Five brands, five questions

The question we hear most is not which brand is best. It is which one is for me. The answer comes easier once you see that they are not stacked on top of each other like price tiers. They sit side by side, and each answers a different question.

The question each one answers

• AURA — what if the hotel were the destination? Properties that justify the journey on their own.
• ESSENCE — what if the place were the point? Small, intimate houses, written by the nature around them.
• RESORT — what if we were all together? The shore, long days, different ages at the same table.
• CITY — what if the trip were work? An urban address, a room that works, a night that gives the quiet back.
• SMART — what if the essentials were enough? What matters, done well, without what nobody asked for.

What does not change between them

The brand changes the kind of house, not the standard of care. When breakfast starts, how the telephone is answered, what happens when a flight is delayed — that crosses all five. It is the dull part of building a group, and the only part a guest feels physically.

The brand says what kind of trip it is. Everything else says what kind of house receives you.

Choosing in a minute

Start from the question, not the map. Deciding the kind of trip first rules out three brands before you look at a single photograph — and turns a choice between five similar options into a choice between two, which is a decision you make in a minute.