By Nick Carrier, Principal at WATG
Portfolio enhancement – or the renovation of a number of properties within an overall hotel portfolio – can lead to stronger brand messaging and a significant financial advantage for developers, owners and investors. Through the repositioning and redesign of existing hotels assets, design firms can produce a substantial ROI for clients, with increased RevPAR, an overall uplift in brand recognition and consistent positive guest feedback.
Hotel portfolio optimization focuses on elevating the attractiveness, functionality, and profitability of hotel properties. This approach enables hoteliers to level up their properties in a considered and holistic way and can greatly improve the overall guest experience across the brand. To achieve this, the key elements to consider are:
Brand identity and uplift
Through a thoughtful design approach, we can help to better establish and reinforce a hotel’s brand identity. By bringing a higher standard to properties through bespoke design strategies, we can strengthen brand recognition and help position the hotel in front of a higher net worth audience.
Guest experience and satisfaction
The architecture, landscape and interior design of a resort contributes heavily to the guest experience. Elements such as innovative layouts, luxury furnishings, and attractive amenities enhance comfort and choice, encouraging repeat visits and more positive reviews.
Operational efficiency
Well-designed hotels can improve operational efficiency, reducing costs and maximizing profitability. Improved space utilization and streamlined workflows can minimize staffing requirements, energy consumption, and maintenance costs. This is especially important when managing multiple properties within a portfolio.
Sustainability and green design
By using existing assets, while also adopting sustainable architecture and design practices, we can align with environmental responsibilities and contribute to cost savings and improved market appeal. It’s the designer’s role to help clients understand and incorporate energy-efficient technologies, eco-friendly materials, and consider green building certifications. In doing so, we can reduce operating expenses, enhance brand reputation, and attract a growing audience: environmentally conscious guests.
Value enhancement and asset appreciation
Strategic architectural and design interventions can increase the market value and appreciation potential of hotel properties within a portfolio. Renovations, expansions, or repositioning initiatives that enhance curb appeal, guest amenities, and overall aesthetics can boost property values and increase RevPAR, bringing higher returns on investment.
Adaptation to market trends
The guest experience needs to match current and future market trends. For example, incorporating technology-enabled features, wellness spaces, and experiential design elements can appeal to the next generation of guests, while also positioning properties more competitively in the market.
By integrating architectural and design considerations into portfolio optimization strategies, developers and investors can have high-performing properties that deliver superior returns and sustained growth across the portfolio.
WATG and Wimberly Interiors and Mitsis Hotels
Over the last decade, WATG and Wimberly Interiors has collaborated with Mitsis on several properties within their overall portfolio. In every project, the design prioritises the experience of end-users – be they guests, residents, visitors, or shoppers – and employees, while balancing business needs and profitability goals for owner and operator. The evidence of this focus is found in the consistently successful outcomes and is one of the factors that has led to a strong, long-term relationship with the client.
Considering how each part contributes to the whole, enhanced amenities such as smaller, more private swim-up pools, panoramic rooftop terraces, glazed balconies that create direct sightlines to the sea, and other strategic design interventions not only increase a property’s room rates but can assist in diversifying room types as well. At Mitsis’ Rinela Beach Resort & Spa in Crete, working closely with WATG’s advisory team, Mitsis was able to introduce two new room types – suites and villas – appealing to a broader cross-section of customers, encouraging repeat visitation and, ultimately, maximizing revenue.
And the opportunities don’t stop at the guest rooms. At Rinela, WATG also identified an opportunity to expand and enhance amenities for families with children, and travellers seeking an active holiday, through more diverse recreational amenities with multi-generational appeal. Transforming the original, underutilized sports courts, the plan was to introduce a kids’ club with suspended walkways, a dynamic slash pad, and dedicated areas for toddlers, kids and teens. Two tennis courts will be reduced to one, allowing a broader range of activities such as petanque, basketball, and five-a-side football pitch. As a result, since the renovation project began in 2019, there has been a +128.22% increase in ADR (2023).