Omni Hotels Is Investing Heavily to Become a Luxury Brand
Skift Take
The Omni brand may have a stodgy reputation in some quarters. But the U.S. owner-operator is an interesting contrarian in how it's asset-heavy and unafraid of building ballrooms.
Early Check-In
Editor’s Note: Skift Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill brings readers exclusive reporting and insights into hotel deals and development, and how those trends are making an impact across the travel industry.Omni Hotels & Resorts isn't your father's hospitality group — literally and figuratively speaking.
Robert Rowling recently passed the day-to-day oversight to his youngest son Blake Rowling via their Texas holding company TRT. The younger Rowling (rhymes with "bowling") aims to move the Omni brand further upscale into the luxury category. Last year, Kurt Alexander became president of Omni, replacing Peter Strebel, who moved to the role of chairman. The company, with a portfolio of more than 50 properties, ended 2022 at the top end of "upper upscale," meaning that its average rate as a brand was "very close to $300 a night." It will launch a brand refresh this year along with roughly $250 million in renovations to justify even higher nightly rates.Omni represents a contrarian play.
Omni owns and operates the majority of its hotels and resorts. That's in contrast with names, such as Marriott, Accor, and Hilton, which have disposed of th
