FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - So, I'm at a Hilton Garden Inn tonight...

Dec 7, 2007 | 4:39 pm

#24

USirritated

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: FLL

Programs: Delta GM, (fmr US CP/PP/GP!), DL SkyClub, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Avis Chairman's Club

Posts: 5,162

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfulcher

You have a valid point on the other properties for Hilton, however the HGI is such a new concept that the renovation point hasn't come yet.

Every single HGI I have stayed in is great. Compare that to the Starwood and Marriott versions of the same (not quite the same) Four Points by Sheraton and Courtyard. Holy cow the ranges in Four Points and Courtyards are insane. Both Marriott and Starwood need to work on brand consistency there.

I agree with you 100%. That is actually true with almost any brand when it reaches maturity and almost has to reinvent itself. As a matter of fact, if you have been following the business news recently, you might have caught the goings on with Southwest Airlines, and their admitting that they need to reinvent themselves. They have admittedly the highest employee costs in the airline industry right now, and the one of highest fleet maintenance costs in the industry too, but what is saving them is their fuel hedging, of all things, which is buying them 3-4 years to turn their operations around. Why is this? Their employees have been with them for two long, so they all got raises, and their planes have gotten too old. They have started employee buyouts but there have not been enough early retirement volunteers accepting the employee buyouts, and also they can't lay their hands on enough of the newer 737 airplanes to satisfy their need to modernize and upgrade their fleet. All of this led Southwest to a lower earnings quarter than expected.