Brand Leader of Home2 Suites by Hilton, Talene Staab,  is named a TMG Hospitality Trailblazer and joins the Suite Spot to discuss Home2 Suites and the incredible developments taking place for the brand. 

From designing the hotel to finding new ways to improve the guest experience, this episode covers the key aspects that make the Home2 brand special.

Episode Transcript

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Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, as always, Ryan Embree. So excited to bring you another episode in another part of our Hospitality Trailblazers series. If this is your first time, we’ve been running this Hospitality Trailblazers series for almost two years now, and we are interviewing some of the best and brightest in our hospitality industry, some of those people that are trailblazing a path forward, and we certainly have a guest today that fits the bill. Talene Staab, Brand Leader of Home2 Suites by Hilton, Talene, thank you so much for being on the podcast with me today.

Talene Staab:
It’s great to be here with you today. Thank you so much.

Ryan Embree:
And we’re excited to talk about the Home2 Suites brand and all the innovative and exciting developments that are happening with that brand that you were the head of. But before that, although this is not the first time I have met you, we were just talking off camera about how we met at the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, had the pleasure to meet in person even though we’re doing this interview virtually. With this being your first time Talene, tell us a little bit about your hospitality background, the journey that led you to Hilton and ultimately the brand leader for home two suites.

Talene Staab:
Sure. My family, my parents had a little diner that was like a breakfast lunch diner in the Boston area, and I worked there in high school and it was one of those places that was like, cheers, where no one ordered their food. They kind of like walked in and everybody knew, oh, Ryan’s here. We might not have known your name, but we knew what you would eat for breakfast. And it was like that sense of building community around a small business really stuck with me, even though it was hard work and I just loved it. But I started working in hotels and then my family actually moved from Boston to San Diego and relocated, and they stayed at this Embassy Suites and they called and they were like, you will not believe this hotel. And this was like 30 years ago. So the brand was relatively new. They were like, you get a suite in every room, you get free breakfast and free cocktails. And I honestly didn’t believe it. They’re like, you gotta work here. So I did. I actually was a smart sales manager there, um, became a DOS and then eventually joined the corporate team. And then when the corporate office moved to McLean, I moved back east with my family, young family, and we kind of looked at it as like an adventure. Let’s just see what happens. And it ended up being a really good move because from there I took on a ton of different jobs that kind of took me out of the brand and sales world into more operations. I got to be on the Canopy team. I joined like a week before we launched the brand. So learned about new brand development, learned about owners. Development was the big learning curve for me, which was really exciting. And then that set me up to be, the VP of owner relations owner experience. And that was really cool because I got to see what Hilton looked like from the owner’s point of view, like the whole elephant, you know.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, yeah, we’re gonna talk about that.

Talene Staab:
Yeah. And um, I learned so much from that. We set up a ton of new systems and data and experiences for owners to really like bridge any gap that we might have had ’cause we were growing so quickly. And then that led me to True, which was my first brand leader job. I joined when we only had 60 hotels, grew to 220 in three years, which was tremendously fast. And then that all set me up for Home2. I’ve been on Home2, almost for two years.

Ryan Embree:
Quite a journey. I, I love the beginning of it because we talk about there’s some like catchphrases, I feel like in, in hospitality when, when some people talk about like hospitality being in your DNA and that might be, I think your story is one, you were, you were kind of immersed into it at an early age, and you got that feeling of what true hospitality is also someone in hospitality. When you get that feeling, it, it’s kind of addictive. Like you want to, like, you want to to serve others, you know what that experience is. Sometimes we get it on the other side, which is fantastic. Every, every traveler wants that, right? Is that great service. So that great experience, everyone strives for that. But to be able to get both sides of the coin there, is really, really cool that you can offer that and such a wealth of knowledge and experience in your journey with Hilton, which is really cool. We’re gonna talk about some of that. Let’s get into Home2 Suites. It, it’s had some incredible growth. It’s turned into one of the fastest brands in Hilton’s history to make sure I get these numbers right over with more than 650 open hotels, it’s got one of the largest pipelines right now in the us. What do you think owners, developers love about this brand that has led to its exponential growth in such a short period of time?

