Just when you thought Travelodge and Premier Inn had the budget market sewn up, a new contender has arrived – Base2Stay – with a new hotel just opened in Liverpool.
Premier Inn and Travelodge might not have to be worry just yet as Base2Stay only have 2 hotels currently with the Liverpool one and another in Kensington, but there’s no reason why the formula couldn’t be extended countrywide.
So what’s new about Base2Stay? To be honest, on the surface I’m finding it a little hard to find many distinguishing factors, but they do offer free Wi-Fi rather than paying by the hour which might appeal to business travellers and the rooms, at least in the Liverpool one, have slightly more character to them mostly due to the building not being brand new.
One thing they have done is try to make some of the products in the hotel a little more “green”, such as the toiletries which don’t contain paraben type chemicals as found in most cosmetics and toiletries. Also the art work in every room is unique.
Even the prices don’t look that dis-similar to the aforementioned chains with rooms starting at £75 per night, but it might just win out having a very central location within Liverpool close to the main tourist areas. Whether that’s their target market is a little unclear, but it is the most likely market in terms of where they are positioned.
Whether this will expand into a rival chain….time will tell, but I think they might need a few more distinguishing factors before people will automatically think Base2Stay rather than Premier Inn.
[Editor notes: See comments below as it seems Base2Stay marketing might not be showing the hotel in it's true nature or market]
More Liverpool Links:
Base2Stay Liverpool
Hotels in Liverpool
Premier Inn Hotels
5 Comments
Trev, They offer a lot more than Premier Inn and Travelodge. The formula is more akin to self catering apartments as they have mini kitchens. They also offer a range of comfort levels. This is a totally different market to the UK budget chains.
I stayed at base2stay Liverpool their first week, last month – the standards of fixtures and fittings, bedding, towels, staffing and so on, is much, much higher than travelodge et al. I see they’re now number 1 for Liverpool in tripadvisor, too. Believe me, please, it’s nothing like the travelodge experience!
The above was based in a large part on an articles in a couple of newspapers and looking through their site it sounds like that’s the kindof market they’re trying to pitch to.
Eg: statements such as “base2stay™ gives you the things you actually want and need rather than facilities you never see or use”, sounds very similar to Travelodge, and I can’t see anything listed on the facilities list which suggests it’s more than a slightly upmarket Premier Inn.
It mentions kitchens, but from what I’ve read at least isn’t that a tiny worktop shoved into a corner – something akin to the kettle and coffee you get in most chain hotels? At least that was the impression I was getting.
By the sounds of things they’re a lot more worth the money than a Premier Inn, but if that’s the case they really need to do some tweaking of their web site as I still can’t find a pic of the kitchen area or anything that looks more than at the very most a Novatel.
The video shows it better, perhaps – I see it is dated May this year, before opening?
http://www.youtube.com/user/base2stay#p/a/u/1/GNV74cJ15kU
Found another one!
http://www.youtube.com/user/base2stay#p/a/u/2/C9U7iDD5pH8
Thanks for writing about us Trev. May I suggest that you come and take a look at our base2stay Liverpool hotel. I think that the differences between base2stay and a Premier Inn or Travelodge will be evident.. Some differences have been well articulated by John and Ewa above, and I would have hoped that the photos and videos on our website would also have made the difference in standard clear, and we need to look carefully if that isn’t the case.We are a design hotel, not a big brand with a uniform decor across the world with one or two room types only. Each base2stay hotel has individual characteristics taken from the building and location, whilst our wide range of room types caters to different guest needs. Without bar or restaurant, but with a mini-kitchen (and it is just that), and discounts at a range of local restaurants and bars, with free WiFi and phone calls, free internet, music and games on HDTVs, and movies at only £1.95, your bill won’t rise as it would in a boutique hotel, even though our air-conditioned rooms are decorated to that standard. Do try us and see for ypourself – we look forward to welcoming you.
Robert Nadler CEO