This Is What Hotel CEOs Really Think About Homesharing

In the past three years, the hospitality industry has — slowly but surely — seen more traditional hotel companies begin to embrace homesharing, with companies like Accor, Marriott, and Hyatt testing it out and investing in it in various ways. But what about other hotel brands and companies? Are they beginning to warm up to the idea of offering private accommodations alongside their hotel inventory? Skift asked a number of hotel CEOs, executives, and industry experts for their thoughts on homesharing at the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in January. Here's what they had to say. 'I Have Nothing Against Homesharing' Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta hasn't changed his fundamental opinion of homesharing, which is that it's just something very different from what Hilton offers. "I have nothing against homesharing," he said. "My kids do it and I have lots of friends that do it. I've done it. I fundamentally just think homesharing's something different. I know Marriott's doing it and they're exploring it. Hyatt's tested the waters." And although he sees it as something different, that doesn't mean his opinion won't change over time. "The one thing I am not is stubborn," he said. "The thing you learn as you mature as a leader is [that] a view that you have isn't a view forever. You might change your view. My view at the moment is it's a different business. It really is, and that I'm a big believer in focus. [We should] do what we do and do it well and [homesharing] is not what we do." One of the biggest reasons why, he said, is because of quality control issues. "That is not what our promise to our customer is," Nassetta said. "Our promise is consistent high-quality branded experiences. That means, product, amenities, service, loyalty and all those things. I am not convinced that in that environment you can do that. I don't want the cognitive dissonance with my customers." He continued, "I am of the mind at the moment that it is really a different business and we're not in the dormitory business. We're not doing college housing, and we're not in the apartment business." Later, he said, "To the extent that [homesharing] business morphs and changes, I may change my mind." 'I Can't See How You Do It at Scale and Make It Profitable' Int