Hoteliers continuously hear it from industry pundits and satisfaction surveys: Guests are looking for more local, communal experiences during their hotel visits. Increasing millennial trends, such as food tourism and co-living, are taking hospitality in unexpected directions, as short-term rental businesses become stiffer competition. Extended-stay brands’ answer to the likes of Airbnb? Instead of trying to mimic the guests’ homes, simply bring manageable pieces of home to the guest.
At least, that is TownePlace Suites by Marriott’s approach. On July 15, the company unveiled a partnership with Weber Grills. The brand has rolled out Weber’s stainless steel Summit Gas Grills at more than 100 hotels across the U.S. and Canada. As new locations open—on average, one hotel every six days—those properties will also add grills.
Through the partnership, the two companies are not just co-existing, but also creating food programming around the grills, according to Loren Nalewanski, vice president and global brand manager of TownePlace Suites. “We thought we needed to do more than say, ‘We’ve got a Weber Grill, you’re more than welcome to use it.’ Weber is a great partner to help us with programming. They’ve got awesome tools, and they’ve got a great maintenance plan for the operations side. On top of that, they’ve given us recipes and spices for the guests,” Nalewanski said at the unveiling. The partnership was announced at Chicago’s Windy City Smokeout, where up-and-coming country music stars Sister C, Jordan, Gray, and Joey Hyde had a pizza grill-off to show the grills in action.
At any point during their stay, guests may request to use the on-site grill and will receive a complimentary kit of tools to prepare self-purchased meat or pizza. To ensure guests are properly operating and cleaning the grill, there will be a staff member during each shift who is certified by a Grill Master Training Program developed by TownePlace and Weber.
“That’s the kind of interaction you don’t really get at any brand. We thought if we could own the grilling space, it could be awesome,” Nalewanski said. Weber Grill Master Kevin Kolman agreed, saying the community-like feel TownePlace Suites provides for its guests made the partnership particularly appealing to Weber.
“They’re all about what we’re trying to do: Reconnect people with each other,” Kolman said at the event. “To be able to combine these two brands together and give people one of the best on-site experiences takes grilling to a whole other level.”
After first unveiling the partnership to owners in December 2015, Nalewanski said he was happy to finally make the partnership known to North American guests.
“Today marks the start of something really cool—or really hot, as we like to say.”
