What do you think of when the words ‘airport hotel’ come to mind? Perhaps it’s an endless parade of uniformed airline crews or a spartan lobby coupled with a constant stream of check-ins as flights are delayed or canceled. Maybe your only experience was a restless sleepover the night before a ridiculously early departure.
It was for this reason – an early morning departure – that saw one half of this writing duo (Larry) stay at the recently renovated Sonesta Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). And, of course, we used this opportunity to sit down with Christian Hellot, the Hotel Manager. A veteran hotelier with a long history in Dubai and the LA area, he shed new light on the world of airport hotels.
From the opening paragraph, you may think that airport hotels get a bad wrap – a stereotype, if you will. Many believe that they’ve had their time; that airport hotels represent a ‘matured’ asset class destined for stagnation as a variety of forces like enhanced ground transportation services and infrastructure make getting into or out of airports far more frictionless for the 2020s. Sonesta LAX trashes this assumption by delivering an experience rivaling downtown or attraction-proximal hotels.
As Hellot noted, “The traditional airport hotel relies primarily upon business travelers in need of a night’s stay prior to a weekday departure. This leaves a weekend occupancy gap as there’s typically limited need for Friday and Saturday nights. And while we have 14,000 square feet of meeting space, our convention activity is primarily midweek as well.
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Therefore, we positioned this property as a weekend leisure destination, filling those nights with local area guests wanting short-distance (only three to four miles away) beach access, or for the Hollywood Park entertainment and sports district.”
The proof is in the numbers. While most airport hotels have an average length of stay (LOS) of 1.1 to 1.3, this property now averages closer to 1.7 LOS – more closely matching the rate of downtown properties. In relative rates, that’s a 42% increase above average.
To better accommodate all segments, the F&B is located immediately off the lobby, in what you might call an ‘in-your-face’ position. Simply put, you cannot miss the traditional restaurant, separate sushi bar and grab-and-go outlet – the latter featuring a wood-burning pizza oven. As expected, restaurant services were exceptionally fast. What was not expected was that the steak (reasonably priced) was better-than-steakhouse quality! We did not try the room service which, as expected, operates 24/7.
The guestroom was oversized compared to what one would expect for this type of property, with above-average fixtures and fittings. Although we faced the busy taxi areas of LAX, the insulation and window construction ensured that aircraft noise was minimal. We suspect that the $42 million renovation, which had the property operating at half capacity during this 12-month construction period, included some sound-deadening materials.
Are airport hotels due for a revival? Overall, an experience like this has forced us to reevaluate this segment. The Sonesta LAX encourages us to avoid siloing our marketing plan and instead, broaden our horizons to reflect local opportunities.
The recent property improvement plan (PIP) certainly allowed for a more flexible and expanded customer segmentation, but such a costly venture undoubtedly came with plenty of feasibility and strategic forecasts to show what an airport hotel could deliver on uplift to occupancy, LOS and ancillary spends. If you own or manage one of these hotels, challenge your DoSM to come back with a plan, while looking at how you can induce a longer LOS by adding key services or property features.
