VIRGINIA BEACH, VA— Marriott International is pushing its value brand, Fairfield Inn, into the limelight with a series of initiatives aimed at getting a positive response from both developers and guests presented with the effort’s marketing theme: “Have you seen Fairfield Inn lately?” Using the newly opened Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Oceanfront here as a showcase, the brand hosted a group of owners and developers to highlight where Marriott intends to take the 527-property brand, representing some 50,000 rooms, over the next several years. Building on the suites prototype developed four years ago by the brand, owner Tidewater Hotels and Resorts in September opened the 114-unit property right on the beach, leveraging its location by having every room face the sweeping ocean vista. Fresh design elements like beach ball pillows in the lobby and upgraded amenities also have been incorporated. The brand— which charts overall ADR and occupancy in the 70s and contributes $900 million, about 10%— to the Marriott revenue stream, also has a new hot breakfast concept and bed package in the works. “One could argue that perhaps we were not as mindful of this brand over the last few years as we should have been,” Liam Brown, sr. vp/owner and franchise services for the brand, told HOTEL BUSINESS®. “Fairfield Inn was very strong, but through a combination of circumstances, events, perhaps a lack of focus, we saw our franchisee satisfaction with how we were taking care of the brand go down. We, ourselves, were not happy with the brand’s performance…Today, we’re very focused on the brand, especially Fairfield Inn and Suites [there are 111 in the system]. We’re committed to, and believe strongly, that Fairfield Inn and Fairfield Inn and Suites— like this hotel here— are among the best products in the limited-service, moderate segment, especially in terms of cost to build.” With a current guest satisfaction index of 86.5%, Brown added the 17-year-old brand also will be “pruning and planting,” eliminating product that does not meet brand standards. At press time 40 hotels were slated to exit the system by year-end 2004, with another 20 hotels targeted for elimination in 2005. The brand also has raised the bar on guest service by increasing the minimum guest-satisfaction threshold by about 10%. On the “planting” side, Brown said, “We have an ambitious development goal. We want to exceed the numbers set down for us by the company and grow to at least 750 hotels over the next couple of years.” Fairfield currently has 200 franchisees and Brown said the brand would work with those owners to meet that goal, which includes Canada, where the evp sees opportunity for 25-30 new properties. There currently are two open in the country with two more under development. There is one Fairfield in Mexico. Domestically, the Northeast and California are key target areas for expansion. According to Thomas Galle, area vp/lodging development, Marriott International, the new Fairfield product and its flexible footprint “will allow us to get into some of those high-barrier markets.” For example, A Fairfield that offers 80 rooms in a seven-story building set on no more than half an acre recently opened outside of Washington, D.C. Galle felt the brand is also a good fit with the “lifestyle center” destination projects that are popular now. The brand is relying heavily on new construction for growth. Brown said the brand killed 28 deals for Fairfield in 2004, noting a lot of them were conversions. “If we do about 10% conversions, I would say that would be about it,” said Brown. Part of the “planting” process, added the evp, stems from improvement and the brand has added a significant number of amenities and enhancements to its standards. These include coffee makers in all guestrooms, express check-out, USAToday delivered to each guestroom door Monday through Friday, upgraded towels and linens, and high-speed Internet access. “We also have
