Size matters, but small can always be beautiful
The American poet, wit and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson once said (if this poet, wit and essayist's memory serves him well) that hospitality consists of "a little fire, a little food and an immense quiet".
The reader is not obliged to agree, of course. On the contrary, some will regard hospitality as a raging fire, a full feast and a gregarious crowd. Others will be happy with something in between. But that is precisely the point. Every man to his taste.
When we hear that independent hotels are feeling under threat from national and global chains, we shouldn't be surprised. It's the vulnerability of the individual facing the crowd. At first glance, the chains seem to have everything going for them - investment capital, purchasing power, marketing muscle, corporate careers and, lest we forget, the ability to rationalise prices to a minimum. No wonder the independents feel threatened.
But to accept that the chains are on the rampage, marching unopposed through the land like a conquering army, leaving hill forts of budget accommodation at regular intervals on every major thoroughfare, we ignore two fundamental facts.
First, over the past five years the demand for hotel rooms in the UK has increased, probably by 20%, and the market continues to develop, creating scope for operators of hotels at all levels. Second, not every customer wants a budget room or corporate uniformity.
The new standardised hotel grading system introduced jointly by the AA, RAC and English Tourist Board has raised a number of issues on the letters pages of Caterer recently. Some pertinent points have emerged in defence of independent hotels.
Pauline Loom, of the Knife and Cleaver in Bedfordshire, for example, sums up the way that many customers see the independents (Caterer, 3 September, page 16). "The charm of many privately owned hotels" she writes, "is in the idiosyncratic way in which each hotelier imprints his personality on a business, and guests are generally delighted to have found somewhere with character and individuality."
In other words, it is likely to be in a privately owned hotel that Emerson would find his little fire, little food and immense quiet.
The independent operators are wise to be alive to the threat of the chains. This will galvanise them into forming alliances and, more than anything, sharpen their marketing activities (wherein lies the key to developing trade).
They should not lose heart, however. Corporate customers will always be attracted to corporate hotels - the deals are likely to be better, and nationwide. But the Emersons of this world will continue to reject sameness and seek out individuality. The brightness of the independent therefore has a future.
Forbes Mutch
Editor
Caterer & Hotelkeeper
