4 lessons from two hotels on a mission to perfect the guest experience

With rising competition and an increasingly demanding well-travelled customer, you need having a clearly defined brand identity, writes Pamela Whitby

For guests of the Dorchester Collection, which since 2006 has managed a portfolio of the world’s foremost luxury hotels in the US and Europe, guests often value time more than money. Meanwhile at citizenM, a growing collection of just six hotels in Europe and one in the US, guests want luxury but they want it for less. While the target audience may be very different, both use the word ‘luxury’ to define their brand identity and both face similar challenges in a fast changing world (Read more about this here: How Airbnb slunk in on LA and what that could mean for luxury travel)

Here are some of the lessons from their recent exploits.

#1. Meaningful analysis could make life more fun 

In the age of information overload, identifying exactly what guests want to hear requires both excellent listening skills and the application of science. That’s because new information is coming at hotels every second from a range of different places.

In this world, says Ana Brant, Director, Global Guest Experience & Innovation at the Dorchester Collection, the single biggest challenge is the constant pursuit of meaningful analysis.

“We have to consciously select between information which will give us instant gratification versus information which is worthy to explore further,” she says.

So once the data is collected hotel organisations need to transform that into information then information into facts, facts into knowledge and knowledge into insight – that’s the science bit.

“Once we have the insight, which we define as a deep and intuitive understanding of our guest’s desires, that’s when the fun starts,” says Brant. However, she is quick to stress that only when hotels prove to guests that they listened to them carefully, will the message get through.

Listening to guests can happen in many different channels. A few examples are:

  • Mystery shops
  • Guest engagement surveys
  • Online reputation feedback
  • Social media interaction
  • Focus groups
  • Guest observations

Data and how to manage is the single biggest issue facing hotel brands today. For that reason, trendy luxury-for-less hotel group citizenM is spending a lot of time and effort on this to ensure that it is able to react to the market quickly and appropriately.

Chief Operations Officer Michael Levie has this to say: “As the pendulum shifts from channel management / demand, everybody starts to understand that data is of utmost importance and it’s not just data, it’s real-time aggregated data.”  

#2. It’s not always wise to ignore the obvious

The Dorchester Collection is increasingly finding that guests’ requirements depend very much on the purpose of the visit. The needs of a business traveller will be very different if they are travelling for a special occasion. A female business traveller has very different needs to a male counterpart. And as we reported last week, often luxury guests value time more than money, but how do you measure time as a value?

How you measure the value of time, is not something that is currently addressed by agencies which rate or evaluate levels of service in luxury hospitality

This may sound like common sense but the challenge, says Brant, is that “this is not something that is currently addressed by many of those agencies which rate or evaluate levels of service in luxury hospitality”.

Can anybody help?

#3. Be disruptive in the industry but not to your guest

Keeping up with new technology, and then applying that to emerging opportunities, requires real focus and effort.

“It takes constant willingness to change business processes and constant awareness that change is happening all the time,” says Levie.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t introduce new technology, but you should do it wisely. What smart hotel chains increasingly recognise is that the introduction of any new technology must be introduced with minimum annoyance to the guest – and for that matter to employees.

It takes constant willingness to change business processes and constant awareness that change is happening all the time

“If we can’t make it seamless and effortless, we will not introduce it at all - no matter how attractive it may be,” says Brant.

At citizenM Hotels, right now the focus is on building a robust and adaptable mobile technology strategy in what is still a relatively gimmicky space. The idea is that guests will use their mobile device to make a reservation, check in, for room entry and controls and more.

What Levie, is quick to stress, however, is that any new service will only be launched simultaneously across all hotels.

“You need to be consistent in order to be able to make claim with it [the introduction of any new technology] as being part of your brand,” he says.

#4. Bridge generations, awaken memories

We may live in a modern, mobile world, but many hotels are steeped in history. Not to bridge generations, by reminding potential guests of iconic moments or famous people that have stayed at one of their hotels, would be a missed opportunity, says Brant.

For example, wouldn’t you want to stay in The Dorchester rooftop Harlequin’s suite if you knew that Elizabeth Taylor, while staying there, learned of her record-breaking deal for Cleopatra? Or what about experiencing Le Meurice’s Belle Etoile suite with a 360-degree view of Paris to imagine yourself in a scene from Woody Allen’s recent romantic comedy Midnight in Paris?

One of the ways the Dorchester Collection uses social media is to animate and bring to life the brand and individual properties. According to Brant, it’s an opportunity to provide insights into the hotels, offering people luxury ‘touch points’ and a glimpse of the destinations – and to thank guests for their good will. 

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