hotels the ability to join a brand, lodging companies can increase net unit growth quicker as opposed to having to wait for the period of time for the hotel to open. Other soft brands in the hotel industry include the likes of Choice Hotels’ Ascend Collection, Marriott International’ s Autograph Collection and Hilton’ s Tapestry Collection. Wyndham operates another soft brand called Trademark, whose hotels, in the upper-midscale segment, skew higher than what Dazzler Select will be. |
Magic Moment Resort & Kids Club in Kissimmee, Fla., is the first property to join Dazzler Select by Wyndham. |
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IN THE NICHE Danese said that Dazzler Select fills a gap rather than just being another collection brand concocted to keep up with the Joneses.“ We’ re always trying to learn and develop from our existing owners, and a lot of them are moving into this space and want our help— that’ s where we decided to develop this brand,” he said.
Sripathi said that Wyndham’ s track record in the economy space gives it an edge to create a brand for the independent hotelier.“ There was a clear gap for this type of product in the space, both from an owner perspective and a guest perspective,” he said.“ And we know this customer better than anyone else.”
Since Wyndham already franchises a heavy volume of economy hotels, there is the potential of the new brand cannibalizing existing Wyndham hard brands, such as Super 8, Days Inn or Travelodge. It’ s a notion
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The pool area at Magic Moment Resort & Kids Club.
that Sripathi disagrees with.“ We put a lot of thought into it and this fills a niche where we don’ t currently have an economy brand that provides for the guest who is looking for a certain kind of design essence and boutique lifestyle experience,” he said, adding that Dazzler Select being part of Wyndham Rewards gives it even more strength.
Driven by the current upside-down economy, hotels in the economy space have been challenged, contrary to hotels in higher chain scales
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that have performed better. In September, at the Hotel Data Conference, STR Senior Analyst Hannah Smith said that U. S. luxury hotel demand is increasing, but demand is falling in the economy segment, adding that the segment has shown 18 straight months of declines in RevPAR on a rolling 12-month basis. Still, Sripathi is confident in the space.
“ Hospitality is a very resilient industry,” he said.“ Owners are choosing to join the Wyndham system not for 12 months, not for 24 months. This is a longer
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Leo Danese, VP of lifestyle brands, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
term. Sure, there’ s going to be ups and downs, but we’ ve had an incredible run prior to COVID and recovery after COVID, and we think we’ re going to see similar in the years ahead.”
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74 hotelsmag. com November 2025 |