Choice Hotels made a strategic decision to move upmarket in 2005 with the launch of the Cambria brand, despite lacking upscale expertise. While initially stumbling, the brand has gained traction in recent years, with 74 open Cambria hotels and 62 in the pipeline. The target audience for Cambria was young, higher-income urban professionals, but the brand struggled to attract developers in big cities due to the challenge of building hotels with larger suites.
In 2014, Cambria underwent a makeover to make it more appealing to guests, including a redesign of lobbies and guest rooms. The brand shifted towards a mix of room types and added more local influences to the decor. Choice Hotels also made the brand more adaptable for developers by creating a design that allowed for the conversion of existing hotels into Cambria properties. The conversion concept has gained traction, with several developers signing on for projects in urban areas that cater to Cambria’s target customers.
After establishing a presence in top urban markets, Choice Hotels set its sights on expanding Cambria to secondary and leisure markets in 2021. A new design was created to appeal to developers in these markets by adjusting aspects of the design to be more cost-effective to create and operate. The company has prioritized crucial amenities in the Cambria brand, focusing on the bathroom experience as particularly important for upscale customers.
Choice Hotels aims to strike the right balance between offering upscale amenities and managing operational costs in the various models of Cambria. The goal is to provide a premium guest experience without overdoing other amenities that guests may care less about. Developers are increasingly choosing Cambria for up-and-coming districts, showcasing the brand’s ability to enter emerging markets. With recent openings in districts like RiNo in Denver and Lake Placid, Cambria continues to expand its footprint.
In the broader accommodations sector, the Skift Travel 200 (ST200) index tracks the performance of hotels and short-term rental sector stocks from nearly 200 travel companies globally. This index includes international and regional hotel brands, hotel REITs, hotel management companies, alternative accommodations, and timeshares, providing a comprehensive view of the financial performance of the accommodations sector. Choice Hotels’ strategic efforts with the Cambria brand reflect broader trends within the accommodations sector as companies seek to strike a balance between attracting customers and managing operational costs.
