THIS YEAR’S LOCAL TOURISM TREND: INSTRAGRAMMABLE STAYCATIONS
Angelica Gutierrez for Esquire • November 27, 2017
You may not know Luis C. Monserrat, but you’ll definitely be familiar with the hotels he runs. His company, Hospitality Innovators Inc. (HII), operates and manages properties like The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences in Makati, Azumi Boutique Hotel in Alabang, The CrossWinds Resort Suites in Tagaytay, and the new Hue Hotels and Resorts Boracay, among many others. As founder and CEO of one of the country’s leading hotel and property management companies, Monserrat is pretty well-positioned to comment on current industry trends.
One of his observations is that, while foreign tourists are still a big part of the market, local tourism is booming as well. “One of the things that is very clear from the standpoint of our different hotels is that the local market has grown significantly over the past few years,” he says. “It actually represents the single largest source market based on country of origin.”
“Most of our hotels are city business hotels and majority of our guests are foreigners, but it is very apparent that the local market is still growing. This is consistent with the data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) which is saying that local tourism is becoming a key driver in the tourism industry. The evidence of this is the growing popularity of staycations. In fact, the staycation market is the trend in many of our hotels and this is especially true during weekends,” he continues.
Monserrat has also observed that people who stay for the weekend tend to look for “Instagrammable” hotels. But apart from aesthetically appealing interiors, Filipinos are especially value-conscious. “Based on our experience, Filipino tourists are, as often as not, harder to please than foreign guests, but they also tend to be price sensitive,” he says. “They have high standards of service and are sought after as a workforce as excellent service providers. Even if they stay at mid-level rated hotels, the expectation is to get the best value for what they pay for. We look at this as a challenge to up our game and aim to not only meet but surpass their expectations.”
More and more Filipinos are booking through online travel agencies like Traveloka and Expedia, too. In today’s competitive climate, it’s important for hotels to be adept at digital marketing. “Given the contribution of the online travel agencies (OTAs) in the hotel business, digital marketing specifically aimed at these channels is obviously very important,” Monserrat explains. “We develop promotional strategies with the OTAs and strategize with them depending on the market segment we are targeting.”
However, Monserrat adds that OTAs are “essentially manipulations or short-term tools.” The only way to truly stand out and remain top-of-mind is to provide exceptional and memorable service. One way hotels try to do this is through personalization. For example, some welcome their guests by putting up banners in their rooms and leaving cakes decorated with their customers’ company logos.
Others take photos of their guests enjoying themselves and present them at the end of their customers’ stay. At Hue Boracay, pictures from your Instagram account are placed in a frame next to your bed and displayed on the TV along with a welcome message. Some people are pleasantly surprised by these gestures, while others may find them a little creepy.
“There is an old saying, ‘different strokes for different folks,’” Monserrat says. “Some will like it and some will not. To come up with a blanket approach will be difficult.
“ "What should be done instead is to try to know guests on a personalized basis and be able to determine if this particular guest will appreciate it or not."
Gimmicks aside, Monserrat asserts that there are two ways you can assure that your brand will be different from the others. “It all boils down to the attention to detail and the level of heart that you put into the job,” he says. If hotel managers can effectively pass these values down to all of their staff, they’ll be able to stand out and impress even the most discriminating of guests.
