The following is a post from Meghan Veroneau, TIG Global Marketing Coordinator.
I’m sure at this point, you’ve heard about pop-up restaurants and pop-up retail locations, but have you heard about pop-up hotels? It’s not surprising if your answer was no, I myself was unaware of this trend until a few days ago.
If you haven’t heard about pop-up restaurants and retails stores, here is a little background. The phenomenon behind pop-up restaurants and retail stores is that you can create a unique experience within a short period of time while driving incredible demand through word-of-mouth marketing.. This was a trend that we saw increase in popularity during the recession, due to the little capital needed to invest. One thing you should note is that they often don’t spend much time or money to add décor to these environments; leaving spaces with an industrial vibe full of raw elements exposed, such as concrete floors, hanging light bulbs, etc.
The draw for many businesses creating pop-ups is that consumers are often tempted to make impulse purchases in order to participate in these short-lived events and get in on the exclusivity and hype. There is a certain mystique to these unknown entities and those “in the know” usually want to secure their place on the guest list so that they don’t miss out and so they are able to earn bragging rights to these highly lauded and publicized soirees.
In restaurant locations, the challenge is to create an idea that is unique and attention grabbing. Maybe they’re a new chef that wants to show people his or her talents, or maybe they’re an established chef who wants to dive into a completely different type of cuisine than that of their normal or recognized cooking style. It gives chefs of any level a chance to create the avant-garde and think outside of the box. Sometimes these establishments are only open for a few nights, weeks, or months, but most plan on existing for under a year. However, there are stories of pop-up restaurants turning into permanent establishments. The intrigue of these makeshift events is that don’t always take up a traditional space – sometimes they are under tents, in closed down restaurants, in outdoor parks and urban spaces, or any other type of outlandish location you can imagine. That is part of the fun.
Pop-up retail locations are different, in that they are commonly holiday themed stores that operate from year-to-year during the holiday season. Take for example Halloween stores; they often appear in September and then are packed up and moved out by November. More times than not, they occupy traditional retail space, that just happens to be vacant at the time, not necessarily the same location as years prior.
All that said, it was only a matter of time before this concept was made its way to the hospitality industry. The first one to reportedly pop-up, is The Papaya Playa Project, which opened up in Mexico just mere weeks ago and will stay open until May. In this case, they took an existing unoccupied resort on the beach and turned it into this temporary hotel. They have restaurants, spas, and everything else you would expect to find at an established resort present, but offer a unique twist on the guest experience. They can get more creative, because the concept does not have to be built for the long term or adhere to the same structured business model that a traditional hotel would require to succeed in the long run.
Pop-up hotels seem like a risky venture. People love to do their research before they go on a vacation (who wants to go on a bad one anyway) and the lack of reviews surrounding pop-up hotels seems like it would hinder bookings. How can you rely on an experience to be one way, when there isn’t a history of the experience being done before? It is definitely a gamble for the consumer, so it remains to be seen whether the risk-takers will adopt this concept and throw caution to the wind to participate in the experience.
While these experiences are all unique in their own way, one element remains consistent in the pop-up genre, this being that it is absolutely imperative that tremendous demand is generated ahead of opening. You have a very short window to impress, and you need word-of-mouth buzzing and demand to be high when you open, in order to ensure you will not be taken to the bank on the operating costs it takes to get such a venue up and running.
I think the concept behind pop-up hotels is intriguing. You get the chance to create a new hotel, for a limited period of time, with no strings to keep you there if it doesn’t end up working out. But, do you think that in creating a temporary hotel you will have to make some sacrifices? Maybe with service?
Is it going to be possible to make temporary hotels feel luxurious, especially when you are working on limited capital or just with what you have in front of you? Or, on the contrary, will the limited time span allow for more finely focused concepts and therefore some brilliantly inventive and novel experiences? And finally I ask, do you think this a concept that will stick in the hospitality industry, especially for hotels, or is this just another flash in the pan that will fade with time?
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