Private guest room at Selina Casco Viejo Panama City
“ The key is , if you relevant to this generation , they enjoy being a part of this movement … The team is serving their friends in their own community … They feel attached to it and the brand becomes part of the community .”
Underscoring the importance of the community message and mindset , Museri says he spends a lot of his time brainstorming with the local key influencers . “ We call them ‘ the experience board ,’” he says . “ They ’ re not from hospitality – they ’ re customers and they ’ re defining for us what they need . The focus of this company is to listen to the community and build a product for them . This will always be the number one focus .”
It is this focus that Museri says new properties , Selina ’ s average occupancy 60 days after opening has been sitting at 56 %, which they believe is 31 % higher relative to comparable hotels in their markets .
Additional revenue is coming in from Selina ’ s Nomad Passport subscription model that allows guests to stay at any property for as long as desired with full amenities . Since its launch in September 2020 , more than 2,600 passports have been sold at an US $ 800 per month subscription price and a 3 % acquisition cost per new subscriber .
Citing an example of successful conversions , Museri points to two destinations opened last year outside the traditional Miami Beach hotel scene . It leased at a 50 % discount to Miami Beach , while generating similar RevPAR . Selina created destinations powered by local F & B , content and programming that they say took RevPAR to US $ 118 from US $ 52 and F & B revenue to
Selina Isla Mujeres in Mexico shows how community is a big part of the Selina culture as 66 % of all guests say they made a new friend during their stay .
US $ 83 per day / per room from zero , and overall generated a 16.5 % unitlevel EBITDA margin .
What seems to matter more than anything , says Museri , is the brand ’ s relevancy and what Selina calls its “ destination strategy .” allows Selina to gather much more revenue per square meter compared to many of its competitors . “ It ’ s due to the fact that you ’ re more of a lifestyle platform , and not just a hotel .”
30 hotelsmag . com March / April 2022