Page 26 - RLI March 2019

TRAVEL WITH “We have also arrived in neW destinations

such as rome, Paris, rotterdam and san
PASSION brand, be mate, oPened its first full
sebastián, Whilst our aPartment

management building in madrid”

Room Mate Hotels create welcoming and different spaces The pipeline for the company in the next 18 months is
impressive as they will be doubling its size, with the number
that surprise all who visit with their design, but most of of rooms they operate increasing from 1,800 to over 3,600 ROOM MATE GORKA
San Sebastian, Spain
all, for the treatment received, customers are treated as a with 11 new openings, three of these will be in Rome, two
will be in Madrid, while Milan, Naples, Sicily, Paris, Canary
“buddy”, a “friend”, a “roommate”. Here, RLI speaks with Islands and Malaga will receive one each.
“We are always willing to explore new markets and
Kike Sarasola, President and Founder of Room Mate Hotels opportunities. London has always been one of our
top priority destinations and we are very interested in
to discuss the company’s burgeoning expansion plans. Germany and Northern Europe too. We also feel there is a
lot of room to grow in the US, with main destinations like
Chicago, San Francisco or Los Angeles as well as secondary
cities like New Orleans or Nashville,” explains Sarasola.
For Room Mate Hotels, the destination is always
important when choosing new properties, but the building
and the neighbourhood is equally pivotal. New hotels
need to be well located in the city centre and preferably
have something special and unique to it to make it stand ROOM MATE GIULIA
Milan, Italy
out. Good examples of this are the company’s Rotterdam
hotel, which is located in an old spice warehouse in
the city port, or Room Mate Aitana in Amsterdam, an
incredible glass structure built on an island very close to
the city’s central station.
So why do guests remain loyal, and what differentiates
the brand from its peers in the market?
“Travellers know they will not be disappointed. They
know they will always get incredible value for money, a
smile from all our staff, a location right in the city centre,
free WiFi in the entire city and breakfast until noon,” says
Sarasola. “One of our most important differential factors
is that every Room Mate Hotel is different and unique,
with its own name and personality, and has been created
by some of the most important interior designers in the ROOM MATE GORKA
San Sebastian, Spain
world, like Patricia Urquiola or Lázaro Rosa – Violán, so we
never lose that wow factor.”
Sarasola and the team believe that the revolutionary
business model is what has led to the brand’s success to
date, the company’s philosophy is based on making people
happy and it has proved that happiness can lead to success.
Innovation also plays a very important role in how they
operate. They are always on beta and willing to evolve.
The launch of its apartment brand Be Mate emphasises
this. As hospitality’s main players fought against something
as natural and intelligent as Airbnb, Room Mate Hotels
decided to put together both of these worlds and created
Staying at a Room Mate Hotel property means you will get an experience unlike any Be Mate, which provides the freedom of an apartment with
other on the planet. The company’s designer hotels are the perfect combination of the services of a hotel.
original design, fashion, luxury and architecture. The ethos of Room Mate Hotels is that the best ROOM MATE GERARD
S These are one-of-a-kind boutique hotels, and each one will make guests feel as though way of travelling is visiting friends, friends with unique Barcelona, Spain
they’ve been transported to another world and are designed to give the client everything they need. personalities that take you by the hand in each city
Originally starting out with one hotel in Madrid, the Room Mate Mario in the centre of Madrid and with whom people share a way of life. The brand
next to the “Teatro Real”, the company has grown to today operate 25 hotels in 15 different is unconventional, constantly questioning things and
cities, with locations in Madrid, Barcelona, Miami Beach, Malaga, Florence, Rome, Milan, New York,
challenging themselves every day to make its guests
Paris, Istanbul, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Granada and San Sebastián.
happy, just like a true friend would do.
ROOM MATE AITANA Amsterdam, The Netherlands of €83M, which was a 3.75 per cent increase, and we have achieved a 91.1 per cent rating innovation. Nowadays especially, innovation should include
“2018 was a key year for us in terms of development and client satisfaction. We had a turnover
“Our greatest challenge is and will always be continuous
on Review Pro,” explains Kike Sarasola, Room Mate Hotels President and Founder. “We have
sustainability. It’s essential for an industry so large to be
also arrived in new destinations such as Rome, Paris, Rotterdam and San Sebastián, whilst our
environmentally respectful. This is why we have created
apartment brand, Be Mate, opened its first full management building in Madrid.”
Room Mate Ecolution, a very ambitious eco-sustainability
program that will help us become the most sustainable
hotel chain,” Sarasola concludes.
26 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2019 ROOM MATE GORKA
San sebastian. Spain