Source
November 2017, Esquire,
"This Year’s Local Tourism Trend: Instragrammable Staycations"
A hotel third party operator observes that one positive economic indicator is that more people are asking his company to run their properties. “If you talk to finance experts, they point out that there is liquidity in the market. Potential investors are interested in tourism, and we get approached by people with that mindset,” says Luis Monserrat, founder and CEO of Hospitality Innovators Inc. Dubbed HII, it is one of the few management companies in the hospitality industry. “As a management company, our role is to handle all aspects of hotel operation. In sales and marketing, we make sure that the hotel has guests, occupancy is good. In service, the guest experience satisfaction is high. We manage financial aspects of the business: Costs are controlled; expenses are incurred efficiently; budgets are met, and the owners get their desired return on investment. Lastly, the assets of the owner are properly maintained. A hotel owner doesn’t have to worry about the day-to-day side of the business,” says Monserrat. With 18 properties in its portfolio, HII will launch three this year in Quezon City, Ortigas and Makati. Last year, it opened four hotels to healthy occupancy and positive reviews from OTA (online travel agency) portals. The performances of Hue Resort in Boracay and Hue City resort in Palawan, owned by businessmen Dexter and Dennis Lee, exceeded expectations. Established developers such as Ortigas & Company and Alveo Land likewise tapped HII to run their respective serviced residences at the Cirque in Cirkulo Verde, Pasig and Kasa Luntian in Tagaytay. “ "Monserrat explains that creating awareness, pricing and service are critical factors for success. HII leverages social media as an important tool in marketing to customers." “We work closely with OTAs as they are a growing channel in the industry. Once these hotels are listed in their sites, they get noticed and, hopefully, bookings. We also do promotional tie-ins with the OTAs,” he says. Guest feedback is more important than ever since reviews are posted in real time. Aside from helping the hotel improve its product and services, the online reviews can also indicate a market trend. HII prices range from P4,500 to P6,500 a night for a standard room in Makati—even cheaper with OTAs, compared with five-star hotels that cost P7,000 to P11,400 a night. Most of HII’s properties are existing brands, many of which were either condotels or serviced apartments, whose rooms have owners. Monserrat says HII runs its condotels like a shared economy. The difference between an alternative lodging company, such as AirBnb for instance, is the business model. The CEO cites Parque España in Alabang, The Exchange Regency in Ortigas, KL Towers and Picasso in Makati, Vista Land’s Crosswinds in Tagaytay as examples wherein the developer provided condo owners another option to generate income. “In our serviced residence program, we recruit the unit owners and set up a rental pool in the building. You don’t have to worry about your unit because it is operated like a hotel. You get a monthly income whether your unit has been occupied or not. From the revenues, you deduct the operational expenses and the earnings are distributed to the unit owners pro rata to the square meters or area they have in the pool. We’ve established that there is a market for this product. It’s more convenient than buying a unit and going through the conventional route of finding a broker and tenant,” he says. On the other hand, alternative lodgings only earn when they’ve hosted guests in their room, condo or house. Meanwhile, the service provider/agent gets a commission. Moreover, the owner interacts with the client for collection or maintenance issues. “With AirBnb, the owner is engaged with the guest. In our models, all of that goes away,” says Monserrat. Another HII advantage over the home sharing services industry is that its properties are in safe and centrally located neighborhoods. However, Monserrat realized that in running condotels, the third party operator can be more effective when it also handles the property management. “In a condotel, it’s helpful to run the property management so that everything is seamless,” he says. —CONTRIBUTED Source January 2018, Inquirer, " Smooth Operator "
Luis C. Monserrat is a veteran of reinvention. Monserrat was once a banker, marketing director for the Coca-Cola Company for the Philippines and later North Latin America, and director for E&J Gallo Wineries for Latin America and the Caribbean. Then Monserrat returned to the Philippines, became president of the subsidiaries of Primetown Property Group, then finally went on his own. In 1999, the then 48-year-old Monserrat established Hospitality Innovators Inc. (HII), which manages condotels, hotels and serviced apartments. He says it took a lot of adjusting before he got used to his new life as an entrepreneur. “As a marketing director for Coke, doors opened for me because I represented a company that had clout and a big budget. When I become an entrepreneur, nobody cared who I was,” he says. “You have to be prepared and stick to your vision. I had to unlearn some things. In the corporate world, you are dealing with large budgets and numbers. As an entrepreneur in this field, everything becomes more personal and prudent. You’ve got to work doubly hard to overcome hurdles and rejections,” Monserrat adds. When the CEO started on the Parque España Residence Hotel in Alabang, people thought the idea was foolish. He persevered because Muntinlupa was accessible to the Laguna Technopark and the Cavite Industrial Estate. Visiting executives, particularly long-staying guests, needed lodgings that were closer to their work. Parque España was actually built in the mid-1990s as a residential condominium. Buyers bought the units as an investment but then the Asian crisis hit. “The buyers wanted to unload the units but couldn’t sell them. The rental market was soft. I saw then an opportunity to set up a condotel so I got the owners to buy into that,” says