Talene Staab:
You know, Hilton has had a long history in extended stay. We launched Homewood over 30 years ago, and if you think back then, it’s quite an investment to build in all suite or an extended stay property. So when we built the brand in 2009, which was not a great time to launch a brand, if you think about the world back then, but it was a much more affordable build, much more economical to run. So it was really an alternative in a space that had been much more investment heavy. And it was a slow burn. ’cause at the time we launched, we opened the first hotel in 2011, and you can kind of look at the trajectory before the pandemic. We were really hitting our stride. But what was interesting is during the pandemic, people really saw, you know, across all extended state, like that business was the lifesaver. It kept the lights on. And once you kind of got through the worst part of the crisis, you know, sports teams never stopped traveling the entire time <laugh>. And so people really valued space, the setup of having a suite like we have. So I think from an owner perspective, it’s affordable. It’s good for first time owners or you know, experienced owners in the way it’s prototypical. And I think a lot of people wanted extended stay in their portfolio to diversify a little bit from a guest perspective, you know, I always laugh at owners, we just had a, an event last night and owners who don’t own a Home2, but they’re like, when I travel, it’s my favorite brand. When I, you know, stay with my family, I laugh about, you know, the guest sentiment and loyalty is incredibly strong and I think owners feel confident in that, you know, and Hilton just has a reputation for building successful brands. Um, so, you know, I think owners feel confident in going into the segment maybe for the first time with Hilton. So for sure.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, it certainly does. And, and as we alluded to, I mean, hoteliers, owners, developers, they’re all travelers too. So it is fascinating to see that, you know, that maybe they have exposure to the brand in a different light of being like, oh, I’m experiencing this as a traveler. I can see why there is such a draw here. And I think things like the pandemic, obviously as, as we look back, it shows how durable an asset like a home two suites can be. Where we got to the closest thing to zero occupancy is we could get, but there was still a demand for that type of, uh, stay for that type of experience. And I think that says a lot. And you know, when you think about owners, developers wanting to make sure that they’re, they have a safe haven for assets, you know, I think home two suites certainly, certainly fits the bill there, but it’s more than just the growth, the exponential growth, that hockey stick growth that we are talking about. You guys are actually doing things, some exciting developments on the design front that I think is also setting you up for future success. Talk to us a little bit about those prototype updates and, and why this is gonna set the brand up for success moving forward.

Talene Staab:
Yeah, I think the big takeaway is we know how to brand hotels. Like we know how to create differentiated experiences when you’ve got so much growth with a brand like Home2, our owners have multiple Home2’s, some of them, right? So you learn so much from them. ’cause they’ve built way more than we ever have. So they’re like, this is what we have experienced between the first one we built. And then this one, these are some things that we’ve taken into consideration. So we’ve done things like remix, the remix. We’ve added more Queen Queens because again, if you think about families, teams, people with projects, those were more in demand. We stacked them over the lobby. So then that made the lobby space bigger and and better. We found tons of efficiencies that we could do from the backend for operations. And it’s important. I think we’ve also learned the team member experience is super important. So we want it to be easy to run a hotel. So back of house breakfast, we’ve kind of reconfigured to make the flow better. But in the guest rooms, I think the thing, the key with Home2 is flexibility. Like it’s flexible for a guest to stay there. You can use the curtain that divides the living room from the bedroom space. You can have a cooktop if you want or not. We’ve got a full-sized fridge, we have more flexible storage, we have have more kitchen counter space. So we just kind of refined all the things that we knew the guests really cared about and made it easier for owners to build it. So when you hit the balance of both of those, it’s even better. We made the outdoor spaces even better for guests to, we call it grill and chill, which is, um, really popular. And you think about all these engagement points are where the team members can see guests and engage with them as much as they wish, as much as a guest wants to. So those are kinds of the things that have really, you know, improved. We found some efficiencies too on some of our signature items. Like the Beacon is, is what Home2 is known for on the exterior. We found ways to make that a lot more cost effective to build. So again, focusing on better guest experience, better cost to build, uh, revenue maximization. Retail is another one. We doubled the retail space ’cause our, our early prototypes didn’t have as much retail and we know guests are like now buying and enjoying things that they like from home in, in the hotel. So a lot of good tweaks. Nothing materially different in a big way because the brand was already performing. The prototype’s already performing really well.

