Skift grip
The rise of Airbnb has revealed that consumer preferences are more flexible than previously thought. Independent hotel company Room2 is responding in the UK with innovation in brand standards. It signed $110 million in new net zero hotels.
Sean O’Neill
Bedroom2 is a small British company that exemplifies a major trend in hospitality. Room2 offers apartment hotels, which it calls “hometels”, combining the benefits of professionally managed accommodation with the quirkiness and spaciousness of apartment buildings. Wherever possible, it aims to be “net zero”, meaning it strives not to operationally contribute to carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
Room2 is the private property of Lamington Group, a property investment, development and operation company, and it has just three locations in Britain: Southampton, London’s Hammersmith area and Chiswick. It has a mixed model, owning the Hammersmith and Chiswick properties and letting the Southampton property to an investor.
In recent months, it has announced around $110m (£100m) in additional properties. Next year he hopes to open a 190-unit building in Liverpool. In 2024, it plans to open a 116-room property in York. In 2025, it hopes to open a 134-room building in Glasgow, and in 2026, it aims to open a 180-room building in Manchester.
The developers have also developed in the field of management. Earlier this month, Room2 announced plans to run a nine-storey apartment hotel to replace an office block in Belfast. The property is being developed by Oakland Holdings and is expected to open in May next year.
“We have about 1,100 rooms in operation or under development,” said co-founder Rob Godwin. “We want to reach 5,000 by 2028.”
Flexible look and feel
Room2 properties typically have restaurants and bars as well as work and meeting spaces, gyms, and laundry rooms. They are on the megatrend that the hotel of the future is everything for everyone.
But the Room2 design aesthetic differs significantly from place to place. The lack of a cohesive look suits co-founders Rob and Stu Godwin just fine. The two brothers from London had traveled for a decade as professional athletes, and they had developed strong opinions about how travel accommodation should be rejuvenating and ‘non-corporate’.
“We don’t have a brand look, but we have a brand feel,” Godwin said.
The Chiswick has an aesthetic inspired by the ‘arts and crafts movement’, which championed pieces made by hand by local artisans. Yet his Hammersmith has more of a modern minimalist vibe.
The service aims to offer personalization.
“We have a mattress menu so you can get a firm or softer mattress,” Godwin said. “You can request a departure up to 2 p.m. as a free option. We allow pets. We have replaced check-in reception desks with staff members who carry tablets to check you in. It’s about making it more livable and inviting.
The first response from customers seems to be positive. Room2 Southampton is Number one of the top rated hotels on Tripadvisor in the city.
“We call them ‘hometels’ because we wanted a different category to describe design-driven spaces where the experience is extremely important,” said co-founder Rob Godwin. “We see them moving away from serviced apartments, which can be very crude and corporate, and extended-stay hotels, which can mean rooms with kitchens.”
Carbon reduction as standard practice
Another way Room2 seems to signal the future is that it has strong sustainability commitments that are part of its hotel development and operations plan, but feature only lightly in its marketing. He claims his Chiswick property, for example, has 100% of carbon emissions from design to end of life being reduced and rebalanced to zero.
While a handful of hotels have gone net-zero operational, few have also portrayed the full picture of building development. Wherever possible, the company favored local and natural materials in the construction. Meeting the company’s net zero goals for 2030 requires that most of the properties it launches now are built to new best practices. He uses shifts for the rest of his goals.
“My view is that this is the minimum standard if we as an industry are to achieve net zero and avoid a terrible catastrophe, which is just about on the horizon,” Godwin said. “The hospitality industry is taking too many incremental steps right now. They better jump on board now because they’re going to feel the pressure.
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