🍍 Redefining an experience

Plus: The next era of brand-hotel partnerships

May 16, 2022

Today we’re looking at:

  • Redefining the Napa Experience

  • The next era of brand-hotel partnerships

  • “Health to Wealth”: Accor’s spotlight on the well-being

Redefining the Napa Experience

For those like me in the San Francisco Bay Area (and beyond), Napa is a classic getaway spot for a relaxing weekend.

For destinations like these, it can be hard to create a fresh hospitality experience, but that’s what Ed Gannon, GM of the new Stanly Ranch, is setting out to do.

“It was our mission to provide something entirely new and unique that will have guests experiencing a sense of transformation that will resonate long beyond departure,” he said. “We wanted visitors to discover a new side of Napa, one that provides unexpected but thrilling journeys.”

To accomplish this, they are offering a wide range of unique experiences. Guests can:

  • Track mountain lions with a wildlife conservationist

  • Have a hands-on falconry experience with Rebecca Rosen and her well-trained falconry school birds

  • Borrow an Aston Martin DB11, Audi R8 RWS, or BMW X6 Competition to zip around in

  • Ride in a vintage, tandem motorcycle and sidecar with a personal driver to Donum Estate, Hudson Ranch, and Scribe Winery

  • Off-road in a Land Rover Defender to an exclusive library wine tasting

  • Experience individualized wellness programs that incorporate nutrition, hydration, sleep, movement and targeted treatments that range from physical therapy and lymphatic drainage massage to chiropractic services and skincare

Maybe we can’t all offer all of this, but I like the notion of mixing up a classic weekend getaway experience with truly remarkable (and sharable) activities and amenities.

The next era of brand-hotel partnerships

Fila, the global sports brand owned by Chinese sportswear giant Anta Sports, had some surprising news in March. After years of working to premiumise its image and gain recognition with high-end consumers, the brand plans to open the first Fila-branded hotel with Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Named Fila House, the hotel will open in Shanghai in 2024 and will reflect Fila’s “free-spirited attitude and legacy of style” and offer “a one-of-a-kind experience that appeals to young travellers seeking to live in the moment”, according to the brand.

In 2021, Los Angeles-born, cool-kid denim brand Frame collaborated with New York’s Carlyle hotel, a Rosewood hotel, on a capsule collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts and baseball caps, many adorned with the Carlyle’s crest and logo. In the same year, Frame created a bigger capsule with the Ritz Paris, sold through Net-a-Porter and Harrods.

These partnerships are a step up from shops in the lobby and bathroom samples. In a new era of consumer interest in shared values, today’s brands are curating larger platforms and universes that people want to be a part of. The goal is to function as agenda-setting tastemakers that can convert consumers into loyal customers. As brands explore ways to extend their businesses, hotels can serve as stepping stones to broaden brand halos in the wider cultural world. For their part, hotels see an opportunity to tap new revenue streams.

“Health to Wealth”: Accor’s spotlight on the Well-Being Transformation

“Wellness has moved beyond a passing trend,” Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin wrote in a recent article. “The pandemic has served as a major accelerator, shaping how people prioritize their well-being and transform their lifestyles, and how well-being influences and impacts the world around us. The movement towards well-being is also a driver of the desire to travel, to forge experiences, and crucially, to care for ourselves.”

The hospitality industry has the opportunity to play a major role in fostering well-being across every guest's journey with a holistic approach that goes beyond spa and fitness to design, nutrition, quality of sleep, and local surroundings.

In an effort to play an active role in the future of wellness-enriched hospitality, Accor launched a new “Health to Wealth” podcast series, spotlighting the importance of integrating well-being in all aspects of daily life and business.