Ryan Embree:
Well I’m sure that’s the luxury of having so many of these hotels open, right? Like you might have one where you’re saying to yourself, I’m seeing this need or hearing this need from the guests of wanting more outdoor space, but is that something that’s particular to this particular segment of traveler? Is it for this location? Right? Or it could be in Florida where, where the weather is a lot nicer, but you might not wanna do that up north where and, and give a lot more outdoor space. But when you have so many locations you can then say, okay, this isn’t just a a, a single trend that I’m seeing. This is a pattern and, and these are the, these are the efficiencies. I think it’s also brilliant you brought up staffing right now, which has continued to kind of plague our industry right now with staffing shortages and, and it’s a real issue for owners that have to staff these hotels trying to find ways to find efficiencies to make it easier for staff. Because obviously the easier their job can be, the better they’re gonna serve their guests, the more they’ll enjoy their experience at working at a brand. So, uh, absolutely brilliant in that regard. Obviously a lot of growth domestically, but you have your eyes set on international growth. Talene, tell us a little bit about some of the markets that you see some opportunity and how the Home2 Suites brand can kind of make a splash there.

Talene Staab:
We, launched in China a couple of years ago and that was our first kind of big four outside of the Americas. And that’s been tremendously successful. We have over 50 hotels open there and many more slated. So that was kind of our first foray out and was cool to see how we could interpret the brand for China and still make it feel like a Home2, but very relevant for the region. So now we’re looking in Europe, middle East and Africa, heavy on the Europe, middle East but we, you know, they don’t have as much green space like we do here in the states. Um, a lot more adaptive reuse, you know, in very dense metropolitan areas. However, that extended stay, uh, component is really untapped market for Hilton in the branded space. So we took a, what is our 32 square meter suite and made it 25 square meters or really tested the limits of how much can we compress it and make it work still with all of the components. It still very much looks like a Home2 Suites, but for Europe, different fit and finishes, you know, they use the kitchen differently. We obviously changed the F&B and we’re super excited. We have Dublin signed and Istanbul Turkey and so having now some success early days with that. Now we’re also looking in the Korea, Caribbean, and Latin America. So we’ve just launched our prototype there. Similarly, they kind of looked at the smaller footprint, but again, different fit and finishes for what works in that market. Interesting customer research on how they might use the spaces differently. And so we’ve modified that to be regionally appropriate. So we don’t wanna look like an American brand coming into a region. It’s very regionally relevant and so we’re excited to see how that starts to develop. But like lots of exciting things. I think people really appreciate that concept. So just making it work in the regions, there’s a lot of potential there.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, what a cool inflection point for the brand to be to having that type of growth. And we talked about all of the design and, and prototype tweaks and changes with the last question, but now you’re kind of at the starting point of that with these international projects and being able to say, okay, let’s get the feedback from the, from the guests, the owners, so that we can see, see what’s really gonna resonate in that market. So very, very cool to see. We’ll keep our eye on that. Coming back across the pond so to speak. I had the opportunity to meet you, like I mentioned, and the and Isaac Lake, the brand leaderr of LivSmart Studios, which is Hilton’s newest extended stay brand. Talk to us a little bit about how this brand compares, maybe the traveler that this caters to and the difference in guest experience. Because as you mentioned, Hilton does a great job branding compare and contrast those two brands for me.

Talene Staab:
Yeah, it’s interesting, um, to see for years Hampton had been kind of our entry level brands. It gets to a point where it’s performing so well. There’s so much space below for, you know, lower rated travel in a different chain scale. And that’s how True launched. Similarly with Home2, if you’re looking at the extended safe space, there was Homewood, Home2, which is running very strong. I mean we’re at the 140 a DR for 2023. So as you can imagine, there’s a ton of business and extended stay that wants at a rate lower than that. So it naturally creates this white space that we’re like, look, people want that experience, they have to leave Hilton. And we know our honors guests are fiercely loyal, Home2 runs over a 70% honors, um, occupancy. And so we know they’re leaving Hilton to have experience as an extended stay at a lower price point. It made so much sense to create something that’s different in that space and that’s live smart. So it’s much more studio apartment living versus the services that you would get at a hotel. Like, uh, not that it’s not a hotel, but with Home2, it’s much more focused on the, the kitchen because the research show that 94% of travelers in that extended true extended stay, we’re talking 30, 60, 90 nights, 94% cook in their in their room. So much more focused on that. And it’s much more appropriate for the mid-scale segment for what you pay for in finishes and in the services that you get. So it’s a very different experience and I think we studied just to see what their overlap would be and I think we found 15% of those true target guests for LivSmart have stayed at a Home2. So we’re really looking at a market that we weren’t getting with Hilton. So we’re excited. And again, with Home2 punching above its weight class, there’s a lot of space for the LivSmart guests and we’re excited about that.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, it sounds like a, a massive opportunity and an an entry point into exposing a lot of new travelers or new extended stay travelers into the brand and then years down the line upgrade and say, you know, let, let’s start staying at the Home2 next time. Right. So, you know, I think, I think it’s absolutely brilliant, uh, really exciting to see the progress and of that new extended stay brand and again, the overflow into Home2 and, ’cause we know how you spoke to how brand loyal, uh, Hilton honor travelers are. So I’ve had the, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with you, Alyssa, over at Spark by Hilton. So running through a, a really great gamut of, uh, brand leaders for Hilton. And I think it’s so fascinating ’cause you have such a critical job to do, have this balancing act. And we kind of talked about at the top of the episode about you wanna grow the brand obviously, and you want, uh, an interesting product that owners and developers are gonna show some interest in and in helping you grow, but you also wanna make sure that it doesn’t negatively impact the guest experience and you want an experience that, that travelers are gonna kind of keep coming back to. What tools, methods do you use to kind of, first of all get that feedback from owners and guests and then incorporate it into visions for the future for the brand?

