Dive Brief:
- Hotel Bambinee, an urban, child-centered hotel brand, launched this week in the U.S., according to a Monday release.
- The lifestyle brand prioritizes the needs of families traveling with young children, offering indoor spaces for “play and exploration” as well as guest rooms designed for comfort and convenience, Hotel Bambinee Founder Rachel Meng said in the release.
- As the luxury lifestyle segment rapidly expands across the U.S., hotels in the space rarely prioritize or cater to families, Meng said. Hotel Bambinee is one of the first brands to “deliver an experience that celebrates families” in a “chic and modern” way, she said.
Dive Insight:
Hotel Bambinee will cater to a variety of guests, from the traditional family to the single parent who “appreciates the on-site facilities and social component” of the brand, Meng said. The hotels will also target groups and business travelers with kids.
The hotels will offer amenities and design elements that promote comfort and relaxation to help “alleviate the hassles of traveling with young children.” These include play areas and programming for children and a modern, stylish — but comfortable — lifestyle design for adults. The property will also have a cafe offering kid-friendly meals and a small bar serving beer, wine and mocktails for the adults.
“[W]e want to deliver an experience that makes [families] feel welcome and at ease,” Meng said, adding that much of hospitality’s modern branding, offerings and amenities don’t reflect the wants and needs of the modern young family, usually carrying extra luggage like highchairs, booster seats, baby bathtubs and other childcare supplies.
Hotel Bambinee did not disclose where its first location will be, though the brand is exploring hotel conversions and ground-up construction projects in partnership with hoteliers and developers.
“We see the opportunity to build from the ground up or repurpose a portion of the space or floors within existing hotels, to capture the demand from this growing yet underserved demographic,” Meng said in a statement.
She told Hotel Dive Tuesday that a “major urban market, such as Washington D.C., with plenty of family attractions and a growing presence of local young families” would be the ideal location for Hotel Bambinee.
Family travel demand has been strong in recent years, with 88% of parents surveyed for the US Family Travel Survey 2021, conducted by NYU’s Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality in the summer of that year, saying they were likely or very likely to travel with their children in the next 12 months.
The survey also found that parents were most likely to stay in a hotel during their travels, compared to any other accommodation.
Meng, an MBA graduate from the EHL Hospitality Business School in Switzerland, is the founding member of the first-of-its-kind lifestyle brand. She is collaborating with branding agency B&Co. as well as interior designer Jennifer Hawn.
Most recently, Meng served as the director of investments at one of the largest hotel real estate investment trusts in the U.S., Pebblebrook Hotel Trusts, according to LinkedIn.
