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Situation
Privacy, Courtesy, Prompt and Efficient Service, world class facilities and State-of-the-art housekeeping. This is what the company logo below of Victoria Court stands for.
In 1988, the owner's vision of the company is to be a perfect host – best food, best service, best of everything. After Karl Velhagen, a friend of the owner who was invited to join the company, attended a course at CRC, theu came up with the mission statement and the strategy of the company. They have decided to reposition their company to be a high-end hotel. They wanted to differentiate their properties/hotels with the cheap motels in Manila.
In order to achieve this goal, they invested heavily in advertising (2.5% of gross sales), employee teambuilding and training and in upgrading their facilities to international standards. They created thematic rooms which cannot be found in other motels. The group also made sure that they avoid and discard all the items that can be associated with typical motels. The changed their menu to a more expensive one which caters to the taste of A and B market.
In essence, Victoria Group wanted to veer away from the negative image of a motel. They wanted to promote their hotel to be family-friendly.
Anito Motel which is a close competitor of Victoria Group followed this strategy. But other motels did not. The rest of the motels retained their garage-room/ non garage room cut throat price war.
Primary Target Market : A and B, Families who wants to relax and spend time together.
Value Proposition: Privacy, Courtesy, Prompt and Efficient Service, world class facilities and State-of-the-art housekeeping
Problem
Did the company made the right choice to try to re-brand or reposition Victoria court as high-end, family friendly drive-in hotel?
Alternatives
1. One alternative of Victoria court is to continue to operate and position itself as high end drive-in hotel in the country. If you take a look at the price comparison table in the case, you will see that Victoria Court's price is comfortably sitting between that of Hotels and Cheap Motels. The writer therefore thinks that the target market of Victoria Court is not the A and B Market but rather the B to C market. "A" market can very well afford to go to 4-5 star hotels. Given a choice, the writer believes that a person who wants to relax and has the money to pay will go to a hotel to avoid the stigma attached to Victoria Court or any motel for that matter.
2. Another option is for Victoria Group to totally rebrand their properties. They can partner with international hotels, get quality and service certification and operate as a 3-4 star hotel. Their value proposition could be that they are a FUN, RELAXED and TWISTED hotel. That way they can still retain their thematic rooms which will become their edge against the other hotels in the same way that they are using these unique rooms to bring down other motels now.
3. Alternately, instead of going for the higher market, the company can choose to go back to their roots and compete on the ground with other cheap motels. Although this is presented as an alternative, on the operational level, the writer is aware that the small margin because of price war and the congested market of cheap motels will ultimately decrease the revenue of the company.
Decision
In writer's opinion, Victoria Group should partner with an International Hotel Group (if possible) and re-position itself as a unique, quirky and fun hotel. No 3-star or 4-star hotel in Manila has this concept as of date. When you go to hotels, you usually expect stiff decors and very formal environment. The writer therefore suggests that the new PTM and MVP be presented.
Primary Target Market : B and C market, Families and friends who wants to spend time together in a relaxed and fun way.
Value Proposition: Efficient Service, World class facilities, State-of-the-art housekeeping in a relaxed, fun and quirky environment.
Action
1. Victoria Group should conceptualize what the experience they would want to offer to the customers. That is Fun, Relaxed and Unique. Their service should remain to be that of a 3 or 4 star hotel.
2. They should look for an international hotel group that is willing to support and cradle this idea. The purpose of an international hotel group is to pull-in international travelers and to emphasize that the quality of service in the New Victoria court is impeccable.
3. With or Without the International affiliation, the company should get a new hotel name to make sure that they will not carry the "deadwood"-the motel stigma. They should also refurbish their facilities to turn it into a real Hotel.
4. Together with the new face and the new name, they should also hire and re-train their people and strive to get the at least a 3-star classification.
5. Once they are already a 3 or 4-star hotel, they can start to market themselves as a FUN hotel - as mentioned in the decision portion of this paper. This should attract the attention of married couples with kids, barkadas who want to hang-out and celebrate a special occasions, and even travelers who wants to break free from the stiff hotel environment.
6. Customers choose their adventure by choosing among the thematic rooms.
Choose your adventure 
Hi Sir,
Attached is my analysis for the Victoria Court case. I apologize I submitted this late.
Thank you,
Julie
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