Talene Staab:
I’ll go back to something we were talking about at the, the beginning. I mean, at the, at the end of the day, we are of highly franchised business. We want our owners to have trust and confidence and develop with us. We wanna create strong and successful brands, but ultimately it is about that spirit of hospitality, right? We want to have our guests feel that feeling of, you know, we talk about spreading the light and warmth of hospitality. That’s kind of the crux of what’s driving our success. And so we have to really as brand leaders be the ones that are balancing the owner value proposition, the guest value proposition, and then our future to make sure our brands stay true and successful and differentiated so that we have room to grow other brands too. And there’s, you know, something for everyone. We are very close to our owner community. I mean they have been critical in building these brands. A lot of it is, you know, with a ton of their input. Otherwise we, you know, that’s how you can kind of ensure success that way. Um, we take in a ton of guest feedback. So whether it’s consumer research, like what I was referencing about extended stay cooking in their suites, we have a new stay experience platform which does guest surveying all the time. Um, we definitely look for trends. We look at team member feedback. ’cause we were talking about staffing. I mean, we look at things, you know, we had our biggest GM conference of all time. We had six brands represented, thousands of people and we hadn’t refreshed our uniforms in a while for home two. We did a fashion show and had the leaders vote, what were their favorites? And then they got to see when it launched, they were like, we picked that. So we want them to feel part of it with us because they’re the ones that are delivering the service every day. So you can’t forget about them. So there are a lot of places to get feedback and I think if you’re gonna be successful as a brand leader, you have to keep the mission straight. What’s the job of the brand? Who is it serving? What are we trying to accomplish? And use that filter to take in all the feedback to make sure you’re doing the right thing because everyone’s got their agendas right. So we have to just kind of make sure we’ve got the right proportion of feedback from all parties to make it right. Because, you know, it’s tough too when you think about like my early days with True, it was so different. The rooms are a lot smaller, it’s much more efficient. The living room is the, is the lobby and that’s where everyone hangs out. But people wanted it to feel like Hampton because that’s what they knew and that’s what was like the gold standard to compare it to. And so we really had to tell owners, you gotta stick, stick with us, stick with the plan, we have this like plan, it’s gonna work. And it took a minute for us to find the True guests and for people to stop comparing it to Hampton, which is of course what you would expect. But it was key to the success of True is that it’s, it is different than Hampton. So it’s a whole different traveler that’s like, I found my place. So we find that with each of our brands, but it’s not easy. To stick to the plan when people are, you know, expecting it to be something, so.

Ryan Embree:
Fascinating. ’cause I never thought about that. You’re right. ’cause there might be some initial feedback right off the bat that you’re saying that people are calling for changes, this isn’t working, but it’s like you also have to have a little bit of a runway with these brands about saying we gotta, we’ve gotta get this off the ground. We have truly see if this is something that sticks. ’cause you’re right, there could be a comparison, but that’s the whole reason you created the new brand, right? is for it to not to feel like that. So oh, a absolutely fascinating point there. Uh, and then, you know, obviously throw in a Black Swan event like, you know what happened in 2020 and that shifts everything, right? Because now the guest experiences, I used to want to go out and for a couple years I was actually just staying in my hotel. I I didn’t want to go anywhere, experience anything. And now all of a sudden a couple years later I wanna get back out. So you have to see, okay, what, what is that? We always talk about that new normal, what does that feel like? And, and how can you make changes? So very difficult job you must have over there doing that, that balancing act.

