Preferred Hotel Group Rebrands

The company's new logo.

Preferred Hotel Group has announced a move from a multi-branded business model to one master brand, Preferred Hotels & Resorts.

In a release the company said the rebranding represents the company’s commitment to a new approach that is designed to elevate core awareness of the brand, drive strategic growth of its portfolio, and improve market share for its member hotels by making it easier for travelers to identify the Preferred hospitality experience. The company is now represented by one brand website, www.PreferredHotels.com.    

“In a time when seemingly every hotel company is introducing new brands that target specific demographics, we are doing the opposite by transitioning from a house of brands to a branded house,” said Lindsey Ueberroth, Preferred's president and CEO. “Driven by evolving consumer expectations and changing travel trends, our new brand architecture creates stronger clarity for the Preferred Hotels & Resorts brand within the marketplace and allows us to elevate and focus attention on our world-class collection of independent hotels and resorts.”

Effective today, all of the company’s 650 member hotels and resorts are represented by the Preferred Hotels & Resorts brand. Each property has been aligned with one of five new collections – Legend, LVX, Lifestyle, Connect, and Preferred Residences – which is meant to allow travelers to search, consider and book their lodging based on the type of luxury experience they are seeking. Each collection is defined by a fixed set of criteria across 10 categories, which, in addition to experience, focus on critical service standards, physical facilities, and awards and recognition.

“Today’s travel consumer is not one-dimensional, so it is no longer strategic for us to imply that there is only one definition of luxury,” said Ueberroth. “By defining hotels based on experiences versus brands or stars, we are creating stronger positioning for our member hotels and expanding their opportunities to reach more guests.”

The new brand website has a responsive design, strong integration of messaging regarding its points-based iPrefer guest loyalty program, and many ways by which a guest can search for a hotel, such as experiences, location and price point. In addition to sharing a common website, all member hotels will be represented under one common chain code – PH – on the Global Distribution Systems (GDS). All hotels can still be found under the brand’s master chain code PV.
 
The new brand strategy is further supported by a multi-million dollar investment in updated advertising, marketing, and public relations campaigns that will be introduced over the next several months.