On Aug. 13, Dolce Hotels & Resorts announced that it is pulling away from its pure conference center roots in a broad re-branding effort. The former Dolce International is now well on its way to incorporating in all its conference centers the types of amenities, design elements, and services that today's business travelers expect in a four-star hotel experience. The Dolce portfolio now has two divisions, with 16 hotels and resorts and eight conference properties.
To some in the meetings industry, the decision felt like the end of an era. "There are things in this industry that I trusted," said meetings and hospitality consultant Joan Eisenstodt, of Washington, DC-based Eisenstodt Associates LLC. "[The International Association of Conference Centers and its brand] were such things. Part of my frustration is that the conference center 'brand' that always struggled to be understood is really being undermined." It has become highly difficult for training industry newcomers to know the differences between meetings hotels and conference centers, she said.
Tom Bolman, IACC's executive VP, said all but two of Dolce's properties are members. "The name itself [Dolce Hotels & Resorts] does not help the differentiation," he said, but "in all other respects, they are differentiating their properties and meeting all the [IACC] criteria with flying colors."
Benchmark Hospitality dropped "conference centers" from its name many years ago. Eric Terry, Benchmark's VP of sales and marketing, said that "there certainly is enough business" to go after the pure conference center customer, but "by broadening the reach of the facility and having a spa and [golf, and fine-dining restaurants that serve a la carte dinners],we're able to appeal to the executive training segment as well as traditional training."
Dolce chief executive Andy Dolce told MeetingNews, "You can rest assured that we're staying true to the IACC standards at all our properties." But, he said, in focus groups, meeting planners told the company that the phrase "conference center" was confusing. "They thought it was just meeting space and it didn't represent the standards today's travelers require, such as more than one option for places to eat, flat-screen TVs, pillow-top mattresses, and luxury bed linens and pillows."
Soon, all Dolce properties will feature those items, plus cybercafes in breakout locations and on-demand printing from laptops anywhere on site.
The company's owners have invested $100 million Dolce's brand relaunch and individual property upgrades. With the re-branding, the company hopes to gain broader appeal to three market segments: meetings, leisure, and transient business. While Dolce said his aim is to grow the group business from 800,000 room nights a year to 900,000, meetings are now 80 percent of the company's business, and he sees them becoming 70 percent in the new era.
Originally published Oct. 20, 2008