Hotels to host concerts, with guests the goal

Sometimes everything old is new again in the hotel business.

Hotels, which were the social gathering places in decades past with big dances and glitzy, Hollywood-style receptions, are attempting to resurrect those good times by bringing in music acts — some known, others on the cusp of stardom — to draw big crowds.

But it’s not about discovering the next Coldplay or becoming a legendary venue like Studio 54: The hotels want to put heads in beds.

“It’s a way to introduce the brand to people,” said Janis Cannon, vice president for global brand management for Hotel Indigo. The hotel, which is across the street from the Fox Theatre, hosted a concert for up-and-coming rocker Rocco DeLuca earlier this month.

“It also builds brand loyalty and repeat business,” she said.

The W Hotel Midtown, the Four Seasons Atlanta, Hotel Palomar and other lodgers have gotten into the game as metro Atlantans begin to look for entertainment options this summer. The concerts are usually free or have a nominal fee.

The moves come as overall hotel occupancy for metro Atlanta hovers around 50 percent, one of the worst showings for the industry in decades. At the same time, the city has added thousands of rooms, saturating the market.

“Obviously, this is a tough time for hotels,” said Mark Woodworth, head of PKF Consulting Inc., an Atlanta firm that tracks the health of the hotel industry. “This [music venue strategy] is a marketing activity that is very logical given where we are in the current economic cycle.”

Hosting social gatherings has always been a revenue generator for hotels. Weddings, graduation parties and bar mitzvahs are staples of the industry, he said.

But as the country added clubs for dancing and arenas for concerts, hotels lost that part of the business. It’s coming back because hotels see hosting music events as a way to gain visibility by using small artists who have a loyal following.

While hotels can make money on tickets, drinks and parking, the real goal is to get music fans to consider spending the night or to suggest a room to others.

The W Midtown, for instance, sold room packages that included a “meet and greet” with Gavin DeGraw when the artist played a concert at the hotel earlier in May as part of W’s Wunderlust series. The hotel also used the event to entertain clients and VIP guests, general manager Eddie Timmons said.

The venture also is a way to connect with the community, said Marsha Middleton, a spokeswoman for the Four Seasons, which will offer a jazz series this summer. The idea is to market the music to locals who are staying closer to home and searching for things to do.

“People are looking for things to do in their backyard,” she said. “Now that they are staying home, they want to walk instead of drive.”

Cannon said the concerts are especially helpful for brands like Indigo still trying to establish themselves. Indigo is the boutique arm of InterContinental Hotels Group, the London-based owner of the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Staybridge Suites brands. The company’s Americas base is in Atlanta.

“Hotel Indigo is still in its infancy,” she said, explaining that the brand has about 25 hotels. “The purpose really is to extend the brand experience beyond the four walls.”