No offense to the millennials, but Hilton’s potential new lifestyle brand would be better off positioned to capture a wider demand base.

　　I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the comments made by Chris Nassetta during his onstage Q-and-A last week at the 26th annual Hunter Hotel Investment Conference. To be honest, the reason I had a lot of time to reflect was because my car broke down on my way back from the airport, so careful reflection was really the only time-wasting option I had at my disposal while I waited for my tow to arrive.

　　To be frank, I wasn’t expecting to hear a lot of new information from Hilton Worldwide Holdings’ president and CEO that Hotel News Now’s Jeff Higley hadn’t already relayed in his articles based on his interview with Nassetta during the Americas Lodging Investment Summit. As it turns out, though, Nassetta laid out his thoughts on the potential launch of his company’s new lifestyle brand and also made some overall comments on what makes a brand successful. Other brand companies would be wise to also spend some time carefully reflecting on what he had to say.

　　In case you missed my summary of the talk, Nassetta basically said for a brand to be successful, you have to ensure it appeals to a wide demand base rather than just a segment or two. That strategy, however, goes against the thinking of other brand companies that have focused on this up-and-coming generation of travelers.

　　For instance, HNN’s editor-in-chief Patrick Mayock last year wrote about how Marriott International is trying to court millennials with its new Courtyard by Marriott room prototype and lobby. The new lobby features a flexible bistro that serves coffee in the morning and alcohol at night, a direct nod to millennials. The rooms also feature more millennial-friendly color palettes, a lounge-around sofa and a desk on wheels so the work station can be easily moved around, continuing along on that notion of flexibility as is displayed in the lobby.

　　I’m not going to discount the hours and hours of study and research that went into these changes. But that said, I do agree with Nassetta that hotel brands should be as broadly appealing as possible. As he pointed out, whether they want to or not, today’s millennials will grow up, and they will grow up quickly. Their tastes will change, and what was once a cutting-edge, youthful hotel will become outdated real quick.

　　As a testament to how quickly tastes can change, Nassetta said the needs he had at the age of 25 are radically different from his needs today. As Hunter Hotel Advisors’ Teague Hunter might say, “Hear, hear!” I can definitely relate to that. Heck, when I was 25, there were no baby seats in my car; I had never heard of Gymboree; and I would never be caught dead with putting my airline boarding pass in the front pocket of my button-down shirt. Guilty on all counts.

　　Anyway, what I am getting at, and what Nassetta said quite clearly, is that times change. It will be difficult as well as time- and money-consuming to retrofit your brand to suit these changing dynamics. It’s better to just ensure your hotel is capturing a wide swath of demand now. It seems as if that’s Hilton’s plan, and if so, I think their new brand is poised for success.

　　Tweet of the week

　　As I mentioned, I—and what must have seemed to other attendees like 100 HNN staffers—was busy covering and overwhelming the Hunter Conference as part of our industry-wide shock-and-awe campaign. (Not to be confused with our “aw, shucks” campaign that is still in development.)

　　Over the course of the next week or so, you’ll see HNN’s continuing coverage of Hunter, including Higley’s interview of Noble Investment Group’s Mit Shah. As you can see from this week’s tweet of the week, the HNN boss is just flat unflappable and laser-focused when doing his video interviews.

　　You have to be when Tom Corcoran is lurking around.