Talene Staab:
It’s fun though and you wanna think of how do you evolve it? Yeah. And keep the, and that’s why if you know your brand’s core, you can still keep the spirit, the essence, the intentions of it and still continue to evolve into what the, like you said, the new normal is and then continue to be successful that way.

Ryan Embree:
I think that’s a great point even for our hotel listeners down to the individual property level that of just knowing what your business is, who you cater to, and making sure you kind of stay, kind of stay in your lane in a sense of, of just having a clear vision. Because if you try to stray too far away from who you are, guests, travelers, they’re going to see that they’re, they’re savvy. Uh, travelers have gotten a lot more savvy. Uh, they had to over the last couple years. They know they have more options than ever and there’s more flexibility. So it’s going to be the brands that kind of stay true to who they are and deliver that consistent experience that are gonna thrive. And I think Home2 Suites and has done a fantastic job and, and you could see, you know, mission accomplished on, on the other side of that. And that’s tremendous growth. So I wanna get back to your experience, Talene, ’cause I think you’ve got a, a really unique story because you talked about Canopy, True, Home2 now share a little insight of knowledge from going to a brand like True, you kind of, you, you kind of spoke to a little bit of the challenges off the beginning, but you know, launching a new brand like a Canopy went back in the day to now having kind of an established mission and brand that you’re, that you’re the head of and how that has served you in, in the position you’re in today.

Talene Staab:
It’s funny, as I was thinking about it, you know, canopy was right at launch when I joined True, it was kind of in the toddler years and then with Home2 was much more, I’ll say teenager, I won’t say grown up ’cause it was still feeling really, it still feels new and you know, we haven’t even been through like full renovation cycles yet. So it’s like, you know, relatively new. But it, it is a different perspective, right, for each and like at launch when you launch, you’re really like, you have all these theories and concepts of how it should be, but when it gets out in the wild and you hear, you know, what owner developer feedback is and what they wanna do and how they wanna achieve the same goal, but maybe they wanna go about it a different way. So that’s important to listen to. When I think about my time with True, I kind of alluded to, it’s like sticking to the plan and let it work first and then completely make changes, which we did. But you gotta give it a chance to, to stand on its own. And again, from a branding perspective, I appreciate when there are things that make people talk about it. Like with Home2, we joke about we have a curtain that literally divides the living room and the bed space. Some people love the curtain, some people hate the curtain, but the people that love the curtain love the curtain more than people that don’t like the curtain. And so that is like the most important piece of value real estate. Like if you have a little kid that’s trying to sleep and doesn’t wanna be staring at the parents, you know, to see if they can stay up a little on that curtain is valuable. So like there are these things that you kind of need to listen to and let that work. But what’s important is throughout all of it, you have to have good relationship with the owners and developers in a trust that we’re all kind of working towards the same goal of success. Because then you can have really good discussion and, and and candor in your conversations to make the best product. So I feel like those relationships throughout all of the, um, stakeholders in branding is super important. The owner, developers, the team members, and of course you got to, you know, stand by the guests and what they ultimately want. So it’s been, it’s been good to see it with brands from different stages, you know, and then as you look at older brands that are looking now for how do we get owners to reinvest and keep the products fresh, you know, I I look at, you know, sometimes, you know, we ask a lot of our, our owners, but the returns and the premiums that we drive with our brands, there’s a reason for it. And it’s not always the easy way, but like there has to be that trust that we’re aiming for retaining that, that premium. So I think it’s kind of goes back to maybe what you said as from my experience is like take in all the feedback and then measure it against, you know, what your intentions are and what your goals are and then you’ll know.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, it it is, and and you’re right. I, I think a decision like that, the curtain is a great parallel by the way <laugh> is, is you know, because because you’re right, it it’s like I, I could make this change and it would impact a segment of traveler that might be happy that this curtain’s gone, but it’s gonna have a bigger impact on those that really depend on that for a reason. Like you pointed out. I think that that’s a brilliant point and especially we preach all the time being a digital marketing podcast that you have to listen to the data. The data’s gonna show you some trends, but I also think you can’t always be changing, especially as a brand can’t make, you know, one day people like the curtain or don’t like the curtain, so you remove it and then they’re calling for, you know, some more privacy or they wish they had that and then you put it back in. That creates inconsistencies. And what we talked about is right now travelers are looking for consistent experience with these brands. So I think it’s a fascinating subject. I get talk more on it, but you talked about, or we’ve talked about rather, the large pipeline that Home2 Suites has any exciting projects that you’re working on right now that you can share with our audience?

