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I'd like a SWOT analysis of Aloft Hotels
Hello! Thanks for your request to provide a SWOT analysis of Aloft hotels. The most useful sources I found to answer your question are Hotelsmag.com and Owler. The short version is that Aloft Hotels does well keeping up with technology trends in the hospitality industry. Studies have shown that Aloft Hotels has been making slow progress with their expansions outside of the US.
Below you will find a deep dive of my findings
METHODOLOGY
I first visited their website and searched for press releases and case studies about products and services that Aloft Hotels claims puts them ahead of the competition. I then proceeded to search for positive and negative customer feedback and jot down the most talked about topics. Considering how millennials (generation of consumers aged 18-35) are the current emerging demographic, I directed my research towards how Aloft has been coping with millennial trends. I then proceeded to consult market analysis tools and databases to collect data regarding the competitive landscape.
STRENGTHS
1.) Voice Activation in Rooms - Aloft hotel rooms are equipped with an iPad running a custom-built app that guests can use to control room environment settings such as lighting, sound and external noise levels, air-conditioning and a lot more via HomeKit-enabled devices. Guests may choose to interact by voice recognition through Siri.
2.) Geographic Spread - According to our sources, Aloft has a total of 109 hotels as of July 2016. 76 of which are located in North America, 6 in South America, 6 in Europe, 1 in Middle East Asia, 9 in Asia Pacific and 11 in China.
3.) Botlr The Robotic Butler - Aloft hotels are equipped with fully-automated robotic service assistants called "Botlrs". They are capable of delivering small packages to rooms, cleaning and entertaining guests with a robotic dance. Guests can interact with them via a touchscreen.
The extra attention that Botlr brings also serves as a marketing campaign by Aloft, attracting guests from all demographics.
4.) Key-less Entry - All Aloft Hotels have guest rooms that are key-less entry enabled. Guests can choose to gain access to their rooms via the Starwood Preferred Guest mobile app.
5.) Live At Aloft Hotels – Aloft hotels has several unique amenities such as the W XYZ bars. Local emerging artists are often invited to perform as part of Aloft's #AloftLive program.
6.) Stands out to millennials - Aloft hotels are visually and technologically designed to cater more to the currently emerging market of Millennials (guests aged 18 - 35)
7.) Streaming – Guest rooms are equipped with RoomCast powered by ChromeCast that provides guests with the hassle-free ability to stream online content.
9.) More good reviews than bad reviews - Many reviews from customers across all generations speak about how friendly and professional the staff at Aloft Hotels are. Customers often immediately found solutions to any complication with the help of hotel staff.
10.) Pet Policy – Pets 40 lbs and below are greeted with several pet amenities such as a special bed, bowl, and a doggie bag filled with treats and toys. Some branches even house dogs ready for adoption by qualified guests.
11.) Uber Partnership – Starwood Preferred Guests earn 1 “Star Point” for every $1 spent on an Uber Trip. Star points may be used to avail discounts, services and membership upgrades.
12.) Bandwidth - Aloft Hotels has a higher industry standard for bandwidth at 70mb. Eric Marlo, global brand manager for Marriott international's Aloft Hotels said that they are investing into upgrading further to 100mb. He also stated that they are investing into the unknown to provide guests with the most technologically up-to-date services.
14.) Starwood Preferred Guest - Members are given the opportunity to accumulate "star points" that can be used to purchase flights, stays, VIP access to facilities and membership upgrades. Members are sometimes given double points for booking meetings or making function room reservations.
Members also have the chance to upgrade to gold or platinum for life. Platinum members have the privilege of availing of the SPG ambassador service which consists of elite highly-trained professionals advertised to help guests with anything anytime.
WEAKNESSES
1.) Not for low-end guests - Aloft hotels don't really target this demographic and appear to not have any intention of doing so.
2.) Bad Reviews – Although Aloft hotels receives mostly good reviews, there are still some customers that have provided negative feedback. Most of these complaints revolve around the fact that Aloft hotels seem to be more catered towards the younger generation. Most bad reviews come from older customers on business trips who did not enjoy the level of privacy and comfort that might have not been much of an issue to younger and more casual customers.
OPPORTUNITY
1.) Colombia - According to this article published just last month (Feb 2017), Colombia has a trending boutique hotel industry that is currently attracting a lot of attention from tourists and locals.
2.) Expansion - Although Aloft Hotels have been consistently developing new projects worldwide, European, Latin America and African regions have been receiving little developments and plans for expansion recently.
3.) Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – RPA refers to AI that performs and streamlines repetitive tasks such as data collection and analysis. Aloft Hotels may take this opportunity to further develop their integration of RPA into their systems. This will allow them to cut on unneeded staff and make the work of existing staff even more efficient.
4.) More Technology – Aloft has launched several services that have huge potential if developed even further. Examples of this include their discontinued Aloft TiGit (Text it, Get it) emoji based services.
THREATS
In terms of member privileges and level of technology of facilities, there seems to be no significant threat to Aloft Hotels. I redirected my research towards a market analysis.
1.) Competitive Landscape - According to Owler, a market research database, Hilton is one of Marriott's direct competitors. They grew at a CAGR of 5.8% in a span of 5 years. That's only 0.9% below Marriott's 6.7%.
2.) Mergers and Acquisitions - Several emerging giants in the hospitality industry have been merging. This increases pressure for Aloft and other Merriott brands in their competitive landscape.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, Aloft Hotels does well keeping up with technology trends in the hospitality industry. They can do even better by investing more into their expansions in other regions.
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