Hotels? Aren’t they all the same? Well apparently not.
The Quadrant Hotel Group has brought a fresh new perspective to hospitality. The apartment-style Quadrant Hotel in downtown Auckland is a designer hotel that is best described as hip, without the high price tag.
In October 2006, leading Auckland-based property company Melview Developments launched the new brand of hotels in New Zealand. To create the Quadrant brand, Melview Developments employed some of New Zealand’s leading hotel operators to use their experience managing five-star hotels to create a stylish and affordable four-star product that has redefined accommodation in New Zealand.
Melview now has eight hotels comprising more than 1800 hotel rooms, either completed or currently under development, in New Zealand. To create Auckland’s hippest hotel, Melview Developments’ founder and managing director, Nigel McKenna, worked closely with Clark Brown Architects, interior design company Martin Hughes Interiors and bar designer Tom Keyring, to ensure a strong design ethos and vision. This provided Auckland with not just another hotel, but a hotel that set new standards in design and accommodation.
The marketing team evaluated its opportunities through extensive research on successful international properties, backed up with a number of market focus groups, which brought together key potential clients, representing the film, entertainment, press, event and corporate markets. As frequent, international travellers and hotel customers, these brought a fresh perspective to what was required to make a hotel great. Results from these market focus sessions, driven by Pead PR, form the basis of what is now The Quadrant Hotel.
The objective was to create an innovative New Zealand owned and operated brand that would push the boundaries of the stereotype. The customer-focused approach was designed to create an instant stylish and affordable four-star hotel that would cater for each and every guest’s needs.
The Quadrant team wanted guests to feel relaxed, and not overwhelmed – a home away from home. Thinking outside of the square and not following what competitors were doing was the marketing mantra. The team identified key competitors within the Auckland market, analysed their strengths and weaknesses, creating a benchmark from which to proceed. Room styles and rate structure have been carefully designed to encourage longer stays, particularly over traditional shoulder days.
Guests can even choose not to have housekeeping if they desire, and are rewarded on rate for this. Not only is this friendly for the environment but it also increases profitability through lower costs. Length of stay also encourages repeat patronage in food and beverage outlets and general use of all services. The average current length of stay for the property is 3.8 nights verses the city average of 1.8 nights.
The Quadrant Hotel’s website (www.thequadrant.com) was created as a key distribution channel and now consistently ranks in the top three hotel websites in New Zealand on Wotif.com for bookings and revenue. Other third-party websites ensure cost-effective distribution and guests can even have their confirmation sent via SMS text to their mobile phone from The Quadrant Hotel’s website.
Aggressive and constant brand marketing through print, radio and strategic sponsorships was critical to launching the new brand and an alignment with a number of citywide events ensured additional exposure. This included sponsorship of Groove in the Park 2007, New Zealand Music Awards 2006, NZ Idol 2006, Auckland Youthtown Stars Basketball 2007/2008, G’Day Australia Week 2007/2008, and Michael Hill International Violin Competition 2007/2008.
The Quadrant has also become one of the joint hotel sponsors for Air New Zealand Fashion Week 2008, and was the only hotel included in the first TV campaign by Tourism Auckland (in the past five years), broadcast in 2007, in both New Zealand and Australia. An innovative hotel concept is fine in theory but a successful business model must be sustainable and encourage future growth and continued investment.
The Quadrant has (based on NZ Hotel Council statistics) consistently made the top eight for total room nights in the highly competitive Auckland market. During the first full operating financial year 2007/2008, the 250-room property had an annual turnover of almost $10 million. Although the brand is still new to the New Zealand market, an expansion into Queenstown in 2009 is on the cards, with additional properties to open over the coming year. The Quadrant Hotel is a true success story.
