Why Go to the Coast When the Heartland Has It All

[Dan]

America is paying a lot more attention to its heartland, with flyover country now on the radar and smaller cities, once overlooked as cultural hubs or entrepreneurial havens, getting some well-deserved love. That’s not a new trend among hotel operators, though, who have been ahead of the curve when it comes to helping to brand new destinations in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Kansas City or Colorado Springs.

Consider Milwaukee, a working-class city on the shores of Lake Michigan. Provenance Hotels, with its Portland ethos and commitment to boutique hotel experiences, is converting the 105-year-old Milwaukee Masonic Center into a $4 million building with an 80,000-square-foot hotel and restaurant. Most recently, the Manderley Bed and Breakfast in Milwaukee received HotelsCombined’s Recognition of Excellence Award for the best hotel in a metropolitan area for the state of Wisconsin.

The city’s unpretentious feel – like that of Cleveland or St. Louis, Missouri – welcomes new young professionals and longtime Brew City residents alike to its parks, galleries and ball games.

In Cleveland, they call it “sophisticated grit.” The reimagined Rust Belt city is home to world-class hospitals, symphonies, sports teams and museums, but it’s never anyone’s top of mind for a vacation.

All Cleveland-joke punchlines aside, the city has had a forward-thinking and environmentally friendly parks and greenway system for the past 100 years, farmer’s markets before they were cool from the West Side to the East, and neighborhoods with a diversity that created the city and not the other way around. What Cleveland and Milwaukee are doing is changing the perception of identity, and it’s working especially well among millennials who seek authenticity and connection in their experiences.

That’s why so many hotels are popping up as both traditional, global-brand chains and up-and-coming hospitality players invest in these smaller flyover locales. “We see the world differently,” explains Provenance, which, for example, showcases featured artists and their works at each of the company’s hotel properties, and celebrates its restaurants. “Where some see obstacles, we see opportunities.”

What that means for both leisure and business travelers is that doors are opening across the country into new worlds that have been here for hundreds of years. Attending an annual industry convention in Baltimore or the trade show in Tulsa isn’t an onerous burden without fun Facebook posts anymore. If you’re traveling to meet clients, there are attractive spaces with big-city amenities in Omaha, which is home to a number of Fortune 500 countries.  When you’re trying to close the deal in Kansas City, you can do it in the upscale River Market District. And now, even the man who’s prompted much of the latest conversation on flyover states is planning hotels in smaller cities with an “American Idea” theme.

The Trump Hotels organization plans three-star hotels in small and mid-sized cities, beginning in the Delta. They’ll feature vintage Americana décor – old Coke machines, for example – and are meant to attract business travelers and blues-music tourists. The latter includes people headed to the Grammy museum in Cleveland, Mississippi, or the blues club in Clarksdale owned by actor Morgan Freeman.

Who benefits the most? Hotel owners make the money in markets with far lower barriers to entry than they see in Chicago or Washington DC, and they raise their profile by engaging in a city’s renaissance, but it’s the American tourist who is most likely to fall in love with the new class of small-city hotels.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the only one who’s interested in seeing more of America. Thanks in part to his social media products, the history, cultural attractions and special events that have always been special to regional communities aren’t invisible anymore. People who might not otherwise have gone to Albuquerque for a long weekend to see the balloon festival – or headed up to Traverse City in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, hoping to catch a glimpse of the northern lights – are far more likely to do so when they know their options for hotels and hospitality experiences will match their expectations.

Since it’s the connection and community they seek, and not always the status associated with tropical cruises or dream vacations in Europe, tourists will expect quality service, amenities and experience in Cincinnati. It’s great news for everyone that hotels are investing to make sure they’re going to get it.