blending product tactility with memory-
making travel. And for a homeware brand
known for its design aesthetic, it’s an easily
translated experience from product to space.
As it does in its stores, West Elm Hotels will
be working with local artists and designers
to create bespoke furnishings and decor, with
the aside that they will be available for sale
online as hotel capsule collections.
Creating a hotel room that feels genu-
ine rather than like a product catalogue can
be a tricky realm to navigate, especially the
further the core offering is from hospitality.
Brands need to have garnered ‘enough trust
with consumers that they follow the brand
into different verticals’, says Doug Stephens,
founder of The Retail Prophet. ‘Another
challenge is to exceed their expectations, so
that the entire thing doesn’t feel like a hollow
marketing ploy.’
Danish home brand Vipp, which
makes everything from aesthetically pleas-
ing bins to fitted kitchens, has two hotels in
operation and another opening in 2019. Its
proposition is one-room hotels in unusual
locations – the latest is an abandoned water
pumping station in Copenhagen. Kitted outstrange, because no, you’re not living out a
childhood dream of staying in a store after
hours. Rather, in a twist on the usual retail
model, the flagship has become not only a
place to shop but a place to sleep.
The Muji Ginza Hotel, which
occupies the upper floors of the store, is a
79-room venture that the company describes
as ‘anti-gorgeous’ and ‘anti-cheap’. Its design
remains true to the stripped-back aesthetic
that the lifestyle brand is known for, as well
as its reasonable price points. It follows the
successful opening of Muji’s first two hotels
in Beijing and Shenzhen in 2018.
But for some brands, a hotel offers
the opposite of a flagship. West Elm, which
has partnered with hospitality management
firm DKK to open several hotels in mid-tier
American cities in the next few years, saw
hospitality as a chance to extend its reach
without opening another bricks-and-mortar
space. ‘Where many retail brands have put the
nail in their coffins is by opening too many
stores,’ West Elm president Jim Brett told
The Wall Street Journal. But a hotel can serve
as a subtle way to foster relationships with
customers without saturating the market,
with Vipp kitchens, tubs and furniture, the
company makes it clear that these spaces
are both a novel retreat and an opportunity
for guests to try before they buy. ‘We believe
it shows honesty, authenticity and builds
trust,’ says Kasper Egelund, CEO of Vipp.
‘You cannot fool the consumer. Our (poten-
tial) customers can touch, feel and test our
products like they would in everyday life, and
the verdict comes straight afterwards.’
And while Vipp is explicit about
the purpose of its hospitality experiment,
many brands are moving beyond hotels as
alternative showrooms. Most are hedging
against a future where straight consumerism
no longer fulfils people’s demand for new-
ness. It is about extending a brand beyond
its original proposition, to find consumers
where they are.
‘Hotels are an invitation to the
consumer to enter into a branded lifestyle
ecosystem that reinforces their sense of
engagement and loyalty to the brand at every
touchpoint,’ says Stephens. ‘The deeper and
more multifaceted the relationship, the more
merchandise you’re likely to sell that con-
sumer over their lifetime.’ ●BULGARI RESORT, DUBAI
Run by LVMH’s Hotel Management group, Bulgari’s
properties integrate other brands owned by the luxury
conglomerate, such as Guerlain spas.
bulgarihotels.com140 HOSPITALITY