A soft brand conversion changes the flag over a door and the systems behind that door. Hotel Dive reported the session "Soft Brands and Independent Hotels" at The Lodging Conference in Phoenix on Wednesday 7 October 2026, where owners and brand executives set out what an affiliation changes.
Four speakers sat on the panel: Kimberly Christner, president and CEO of Cornerstone Hospitality; Guy Cook, vice president of luxury and lifestyle development for the U.S. East region at Hyatt; Kamalesh (KP) Patel, 2026-2027 immediate past chairman of AAHOA; and Ron Pohl, president of international operations at BWH Hotels and president of WorldHotels.
What the owner decides before signing
Christner put the decision in terms of the deliverable. "I think you really have to know what you want and what your expectation is on the deliverable, and how much data you want to have," she said. Her summary of the trade: "Soft branding isn't really so soft sometimes."
Three questions follow from her remarks. What support does the brand give the property? Does the owner keep a say over branding and design, since some brands run tighter standards than others? Does the affiliation move the bottom line?
"Is that really going to drive traffic to [the hotelier] that you couldn't already get?" she said. "I think that's an important measure for an owner to consider."
The conversion Cornerstone ran
Cornerstone converted the Craddock Terry Hotel, an independent luxury property in Lynchburg, Virginia, to a Tribute Portfolio hotel under Marriott. Christner gave the trigger as a market event: a Curio Collection by Hilton property came to the market. "We had some other competition in the market, and we were losing market share as a result," she said.
Cornerstone ran a study of the Lynchburg market before signing. Christner said the conversion let the hotel raise its rate by $50 on an average night, and that the property kept its own character. "We get to still be uniquely ourselves," she said.
The technology a group buyer meets
Patel raised system access as a deciding factor for an independent owner. AAHOA named Mews its official property management system in March 2026, and Patel said the platform lets his hotels remind guests of add-ons such as early check-in, which carry ancillary revenue.
"One of the reasons we did that is because [Mews] gave us the technology platform we need to be able to elevate and be successful," he said. "We're not talking about the same operators of 20 years ago; utilizing technology is important."
What the brand side asks for
Pohl described the brand's side of the arrangement as an expectations exercise. He said BWH works with owners on incremental revenue and profitability for the hotel, and on cutting costs "out of the middle for them". He named participation in the brand's loyalty programme as a lever on results.
Keeping the property's own story
Cook said the right brand should carry distribution while the property keeps its personality. "I think bringing in the right branding firm is critically important," he said. "Telling an authentic story and then ultimately, in our case, picking a brand."
His measure of the arrangement: "On all of our stuff, Hyatt should be in the background for our soft brands. We should help drive direct business. We should reduce OTA commissions, but the story of the hotel has to be and should be front and center."
Cook cited the curated retail programme at Hyatt's Bunkhouse and JdV properties, where shops stocked by local makers can bring in up to $20,000 a month. "If it's done the right way and it's very authentic, and you're working with local artisans and you're changing out your retail over time, it can be a really effective way to drive revenue," he said.
Patel changed food and beverage at his own hotels. He removed breakfast and built a wine programme around local wineries. "We let the wineries tell their story, and then ultimately the wineries are able to sell alcohol and sell wine tours as well," he said.
Six questions for a converted property
A conversion changes the flag, the reservation system and the loyalty programme behind the door. Those three changes reach the group contract. The panel's remarks point to six questions a planner can put to the sales contact in writing.
Ask what the brand supplies and what the owner controls, because Christner said design and branding authority varies by brand. Ask whether breakfast sits in the rate, because Patel removed it at his hotels. Ask whether the property takes part in the brand's loyalty programme, which Pohl named as a lever on results.
Ask what the reservation platform does with pre-arrival messages, because Patel described add-on reminders as a revenue line. Ask which brand standards apply to the meeting space and the food and beverage the group will use. Ask who signs the group contract, the property or the brand.
The published report of the session does not cover group blocks, cancellation terms, commission schedules or the route an RFP takes to a brand's group-sales desk. Those terms sit with the brand and the property, and a planner settles them in writing.