| Going back to basics
I’m responding to your recent article on ‘When the big go boutique’ 19.03.09.
The current market conditions have certainly, for some hotels, been a wakeup call. Up till now some of the large hotel groups have been riding on the wave of consumerism and have also been relying on their high volume of large corporate group bookings in order to grow their profit margins. This has made some of their offerings somewhat sloppy and has led to a certain amount of complacency with regards to individual service levels. With a big drop in large corporate groups these hotels are now are being forced to re-think what they might be doing wrong or might not be offering.
After all, it’s only now that many 5* hotels are beginning to upgrade dated rooms and install the latest technology and gadgets that clients are expecting as the norm (if they have them in their homes after all, why shouldn’t they get them in a 5* hotel). Who can expect guests to be impressed with a bulky 1990’s TV in an old fashioned cabinet and a tired looking room? At the end of the day it really isn’t rocket science, it’s back to basics and knowing what’s important to their guests Good, personable services levels are imperative as the article points out, the personal touches are noticed by guests as are giving a few ‘value added extras’ such as upgrades, champagne on arrival or maybe a free spa treatment / experience. The value added extras can sway the client into choosing one hotel over another at the moment as many hotel groups might not wish to go down the route of discounting and potentially devaluing the
brand itself. It’s all very well having the product but it’s also important to continually invest in quality staff who speak the language and provide staff training in order to give the service that both the corporate and leisure guests expect and more importantly deserve if they’ve forked out anything from £150 - £400 for a night’s accommodation.
It’s amazing how wrong the large hotels can get even the basics. Their guests after all, generally have one thing in common; they sleep in the hotel beds. Boutique hotels have this right in terms of offering good quality beds and bed linen and gadgets in all their rooms. Once a guest experiences this in a boutique hotel, they then look for this when considering the larger chains too. This crosses over between leisure and corporate markets when a corporate client chooses to spend their own time off staying in boutique hotels. Their demands back in the office then change accordingly.
Justine Clement, Managing Director, Unmissable
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