Monserrat. Under this system, owners do not live in their units but rent them out to be used like a hotel room, thus providing them some earnings while retaining their ownership of the property. “In Parque España, you won’t find any unit that is lived in by the unit owner. All units are part of the hotel pool. As our flagship, it continues to do well,” says Monserrat. He says Parque España taught him another lesson, that if you have a product that is well managed and has a client base, you can retain clients even if there are other options. He attributes the condotel’s success to service and training. “ "Hospitality is inbred in our culture. We marry that with professionalism and efficiency. We make sure our guests receive the same service standards as in a pricey hotel but at a much better value," he says. Monserrat’s portfolio has expanded since then, with HII managing 14 properties with different partners and varying business models. “We tell prospective partners and owners that in this setup, if they don’t make money, we don’t make money. Our fees are based on profit line. We are married to our individual unit owners. We are not a capital intensive business. Our business is expertise and people,” says Monserrat. HII takes pride in handling boutique hotels/serviced residences with unique concepts, created by prominent architects and designers, and restaurants that draw the local crowd. These hotels have become known for their striking color schemes, artwork and ambiance. In the course of HII’s collaborations, Monserrat formed Ardent Development Corp. to finance and build hotels and a condominium. It co-developed, for example, The Mondrian Residences in Alabang, Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences and Y2 Residence Hotel in Makati. Monserrat notes that more than capital, his company’s core competence is management. “We create concepts for the most part. Our ability to expand a concept is greater when we come in as co-developers. The development is on a case-to-case basis and only when the right opportunity presents itself. As developers, we don’t have deep pockets. When we get involved on the development side, we set parameters,” he says. One of his partners is the Blanco family. He shares that the late Tony Blanco had a passion for real estate and was busy with the Blanco Arms in Alabang before he died. Since the unfinished building was beside Parque España, Monserrat saw its potential. He then forged a joint venture with the Blanco family. They developed the 167-unit Mondrian Residences, which was completed in 2007 and then followed by other projects. Monserrat says being an entrepreneur has its challenges but it also has its rewards. He finds the greatest fulfillment in developing new concepts and providing employment to a workforce of 700. “I’ve been living my dream,” he says. Source July 2015, Business.Inquirer.Net, “ From Asian Financial Crisis, A Hotelier is Born ”
The “innovision” behind some of Manila’s most loved concept hotels and serviced residences Hotel and property management company Hospitality Innovators, Inc. (HII) is making a name for itself for producing design and experience-grounded properties that deliver quality service to hotel guests. It transforms ordinary properties into concept spaces that distinguish them in the market. Founded only 15 years ago but already a leading figure in the field, HII is led by a team of seasoned industry practitioners that fully tap into each property’s potential and, combined by its service and operations know-how, make profitable businesses for its partners and create exciting destinations for guests. “The big property players are now getting into the hospitality space and the reality is that there are smaller guys who also want in. What HII does is partner with these small independents and equips them with our `innovision’ to help create distinct concepts that delight guests and make them want to come back,” said HII founder and chief executive officer Luis C. Monserrat. “ "The one-of-kind appeal and first-rate services that we develop for them, lead to each property’s unique and satisfactory brand of experience which allows them to ably compete." Leading the HII roster is The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences in Salcedo Village, Makati which was transformed into the spacious and stylish serviced residence by HII with architect Dom Galicia. Picasso was initially an apartment building but was reconceptualized to become a serviced residence with walls and rooms that speak of art. HII also manages both branches of The Henry Hotel: The Henry Cebu, which features 38 rooms each uniquely filled with art collectibles around the world, including those of French designer Delphine de Lorme; and the newly-opened The Henry Manila, which exhibits a nostalgic appeal with its five post-war style houses with rooms adorned with modern vintage furnishings. Also in HII’s portfolio are two new properties in Makati: the Y2 Residence Hotel which offers a zen-like feel with its Oriental design that epitomizes balance and harmony, and the KL Tower Serviced Residences which is characterized by clean architectural lines that exude modern and sophisticated style. The company pioneered the concept of condormitels, an idea that’s currently gaining ground. The company presently operates two such properties in the University Belt Manila area and is currently exploring similar other properties. HII properties also consistently post higher occupancy rates than the industry average. Its properties have received from major travel websites, reaped glowing reviews and feedback from guests. Among these are Picasso’s TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2014, and consistent rank, along with Y2 Residence Hotel, in TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Hotels in Makati. Also in the winners’ mix is The Exchange Regency Residence Hotel in Ortigas, Winner in the Agoda Gold Circle Awards 2014, the Azumi Boutique Hotel and Parque España Residence Hotel, which are both in Alabang and were given the 2014 Award of Excellence by Booking.com. The Henry Cebu consistently ranks among the top three hotels in Cebu according to TripAdvisor. Source April 2015, Malaya.com.ph, “ Transforming Ordinary Properties Into Most-Loved Service Residences ”
