IHG announced that its first Atwell Suites hotel is currently under construction in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood. The 90-room hotel, which will be part of a high-rise, mixed-use property that will also include a 140-room Hotel Indigo, is due to open in summer 2021. The property is owned by Francisco Arocha, Pedro F. Villar, Albert Ovadia, and Sunview Companies.
Yesterday afternoon, IHG invited press to a “virtual happy hour” to share the news. Jennifer Gribble, IHG’s senior vice president of global marketing for the company’s mainstream brands, noted that Atwell Suites was developed to meet the growing consumer demand for all-suites brands in the mainstream hotel segment. “This particular segment represents $18 billion in industry annual revenues, and it’s been growing at 70 percent over the last four years,” she described. “As we did our research and we looked across the portfolio of brands we already had, we knew there was an opportunity for another brand and that’s why we decided to move ahead with the development of Atwell Suites.”
Karen Gilbride, vice president of avid hotels and Atwell Suites for IHG, said that the company conducted extensive consumer research and worked with an active owner advisory committee to prepare for the brand’s development. She described that many of today’s travelers are looking for a stylish hotel that offers memorable experiences as well as functional basics like “a productive work environment, spaces to work and relax, and F&B when they need it.” “They see every trip to every location, whether it’s to New York or Boise, as an opportunity to grow and to learn in their personal journey,” she said. “Today, [these guests] aren’t satisfied with the options they find on the market. They have to trade off.”
While Atwell Suites was designed to meet both the functional and aesthetic needs of these particular travelers, Gilbride added that that the brand also works well for more traditional business travelers, guests traveling with families, and older consumers. “[We made] sure this would also work for lots of different types of travelers and owners.”
In conjunction with the announcement of the Miami property, IHG released new renderings showcasing Atwell Suites’ design. The main lobby space includes a breakfast area, lounge, and bar. The Common is a second-floor lobby inspired by coworking lounges that provides a place for guests to work and relax. The Study is a bookable meeting room that is tech-enabled for productive meetings. The suites will include distinct zones for living and sleeping, as well as a work area with a high-top desk. Each room will have a pull-out sofa. Instead of a full kitchen, each suite has a wet bar with an under-counter refrigerator, microwave, coffeemaker, and bar sink. The suites also include a two-sided closet that can be easily accessed from both the guestroom and the bathroom.
Atwell Suites was introduced in 2019 as a design-led, dynamic, all-suites hotel brand optimized for longer stays of up to six nights. Twenty properties are now in the planning or development phases across the United States.
