubleTree BY HILTON HOTELS AT A GLANCE
DoubleTree by Hilton Ras Al Khaimah
Opened in April 2011 as the first DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in the UAE, this features 98 guest rooms and 28 one-, two- or three-bedroom apartments, a 24-hour business centre and two boardrooms, a rooftop swimming pool, and a fitness centre and a spa. F&B includes all-day dining restaurant Gusto, Fresco Energy Bar for juices and healthy snacks, and The Treetop Lounge and Restaurant located on the rooftop.
DoubleTree by Hilton Aqaba
At the first DoubleTree by Hilton in Jordan, which opened in April 2011, there are 173 guest rooms, a swimming pool and fitness centre and several food and beverage options including all-day dining Gusto, King’s Grill restaurant and bar, Tree Cafe, the Infinity Pool and Snack Bar, and D Lounge, the hotel’s main bar and entertainment area.
DoubleTree by Hilton Resort & Spa Marjan Island
The 485-room DoubleTree by Hilton Resort & Spa Marjan Island, which opened in Ras Al Khaimah in January 2014, features a mix of guest rooms and suites, sea-view rooms and villas, all with access to the resort’s private 650-metre beach. Facilities include a fitness centre, five swimming pools, and the UAE’s first Hilton Worldwide eforea:spa.
DoubleTree by Hilton Dhahran
In the commercial centre of Al Khobar in Eastern Province, KSA, this 153-room conversion property was the first DoubleTree by Hilton branded hotel to open in Saudi Arabia in January 2014. It features a 24-hour business centre and, scheduled later this year, a fully-renovated fitness centre, indoor swimming pool and spa area. Guests can choose to dine in one of the hotel’s three restaurants: Al Waha, an all-day dining restaurant, Indian speciality Rasoi, and the Al Maha Café.
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Residences Dubai - Al Barsha
Located within short walking distance of Mall of The Emirates, the 359-room property was the first DoubleTree by Hilton hotel to open in Dubai at the start of May. It has 181 spacious and modern rooms, 13 suites, 41 studios and 124 one and two bedroom apartments, and a wide range of amenities including three meeting rooms, complimentary shuttle to the Mall of the Emirates and Dubai public beaches, 24-hour business and fitness centres, an outdoor pool, and three restaurants.
DoubleTree by Hilton Dubai - Jumeirah Beach
Launching in June, the 110-suites property is the second DoubleTree by Hilton hotel to open in Dubai and is located at the end of the 1.7km JBR Walk. It features the Breakwater Health Club, which includes four dedicated treatment rooms, outdoor infinity pool and a private beach, the Areia Beach Club. There are four dining options, including Al Maeda, featuring upscale Arabic cuisine and an outdoor terrace with sea view; The Kitchen Table, serving the signature Wake Up DoubleTree Breakfast and local and international fresh dishes; Areia Beach Bar & Grill where guests can taste the authentic flavours of an Arabic style BBQ; and the Maiya Lounge, with a variety of light menu items.