Last month, when Ibis opened its 19th hotel in India at Kolkata’s Rajarhat, there were many statements that the brand wanted to make with the launch, starting with the hotel’s multicoloured façade.

Breaking away from the traditional monochrome exteriors, it was signalling a more vibrant approach.

Several new design features, including wider windows, tweaks to room furniture to suit current user behaviour, revamped menu to cater to younger palates, all pointed to the direction Accor Hotels’ premium economy brand is taking in its eleventh year in India.

“Every new design we are making, we are innovating,” says J B Singh, President & CEO of Interglobe Hotels, the JV between Interglobe Enterprises and Accor Asia Pacific that runs the Ibis brand in the Indian subcontinent. He explains how even as a current hotel is being launched, back in the Gurugram headquarters the team is already creating a new design for the fifth hotel down the line.

This way, the brand remains fresh, contemporary and relevant to changing customer expectations. “Our aim is to soon have a new design for every third hotel in the line,” says Singh.

The ultimate focus of these design tweaks is to enhance consumer experience. “We want to raise the benchmark of customer experience in the premium economy space,” he says.

At the same time, offering more value to the consumer should not come at a higher cost to the guest. “How do you keep designing better and better customer experiences, maintain your pricing and yet remain profitable? That is the big challenge,” says Singh, describing the journey of innovation that is going into the making of Ibis 2.0.

Cracking down on waste

He maintains that over the last 10 years, with every new hotel they have launched, they have understood the building and operating structures so well and automated the processes so much that they have cracked the code on cost arbitrage.

“The whole product was taken apart threadbare, every inch of the hotel building area studied so that wasteful areas could be eliminated, energy efficiency increased by using sustainable materials, and design could be localised and personalised, “ says Singh.

A team of designers, engineers, architects, hotel operations specialists and sustainability experts have been engaged in this exercise. For instance, while the rooms and spaces are standardised to Ibis brand specifications, the décor in each city is totally localised. At the Kolkata hotel, the lobby has wall art dedicated to the ambassador car, the trams of Kolkata and the hand-pulled rickshaw, while the rooms have distinctive fish designs.

As for operations, a host of little things make running the hotel more efficient and sustainable. For instance, there are no wasteful soap bars and mini shampoo bottles in the bathroom that are thrown away after single use, or taken away by guests, instead there are dispensers. Instead of disposable mineral water bottles there are refillable glass water bottles. The breakfast menu has been shrunk, making it simpler, more appealing to young guests with some regional offerings too.

Last year, the brand rolled out a campaign called Ibism, focussed on both guests as well as employees, and Singh says all the new hotels being rolled out will see a better experiential space for staffers. The back room where the staffers toil is getting as jazzed up as guest zones, hierarchies are being broken down through undifferentiated uniforms — the GM wears the same outfit that others do.

More ‘social’ hotel

Interestingly, globally, the Ibis brand is piloting a host of design innovations following an Ipsos study it commissioned across six countries to gauge customer expectations. Eighty per cent of respondents said they would like to see a more “social” hotel where even non-staying guests would feel welcome. After that survey, Ibis has set about transforming itself, creating living spaces that are flexible and open to the local community and there is increased social interaction. For instance, three new concepts created by designers in Europe, Latin America and Asia have just been showcased, where the bar gets pride of place in the hotels to attract both locals as well as travellers. Some innovations are options of rooms that can accommodate between one and six people.

Incidentally, Ibis is not the only economy brand to rejig brand and customer experience. The budget and mid-market category is seeing a revolution of sorts — especially in India. Ginger, for instance, has launched a newer upgraded version, Lemon Tree is riding the accessibility and sustainability plank, Fern is taking the eco-friendly route to woo customers. As competition heats up, customers can look out for better stays.

The writer travelled to Kolkata for the launch of Ibis, Rajarhat, at the invitation

of AccorHotels

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