How Smart Conversions Turn Outlets Into Revenue Engines
At Lotus, our work is rooted in real hotel experience. This month, we’re hearing from Kenny Chouinard, our Director of Marketing, who has sat in the rooms where these decisions get made on property, above property, and through major brand transitions. His perspective on conversions is shaped by what he’s seen drive performance, and what he’s seen leave money on the table.
Written by Kenny Chouinard, Director of Marketing
Most hotel conversions miss their biggest commercial opportunity.
Conversions often start with rooms. New finishes. New furniture. New brand standards.
But what I continue to see is this: the biggest commercial opportunity rarely sits behind the guestroom door.
It sits in the spaces around it.
THE COMMERCIAL CASE
In a conversion, rooms are the foundation. Outlets are the multiplier.
F&B, lobby, and public spaces shape how a hotel earns beyond the stay. But they’re often treated as design decisions, not commercial ones.
That’s where the opportunity gets left behind.
STRATEGIC SPOTLIGHT
Most conversions miss the same opportunity. They redesign outlets without redefining how they perform.
The shift requires a different lens:
- From amenity to asset: Outlets should generate demand, not just serve in-house guests.
- From static to flexible: Spaces that evolve throughout the day drive higher utilization and spend.
- From hotel-centric to market-aware: Concepts must attract locals, not just travelers.
- From design-led to revenue-led: Naming, branding, and digital presence matter as much as interiors.
When these decisions happen in isolation, performance stalls. When they align, outlets become demand drivers.
LOTUS IN ACTION
Here’s how I saw this in real life. A full-service hotel in a major Midwest market had two outlets at a crossroads. A bar that needed to become more. A rooftop that needed to become different.
The property had made some significant operational changes and was ready to reposition both outlets commercially, not just rebrand them aesthetically. That’s where our team came in.
We started with audience clarity. The ground-floor bar was transitioning to a three-meal concept, which meant it wasn’t just serving hotel guests anymore. It needed to earn a seat at the table for the local theater-goer, the post-game crowd, the neighborhood regular. We mapped both the in-house and local audience personas, then built the strategy around the demand that already existed in the market, connecting the outlet to the city’s event calendar, local partnerships, and a targeted locals offer to give the community a reason to walk through the door.
For the rooftop, the pivot was sharper. Weekend brunch and passive hotel use became a dedicated private events and wedding venue. That required building the commercial infrastructure from scratch: a dedicated weddings page, third-party event listings, venue directory placements, and a paid search campaign built specifically to generate private event leads.
We also leaned into what the property already had. Rather than starting over, we merchandised their most recognized dishes, built bounce-back offers for event attendees, and developed programming, including live music, a movie dinner series, and holiday menus, that gave guests a reason to return and locals a reason to show up.
Throughout the transition, we kept property leadership, sales, and revenue management aligned around the same goals. Marketing didn’t operate in a silo. Every tactic connected back to how the outlet was expected to perform.
The result wasn’t just two refreshed outlets. It was two new demand channels.
And the challenge of outlet alignment is not uncommon. I’ve experienced this firsthand. When I was Director of Sales at a Tribute Property in Southern California, I was part of the transition team during the Marriott-Starwood acquisition. We weren’t just converting to a new brand, we had to find a way to stand out within our own portfolio of sister hotels. How we reimagined our outlets was one of the ways we won. We positioned them as their own entities: a restaurant that happens to be at a hotel, not a hotel restaurant. That distinction changed everything, from how we priced the space to how we talked about it to local partners.
STEAL THIS STRATEGY
Before finalizing outlet design, step back and ask:
- Who is this space built for, beyond hotel guests?
- What role does it play in total hotel revenue?
- Does it need its own brand, not just a name?
- How will it show up online before opening?
- Which team owns performance, not just execution?
If these answers are unclear, the strategy is not finished.
THE LUMINARY LENS
Conversion success is not defined by how a hotel looks. It is defined by how it performs.
I’ve seen that alignment in action, and I’ve seen what happens without it. When design, marketing, and commercial strategy are moving in the same direction, every decision has a purpose. When they’re not, even the most beautiful renovation struggles to deliver the returns it should.
As I remind every hotel partner I work with: the question is never just “what should this space look like?” It’s “what should this space do for the business?” Answer that first, and the rest follows. We apply that same lens with all our clients at Lotus Marketing.
CLOSING THOUGHT
A conversion should not just refresh the product. It should expand how the hotel earns.
If your property is navigating a conversion and you want a partner who understands what’s at stake commercially, we’d love to connect.
That shift is where the real opportunity lives.
Here to help you shine.
Looking for more insights like this?
Introducing Illuminate
Our newsletter spotlighting the brightest ideas in hotel marketing.