Talene Staab:
I’m really excited about Bristol, Connecticut. Because it’s gonna round out our continental US. It’s our 49th state. And then hopefully we’ll hit Hawaii in 2026 and we’ll have all 50 states. That’s exciting. I’m excited about Austin East side will be in the heart of Austin there. We’ve got Virginia Beach project for Napa. I mean, who doesn’t wanna have a hotel in Napa Valley That, that’s exciting. Right? There’s a lot, a lot of exciting things there. You know, we also, from a product perspective, again, I’ll go back to listening to, to guests, um, we’re doing some fun things at breakfast. It kind of goes back like guests want consistency, but they also want flexibility, right? Yes. So they want things their way. Um, so we’re doing some fun, you know, we’ve been really successful with offering these breakfast sandwiches. They’re delicious. There’s very many kinds, but guests still want more flexibility. So we’re, we’re testing out a build your own breakfast sandwich kind of pilot. It’s just kind of a nod to like, this is how you can keep the signature item, but maybe do it a different way that makes the guest happier. And then if the cost preoccupied room goes down, which early indication show it is, everybody wins. So I, I think that’s the fun kind of things where you’re solving a problem and everyone wins. I mean, ultimately that’s where we’re going for. So, and then be able to deliver it over, you know, 650 hotels the same way.

Ryan Embree:
That’s That’s the, that’s the challenge. But yeah, yeah, personalization. Um, I mean that’s, that’s a huge thing right now. Yeah. What, and I think that, I think that resonates on both ends. You know, I’m hearing some brand leaders saying, you know, there’s a specific piece of, there might be one or two specific pieces of a new build that the owner’s gonna have exact say and it might be ’cause of a, a local artist that they, that they put in the lobby or something like that. So there’s some personalization there so it doesn’t feel like, so cookie cutter. But also on the guest side too, I think you can have a consistent guest experience with personalization there. You know, if you have a seasonal drink, uh, at your, at your F&B station or you have a seasonal breakfast item or something like that, there’s consistency If you’re, if your guests know that there’s going to be some seasonal option there that is consistency even though it’s ever changing, if that makes sense, right? Yeah. To hopeful. I didn’t confuse our audience too much, but I think when you offer that flexibility as, as you mentioned, that’s where the pieces of the guest experience just get kind of those notches a little bit higher and higher and you see that reflected in your online presence, your reviews and ultimately kind of word of mouth.

Talene Staab:
So you probably traveled a lot and I mean, I’m sure there’s days where you’re like, I don’t remember which hotel I’m in, what you’ve got keys, but you’re like, I can’t remember what room I’m in. Like you’re in a trance sometimes when you’re traveling week after week. And so when there are things that kind of break you out of that by reminding you what location you’re in or team members that kind of did things a little differently. Like those are moments of, of making it stick with you that I think matter in service. And I think people think of service as like, there’s so many ways, it’s always above and beyond and adding more stuff. It’s really about kind of, I look at it like breaking the monotony of travel week in, week out by having something that maybe lets you know, hey, you’re in this specific city today, like enjoy this. You can only get it here. Or the way the team talks to you about their location. So there’s like all kinds of ways that you can achieve that through hospitality.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, that’s a great point. And you know, again, being a digital marketing podcast, we share that about social media and making sure on social media you are highlighting those things. ’cause you’re absolutely right, you know, doing research now it might feel you’re going to a market, you’re brand loyal. Well guess what? There, there might be four or five of this brand in a certain market. What’s gonna kind of break the mold as, as you say, or kind of break you out that out of that trance of I’m just traveling here for business. No, this is gonna be a unique experience that sticks with me. So when I travel to another market that might for some reason that might just click subconsciously and say, I want to, I wanna stay at another home, two suites, good experience. So yeah, exactly. Now Hilton known for its innovation, uh, recently just named by Fast Company’s most innovative companies, 2024, the only hotel company to be recognized with that award. One of the innovative features you’re looking to implement by the end of 2024 is the guest ability to text on property request. I think this has become more and more of a need and want from guests. Talk to us about the importance of implementing new technology and how guest communication preferences have really evolved over the last couple years.

