CASE STUDY
Why Independent Hotels Are Rewriting the Rules of Modern Hospitality
- THE HIGHFIELD-
By Andy Lampard, Co-Founder & Co-Owner of The Highfield and Architectural and Interior Design Consultant. Andy and Lindsey Lampard’ s work has shaped some of the world’ s most iconic luxury destinations.
For more than a decade, our industry has been shaped by consolidation. Big brands, big data and even bigger operating systems have dominated the landscape. But the momentum is shifting, and quickly. Across the UK, independent hotels, especially those rooted in rural settings like ours, are outperforming their corporate counterparts in guest loyalty, spend and sentiment.
From where I stand, the reason is simple: guests aren’ t looking for perfection anymore. They’ re looking for presence. They want places that feel alive, not engineered. And independents are uniquely placed to offer that.
Walk into a global chain, and the experience is reliably consistent. But consistency has tipped into homogeneity. I’ ve lost count of the number of hotels where the lobby, the coffee and even the lighting feel identical, no matter the country or context.
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