By Efrem Harkham, Founder and Chairman, Luxe Hotels

We are witnessing the historic rise of a new category of properties—the micro brands. What many consider independent hotels, the ones that have personality and individual traits, are now the micro brands—perceived as independent, but really part of an overall brand that has a recognizable presence.

The Luxe Hotels brand is one such micro brand, a meld of boutique hotel locations, each with their own signature personality, charm and exceptional service, but with the services of a much larger brand.

Micro brands know their guests’ name, remember them and create guests’ interaction throughout their stay. They excel at making each guest feel like they are special. It’s the best of both worlds. Guests enjoy the unique allure, service, and solace of a boutique hotel, while also taking advantage of the “perks” (amenities, fine restaurants and comfort foods, bars, specials, and locations) akin to the big brands. They are a welcome relief from the chains that offer sameness and impersonal service. The micro brands are better at identifying the guest of today and their desire for individuality and service.

The reality is that it’s getting increasingly difficult in this landscape to go at it alone, as an independent hotel. So how does the micro brand compete with the giants? Micro brands think and act like large brands, while delivering the unique experience that guests demand today. This concept pays careful attention to the details, while staying away from cookie-cutter designs. They have access to the same distribution channels as the larger chains—including a worldwide database, access to top corporate clients and mega travel agencies, among others.

For instance, Luxe Worldwide Hotels is limited to 200 boutique hotels around the world. This is to ensure the best possible level of attention and support to our members. We genuinely care about the success of our hotels and leverage our global team, training and tools to level the playing field for independent hotels. We attend 80 major travel trade shows around the world on behalf of the member hotels, but we also host sales missions and events. Our sales team travels all over the world and designs tailored sales missions and calls, based on the recommendations from all hotels.

Our members tell us all the time how we have changed their working model for the better and given them the tools to succeed. The numbers really speak for themselves. If you look at the Luxe City Center Hotel, which joined as a branded Luxe Hotels property in 2010, it has benefited from a 25 percent rate increase under the Luxe flag in 2011, while showing an even larger jump in revenue during the same period.

As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, and you have fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”—I have repeatedly witnessed this play out in front of my eyes in my over 28 years in this industry.

At the end of the day, it has to be an ongoing, 365 days-a-year working partnership between the independent hotel and Luxe Hotels in order to maintain a reasonable return on the investment.

It’s a cliché that goes back many years…”service with a smile.”  There’s a good reason it exists.  The power of a smile is unbeatable.  It’s the cornerstone of our customer service philosophy at Luxe Worldwide Hotels because we are committed to the guest experience.

When you arrive at a Luxe hotel…you see smiles.  When you check in…you see a smile.  During your stay, you see smiles from our personnel in all areas of the hotel.  And, when you check out, even though we are sad to see you leave, you’ll see our smiles.

We know that a warm welcome and a smile can make a huge difference in someone’s stressful day.  And, it’s contagious!  If you get a smile, you will likely give one back.  And, then the person next to you might smile and it goes on and on.  A smile can light someone’s cloudy day, offer a helping hand, make a happy occasion even happier, and create a welcoming atmosphere.

That’s our commitment to our guests.  To consistently provide the special kind of hospitality that keeps our guests coming home to Luxe.

By Efrem Harkham, President and CEO, Luxe Worldwide Hotels

Efrem Harkham

One of  the biggest pet peeves that I have about the hospitality industry is the low sales expectations which are set and accepted by hotels, management companies, and sales and reservations providers.

In the early years of owning my two hotels (Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard and Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive), I was surprised and dismayed by the numerous representation  and management companies we worked with who came to us saying they would drive our revenues up by a “whopping 3%”. They thought this was a significant increase! I firmly believed we should be exceeding 10% and often thought to myself, “Why would they settle for 3% as if it were any sort of a challenge?”

My former profession as the owner of a successful line of clothing gave me a perspective that most hoteliers and representation companies don’t have. It’s not about simply reaching a goal, it’s about exceeding a goal. Rather than accepting the “norm” set by any industry because “it’s been done that way forever,” it’s important to think bigger and to break through that elusive “ceiling” by believing you can achieve greater success.

Hotels today — and hotel representation companies – need to strategize on a grander scale and think more in line with other industries that look to break sales records and set the bar even higher. It’s important to reach for greater goals, while at the same time be realistic in our approach. And success does come when you are not bound by limited expectations.

It isn’t often that we can fix our “pet peeves,” but in this case, when I created Luxe Worldwide Hotels, I was able to provide my two hotels — and now over 200 other independently owned hotels — with bigger and better results. Now I don’t have to hear the excuses and the stories about how the economy is good or bad and how it negatively impacts our bottom line. Instead, we focus on how a good or bad economy offers opportunities that should not be missed.

Our former representation companies would have advised us that in today’s challenging economic environment, we should strive to just “maintain status quo” and accept that. At Luxe, we see opportunity. We want to show our members — and the hospitality industry at large — that when times are tough, we will double our efforts to keep expanding our marketing, aggressively pursue sales, and keep expanding our membership base. This is the time to get creative. To go out and look for business, partner up with other companies, and create new opportunities rather than simply circle the wagons and prepare for doom and gloom.

Gone are the days when the hotel industry stays complacent. This is the time to go out and break all the rules!