Talene Staab:
I’ll go back even further. It’s pretty incredible. And if you haven’t figured out by my timeline yet, I’ve been with Hilton my entire life, so I’ve seen a lot of things <laugh>. But um, I remember when we installed it was called On Queue as our um, PMS system back then. And it was a big deal to get everyone on the same platform. But we saw way back then that if we could do that, it was gonna allow us to do things wide scale, such as digital key. So now you can choose your room, check in in advance, bypass the front desk if you want. And I remember how people were freaked out that they were gonna be like, you’re getting rid of front desk team members. Well now how great is it that people that don’t wanna talk to the team members are not taking up space on the line in the queue, freeing up your hours. And then the people that do want to talk to the front desk now have the flexibility. ’cause there isn’t a queue of people waiting to check in. So Digital Key has been incredible that we can offer at all of our hotels. The messaging, again, it goes back to like, really things have changed. People expect a lot and they want to not have to call somebody and talk to, I mean, if you talk to young people, it’s like picking up the phone. It’s like typing a letter, you know, and sending a telegram. It’s like that never happened to call anyone. So being able to message, we’re really excited about, we’ve had a lot of hotels, been doing it for a long time, but to do it wide scale across the board will be another guest expectation. And I think, um, team members are super excited about it, guests are excited about it. When you think about, you know, other innovations, connected room, people want to be able to stream their stuff to watch, they’re binging something. They don’t wanna stop binging when they get to a hotel. So being able to see your content in your rooms and we have connected room everywhere is another, is another element. So I think it’s really important to stay on the front of, of those innovations as you go because guests expect it and they, they don’t wanna feel like traveling should be a hardship compared to what they get at home. Like we want them to have like an at-home experience. So what can we do to have those, you know, creature comforts follow you with you as you travel? I mean, that’s the way we’re going is and Hilton’s done a great job of continuing to stay on the front of that and testing new things. Including texting.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I’m trying to think here. What you just said was a great point of you’re trying to take the home experience home2 the brand. Obviously with Correlation there, you’re trying to take the home experience, put it into a hotel. I don’t know if, I’m trying to think of even at work now, I don’t have a physical phone, but I think the only time I’m pick up a phone now is at a hotel. Like I physically pick up a phone is at a hotel to do some of these requests, right? So this is something that we’ve seen not just in in Traveler space, but just every day. So it’s so exciting to hear this is, this was a great example of listening to guest feedback. But just seeing how our lives technology has evolved to the point where, okay, this is one of the last places where you’re picking up a phone now you don’t have to do that now you can text our associates and we’re just gonna have everything for you because you’re doing most of the texting anyways, you know, with, with your communication. So as we wrap up here, Talene, I’d love to hear, do a little predictions here for, for the next five years with Home Two Suites. What do you envision, what’s your vision as the brand leader?

Talene Staab:
Well, I am really excited, like I said, to hit all 50 states. I’m really excited to see how our European growth picks up because I feel like there’s, there’s a lot of potential there. Same with the Caribbean and Latin America. And, you know, I’m really excited about just the momentum that we’ve built. I mean, our numbers are incredibly strong, but I feel like we’re still on the hockey stick of growth and there’s, you know, I love that new guests are discovering Home2 that haven’t yet stayed yet. Our numbers are We have really strong occupancy, but there’s still a lot of people that haven’t experienced Home2 yet. So I’m really excited for the potential of the rest of the guests that haven’t yet found us to try. And I, I really get excited about meeting new owners too, and developers that are getting into the space and Home2 is perfect for them to, to try that out and, and join us. So there’s just a lot of, there’s still a lot of upside on a brand that’s already doing incredibly well. So I’m really excited about that.

Ryan Embree:
There’s definitely more meat on the bone on, on both, like you said, the owner developer side as well as new guests exploring and experiencing this brand for the first time and hopefully becoming advocates and users again and returning guests. So really exciting there. We’ll see how you take this, uh, as we, as we called it, Mid-Teen Year brand as it goes out of its adolescence into, into young adulthood. So excited.

Talene Staab:
I have two teenagers in real life, so I’m hoping I do a better job with Home2 than I do with them. We’ll see, well ask me in a couple years.

Ryan Embree:
Okay, well, we’ll have you back on for sure. Well, I wanna thank you Talene, for, for hanging with me on theSuite Spot. I wanna thank our audience for joining me and we’ll talk to you next time on The Suite Spot to join our loyalty program. Be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.