The launch of Registry Collection Hotels comes at a time when a growing number of independent luxury hotel owners are seeking out proven and established partners to help them recover from the challenges of the global pandemic. The collection allows these owners to maintain their independent spirit and brand individuality while tapping into the global scale of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts along with its Wyndham Rewards loyalty program, helping them to drive more direct bookings at a lower cost of distribution, according to the company.
As the first luxury brand for Wyndham, “It’s really going to allow us to partner with those independent luxury owners in the system as they recover from all those challenges that they faced over the past year,” Leo Danese, brand leader/VP, operations, Registry Collection Hotels, told Hotel Business. “It also adds that aspirational redemption option for our loyal Wyndham Rewards members. Thereby, it furthers our mission of making hotel travel possible for everyone.”
He noted that the brand has been a work in progress over several years, but really picked up over the last six months. “There are hotel owners that we’ve developed a relationship with in the economy and midscale spaces, and maybe in their ownership portfolio they have an independent luxury hotel. They’ve come to us and said, ‘We like doing business with you. Do you have an answer for us in the luxury space?’ and previously we didn’t. So, with luxury being hit the hardest throughout the pandemic, it was an opportunity for us to partner with those owners and allow them the ability to tap into our distribution, our Wyndham Rewards members and our global sales organization to help them in their business. That’s really what Wyndham is all about.”
For owners seeking brand affiliation, Registry Collection Hotels allows them access to the Wyndham global salesforce.
“If you’re an independent hotel owner, you may have two or three global sellers on your team, or maybe they’re even hyper-local focused,” said Danese. “We have close to 100 global sellers within Wyndham that focus all over the Fortune 500 and can assist these hotels as they come out of the pandemic and rev back up, putting business back in their hotels.”
If the Registry name sounds familiar, it should be since Club Wyndham members have had access to the 200-plus hotels in the Registry Collection luxury vacation exchange program. Club Wyndham is part of Travel + Leisure Co. (formerly Wyndham Destinations).
“Wyndham historically was one larger operation; we had the timeshare and fractional ownership, and part of that we’ve spun off,” noted Danese. “Although we’re still affiliated with the Registry Collection exchange, we’re operating completely distinctly separate. This is our opportunity to focus on the hotel side of things, but if an opportunity arises where an owner has a multi-use property, it’s a great opportunity for us to be able to help them on the hotel side, but also if they want to be able to work with our counterparts at Travel + Leisure Co., we can connect them. So, although we’re leveraging that brand equity of the Registry Collection name, we’re clearly distinct from an operational standpoint. From a development standpoint, it’s an opportunity for us to have solutions for owners in both spaces.”
The flagship Grand Residences Riviera Cancun is located on a white sand beach near the fishing village of Puerto Morelos. The secluded resort features Hacienda-style accommodations, Bulgari bath products and amenities such as an oceanfront infinity pool, a full-service spa, a gym, a kids club and three gourmet restaurants. The resort is owned and managed by affiliates of the Royal Resorts group of companies, of whom Danese said, “I couldn’t have asked for a better ownership and operations team to be working with.”
On the resort’s numerous offerings, he said, “They have all sorts of great things like a mixology course, and they’ll have a chef come to your villa and prepare meals for you, or give you cooking classes. It’s also a family-friendly resort. I like how the property is inclusive rather than exclusive from a luxury standpoint. They want families to come and they have this kids’ club where you can have tablets to keep track of your kids while you’re having a tennis class or getting a massage.”
Wyndham already has a handful of owners with which it has executed contracts to join the new brand, noted Danese, who is also the brand leader of the Trademark Collection by Wyndham and Tryp by Wyndham flags. “We’re looking at different regions [because]this will be a global brand,” he said. “My goal as a brand leader is to build this brand. We’ve been fortunate to grow Trademark to over 110 hotels globally now. Although 110 would be wonderful, we want to be very selective with the hotels we bring into Registry Collection Hotels. We’re looking forward to sharing more within the next couple of months.”
As for the brand’s growth, Danese said, “My personal goal is to have 20 to 25 hotels within the next five years. Trademark collection has been a huge success story, albeit in a different chainscale, but I think it just speaks to how the opportunity has resonated with independent owners to work with Wyndham. We have an unlimited opportunity with all the independent hotels out there.”
BY ADAM PERKOWSKY
