Originally Posted by
itsaboutthejourney
I don't laugh to demean the Fairfield stayer, but marketing and branding realities are that the customer profile of a Fairfield differs greatly from a W. I don't think your average Fairfield customer would be comfortable or aspire to a W, nor would a W customer look to a Fairfield when in a market without a W.
I think this misunderstand the entire point of hotel brands - brands are designed to fit local market dynamics and hotel owner needs, not customer demographics. Fairfields are built in any given location rather than Ws because the pricing power of the market demands a certain room product, service level, etc. If a "W customer" finds him or herself in that type of market, he or she may be best served by choosing a Fairfield over the locally available Best Western or whatever. Similarly if a "Fairfield customer" that is a traveling salesman of some sort wants to take his family to Chicago or London or whatever, he or she may be able to use points at a W. You are right that a W customer would usually chose a W in markets where the two coexist - the entire point of Fairfield is that many, many more markets exist globally that can support a Fairfield than can support a W, and you may find yourself in those markets.