MANILA, Philippines – When one talks about the hospitality industry, big-name players are the first that come to mind. They dominate the scene not just in terms of location but also in number of rooms and staff size. But a group of concept hotels and serviced residences is slowly gaining recognition for the distinct experiences and more personalized service they offer. Behind these new players is a hotel and property management company with a vision to break new ground in the industry: Hospitality Innovators, Inc. or HII. Founded only 15 years ago but already a leading figure in the field, HII produces design and experience-grounded properties that rely on unique character and top-class service to deliver unforgettable stays. At the core of HII is its drive to transform ordinary properties into concept spaces that distinguish them in the market. With the expertise brought by its team of seasoned industry folks, HII is able to fully tap into each property’s potential and, combined with its service and operations knowhow, make profitable businesses for its partners and create exciting destinations for guests. Creating distinct concepts to delight guests: Booking.com gave the Azumi Boutique Hotel in Alabang the 2014 Award of Excellence. “The big property players are now getting into the hospitality space and the reality is that there are smaller guys who also want in,” says HII founder and chief executive officer Luis C. Monserrat. “What HII does is partner with these small independents and equip them with our ‘innovision’ to help create distinct concepts that delight guests and make them want to come back. The one-of-a-kind appeal and first-rate services that we develop for them lead to each property’s unique and satisfactory brand of experience, which allows them to ably compete.” According to Monserrat, the idea of banking on creating distinct personalities for the properties stems from the fact that they are going against the “Goliaths” and should be clearly different for the market to take notice. “This is what we offer hotel and property developers who want to get into the lodging space: the impressive combination of a unique concept and great service, which can enhance the value of assets and create attractive returns,” he says. Leading the HII roster is The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences in Salcedo Village, Makati, which flourishes with its creative design befitting its namesake artist. According to Monserrat, Picasso was transformed into the spacious and stylish serviced residence that it is now after he reimagined it with architect Dom Galicia. “We got Picasso after it was entrusted to us by a partner who liked what we did with their first property. Picasso was initially an apartment building but we reconceptualized it to become a serviced residence with walls and rooms that speak of art. When it was time to think of a name for the property, we went back to its core, what it was about, which is transformation. Dom suggested that no other artist better embodies transformation than Pablo Picasso. And that’s how the property got its name.” HII also manages both branches of The Henry Hotel: The Henry Cebu, which features 38 rooms uniquely filled with art collectibles around the world, including those of French designer Delphine de Lorme; and the newly opened The Henry Manila, which exhibits a nostalgic appeal with its five postwar style houses with rooms adorned with modern vintage furnishings. Also in HII’s portfolio are two new properties in Makati: the Y2 Residence Hotel, which offers a zen-like feel with its oriental design that epitomizes balance and harmony, and the KL Tower Serviced Residences, characterized by clean architectural lines that exude modern and sophisticated style. It is also noteworthy that the company pioneered the concept of “condormitels,” an idea that’s currently gaining ground. The company currently operates two such properties in the University Belt Manila area and is exploring other similar properties. HII also takes great pride in the exceptional service it extends to guests, which Monserrat believes is crucial to their properties’ success. He says, “ "Having attractive and interesting properties is one thing, but what really marks the HII brand is the bespoke hospitality we give each of our guests. We go beyond the standard by making all guests feel that they are truly looked after and cared for, so they feel right at home every time." This approach has allowed HII properties to consistently generate higher occupancy rates than the industry average. It is also the recipe behind all the awards that its properties have received from major travel websites, where HII properties have reaped glowing reviews and feedback from impressed guests. Among these are Picasso’s TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2014, and consistent rank, along with Y2 Residence Hotel, in TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Hotels in Makati. Also in the winners’ mix is The Exchange Regency Residence Hotel in Ortigas, winner in the Agoda Gold Circle Awards 2014, the Azumi Boutique Hotel and Parque España Residence Hotel, which are both in Alabang and were given the 2014 Award of Excellence by Booking.com. HII has also established a solid reputation in the South as The Henry Cebu consistently ranks among the top three hotels in Cebu, according to TripAdvisor. Monserrat adds that HII will continue to commit to consistency and a high standard for its concepts and services to keep guests, partners, and employees satisfied. “We want HII to stand for exceptional creativity and a distinct brand of hospitality. HII is just beginning to redefine the industry, and we’ll continue to do so with concepts that entice and excite, and by extending service that guests will want to come back to.” Source March 2015, Philstar.com, “ The Innovision Behind Some of Manila’s Concept Hotels and Serviced Residences ”
