New hotel rooms welcome for a change
But the opening of Groupe Envergure's new hotel complex near Plac Zawiszy this month is a heartening development, bringing as it does the much needed option of low-cost rooms for business travelers and, in all likelihood, the new wave of visitors the country is set to welcome from new budget airline routes.
The new hotel complex consists of three hotels: the 144-room three-star Kyriad Prestige, the 194-room two-star Campanile and the one-star Premiére Classe, which has 126 rooms. An experimental move by the developer, which until now has only delivered its Campanile brand to Poland, where it has four hotels in Katowice, Kraków and Szczecin, the complex is the first of its type outside Groupe Envergure's domestic market of France. "If this works," says General Director Keith Lindsay, the model "could run out in other European cities." But the boldest move, as he sees it, is to launch the Premiére Classe brand here in Poland. "We've been reticent about launching Premiére Classe, which is very well-established in France - there are over 200 there - but this is only the second one we've built in other countries." (The other is in Holland). The company's strategy is to introduce its Campanile hotels to a new market first and then only some time later introduce its others.
The oversupply issue is one that Lindsay believes doesn't believe quite applies to the three new hotels, but neither is it something he is prepared to ignore. "Oversupply is at the top end of the market," he says, "and we are convinced that putting in a budget product is just what the market wants, though I don't think it will be plain sailing. Warsaw is essentially a mid-week market - everyone's fighting for those four days, but we believe that we've mastered the budget hotel and restaurant, offering more than anyone else in the industry."
Unusually perhaps for hotel developers in the CEE region, who often enter the market via the Czech Republic or Hungary, Groupe Envergure has made Poland the focus of its attention, which is likely to continue over the next few years, with new hotels planned for Lublin, Poznań, Łódż and Gdańsk. Poland's large population was of course a factor in persuading Groupe Envergure to make the country its Central European base, but it hasn't been tempted to neighbouring territories because, he says, "it makes no sense in the budget business to cover the world. You have to chose a place, get your brand established and get people to understand what your business is about. Rather than have nine hotels across Central Europe, we'd rather have nine in Poland."
The French hotel group essentially sees its brands as catering for the business traveler on a budget, and not particularly the weekend tourist. But now Poland's profile has been raised by its membership of the EU and that there are already a handful of budget airlines flying in and out of the country, it might be a market the company could turn its attention towards. "We probably aren't where we should be in terms of our arrangements with them [the budget airlines]," says Lindsay. "Whilst recognizing that our core custom comes from business travelers mid-week, the budget airlines could help us out at weekends."
The new hotel complex consists of three hotels: the 144-room three-star Kyriad Prestige, the 194-room two-star Campanile and the one-star Premiére Classe, which has 126 rooms. An experimental move by the developer, which until now has only delivered its Campanile brand to Poland, where it has four hotels in Katowice, Kraków and Szczecin, the complex is the first of its type outside Groupe Envergure's domestic market of France. "If this works," says General Director Keith Lindsay, the model "could run out in other European cities." But the boldest move, as he sees it, is to launch the Premiére Classe brand here in Poland. "We've been reticent about launching Premiére Classe, which is very well-established in France - there are over 200 there - but this is only the second one we've built in other countries." (The other is in Holland). The company's strategy is to introduce its Campanile hotels to a new market first and then only some time later introduce its others.
The oversupply issue is one that Lindsay believes doesn't believe quite applies to the three new hotels, but neither is it something he is prepared to ignore. "Oversupply is at the top end of the market," he says, "and we are convinced that putting in a budget product is just what the market wants, though I don't think it will be plain sailing. Warsaw is essentially a mid-week market - everyone's fighting for those four days, but we believe that we've mastered the budget hotel and restaurant, offering more than anyone else in the industry."
Unusually perhaps for hotel developers in the CEE region, who often enter the market via the Czech Republic or Hungary, Groupe Envergure has made Poland the focus of its attention, which is likely to continue over the next few years, with new hotels planned for Lublin, Poznań, Łódż and Gdańsk. Poland's large population was of course a factor in persuading Groupe Envergure to make the country its Central European base, but it hasn't been tempted to neighbouring territories because, he says, "it makes no sense in the budget business to cover the world. You have to chose a place, get your brand established and get people to understand what your business is about. Rather than have nine hotels across Central Europe, we'd rather have nine in Poland."
The French hotel group essentially sees its brands as catering for the business traveler on a budget, and not particularly the weekend tourist. But now Poland's profile has been raised by its membership of the EU and that there are already a handful of budget airlines flying in and out of the country, it might be a market the company could turn its attention towards. "We probably aren't where we should be in terms of our arrangements with them [the budget airlines]," says Lindsay. "Whilst recognizing that our core custom comes from business travelers mid-week, the budget airlines could help us out at weekends."
