Obstacles to soft branding
When I attended the IHIF in Berlin in March, I was again overwhelmed by the number of brands on the market. From hostels to luxury – there seems to be a brand for every type of property, location and clientele. In Europe more than 60% of the hotels are unbranded. A large number of soft brands under the umbrellas of the big international brands offer the opportunity to get an unbranded hotel into their booking systems.
But what are the obstacles? Converting a hotel from an unbranded into a branded hotel requires the implementation of specific brand standards. Soft brands have the advantage, in that there is flexibility regarding design, room size and room layout. However, there are several items that are key for a conversion and have a big impact on the costs of conversions. The following is based on my experience in Europe. Some of it may be applicable for other parts of the world as well.
Fire and life safety standards (FLS) are key to all brands and are the most critical obstacle to conversions. Buildings of more than 30 to 40 years of age usually operate under old permits and therefore do not meet even the latest standards of the specific countries. When converting buildings, the number and location of emergency staircases and the length of dead-end corridors very often do not meet standards. Old permits required only one staircase, which in many cases also does not meet standards for emergency staircases. As the staircase usually was placed in the middle of the building, the lengths of the dead ends of the corridors are too long. To construct new or additional staircases is usually complicated and expensive.
One of the most costly issues is fire doors. Fire doors installed as required certifications may be missing or the doors do not comply at all. In both cases the installation of new doors is required. This item is related to the creation of fire sections. In old buildings the fire sections often are not as segmented as they are in new-built buildings. Fire sections often include several floors. Conference rooms are not separated from foyers and corridors. To bring these situations to an acceptable level requires experienced engineers, and the costs can be substantial. The efforts are not limited to the exchange and installation of fire doors. Pipe and duct work has to be made compliant by installing fire dampers and fire retardant closing of openings when crossing from one fire section into the other.
Another issue is the sound alarm. Experience shows that in most cases not all areas are covered or the sound level is too low. The coverage of all areas with fire detectors may also be incomplete.
Sprinklers are usually required for buildings higher than 25 meters. This may vary from country to country, but below six or seven floors, no sprinklers are required by local standards. Most of the brands accept this, but it could be a deal breaker if not accepted by a brand.
In existing bathrooms there are usually two issues – the tiles, which do not comply with slippery ratings, and the thermo controls in showers to avoid scalding. It is easy to exchange the thermo controls, but the tiles are only changed when the bathroom is completely refurbished. In my experience most of the time bathrooms are part of a refurbishment plan in course of a conversion or repositioning.
These are only a few and most expensive examples of issues related to FLS standards. Due to the definition of the soft brands there are usually only few other items, which may cause higher investments. However, the decision to change the brand or to rebrand the hotel usually goes hand in hand with a renovation plan. Design or layout requirements can be implemented easily without exceeding budgets for the renovation.
Owners and investors who are thinking about branding their hotel therefore should first look at the fire and life safety situation in the hotel. Experienced consultants can elaborate a property improvement plan as a basis to estimate costs, time and efforts to bring the existing to comply with up-to-date standards. On this basis the decision to start a branding project can be made.
DI HERBERT MASCHA, MRICS Partner - MRP Hotels Herbert Mascha is an experienced civil engineer, working on international hotel projects as a project manager and consultant.
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