Monday, December 16, 2019
Repositioned & Recognized for Success: Holiday Inn Express & Suites Merrimack
A Roedel Companies Turn Around Story
Breaking through a crowded market is never easy—and when you’re starting with an already faltering property, achieving growth becomes even more difficult.
But that’s exactly what we did with our Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Merrimack, NH, transforming what was a challenging 115-room Fairfield Inn by Marriot property just off the highway into a fully-renovated, rebranded property poised for success and driven by a proven strategy.
Here’s a closer look at how we successfully worked with our partners to renovate and rebrand this property to drive substantial year-over-year success, earning us accolades and awards that recognize the value of our streamlined best practices for hotel repositioning.
Rebrand to Holiday Inn Express & Suites
One of the major challenges faced by the property prior to our entrance was the relative congestion within the local market, especially within the existing Marriott brand.
The Fairfield Inn competed with Courtyard by Marriott Nashua and Residence Inn Merrimack for Marriott customers, making it difficult to increase the nightly rate or drive occupancy, particularly in a down market. As Marriott’s limited service option, the Fairfield was forced to position its rates lower than the Courtyard or Residence Inn.
That’s why we made the decision to rebrand the property away from Marriott entirely, instead transitioning to Holiday Inn Express. By operating as the only Holiday Inn Express within the Merrimack and Nashua markets, the newly-rebranded hotel has been able to avoid those same challenges and drive a unique point of differentiation for travelers in the area.
Working with our Team & a National Brand to Renovate Existing Property
With a fresh brand to bolster the property, we knew the new Holiday Inn Express needed a renovated look to offer modern amenities for guests. That’s why we assembled a team including our construction management company, ROK Builders, our hotel management company, RGH Hospitality, RSJ Associates interior design & procurement, Group One Partners for architecture and with the national Holiday Inn & Suites brand, to transform the property into a stunning, brand-based hotel offering.
Together, we created a renovation strategy to transform the existing 115-room property into 100 guest rooms with 24 expanded suites, a fitness room, a port-cochere, and landscaping. This renovation process utilized streamlined cost controls and best practices to implement a zero budget based process to help reach overall profitability goals.
As a result of this extension renovation process—a team process which prioritized first-class conditions, guest service, and revenue production—the Holiday Inn Express Merrimack has increased revenue by 134 percent, increased RevPAR by 168 percent, and improved brand guest satisfaction to within the top 15% of the Holiday Inn Express brand.
When we purchased the property in 2011, it was running less than 35% RevPar Index. It is currently running in excess of 100% Rev Par Index.
Additionally, the effects of the renovation itself have been felt all throughout the guest experience, with Brand Quality Assurance Inspections achieving scores over 95 percent since the renovation and repositioning. This has allowed the Holiday Inn Express Merrimack to achieve a #1 ranking in the market on TripAdvisor, and earned recognition as Renovation of the Year by the IHG Brand in the year that it opened under the new brand and renovation.
Intercontinental Hotel Group 2016 Quality Excellence Award Winner
We’re always happy to see success in an extensive renovation and repositioning project—but that success feels even better when it’s recognized by a global industry leader. That’s’ why we were so thrilled to see the renovated Holiday Inn Express Merrimack receive the Intercontinental Hotel Group Quality Excellence Award in 2016.
The IHG Quality Excellence Award recognizes hotels with exceptionally high standards in product quality, hotel service delivery and guest satisfaction. To see this property achieve such high recognition only five years after a major renovation and repositioning is an honor and a true testament to the efficiency and value provided by our team and our partners to renovation projects.