Here's a recent video from The Wall Street Journal talking about the "secrets behind hotel design." It's interesting in that it gets into some of the ways in which designers are shrinking hotel rooms and then making up for it with amenities. This is a strategy you'll find in many other real estate asset classes ranging from multi-family housing to co-living.
But if you scroll through the comments, you'll see that the responses are overwhelmingly negative. In fact, I was hard pressed to find any positive ones. Most people simply don't like the idea of hotel rooms shrinking and of not having the same amenities. This is not surprising. The comments are similar to what you'll hear people say about shrinking condominium suites.
At the end of the day, though, the strategy outlined in this video is designed to cater to a very specific market: young travelers (roughly 25 to 40 years old) who want to stay somewhere fun and social — and at a reasonable price. Room size is the lever that helps bring rates down. But it's not for everyone, and that's why hotel companies have so many different brands in their portfolio. It's so they can precisely target different customers and types of travel.
