By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com)
While having strong revenue management will always be
paramount for any hotel, growing ADR and making your nightly rates less elastic
to market conditions is largely dependent on brand differentiators and the
operations you establish to make the guest experience memorable. The pandemic
hasn’t stopped this pursuit, merely pivoted it as we all look to swim in the
stream of new customer habits.
The bulk of these new traveler behaviors pertain to the
delivery of a safe onsite stay through sanitization and social distancing. Our
messaging to prospective guests is mostly designed to assure them of this
quality via upgraded cleaning and disinfection standards, as well as the
implementation of contactless technologies to remove (or reduce) physical
touchpoints, all without compromising our service delivery.
But look deeper. If every property is discussing COVID-19
safety updates, then how can you ever stand apart by doing the same? Before you
cry foul, know that communicating these assurances is absolutely critical, but
you must do more.
The post-pandemic travel world continues to evolve in many
fascinating ways, presenting a host of trends that you can take advantage of in
order to give your brand an emotionally charged edge. For instance, with the
surge in dog adoptions stemming from the widespread social isolation over the
past year, do you think that more guests will be searching for pet friendly
hotels?
Many of us have now grown accustomed to the home life.
Remote work policies mean fewer commutes into the office, while simultaneously,
our options for journeying about the world are still limited due to the swath
of restaurant, bar, gym, salon and retail store closures. New habits are
solidifying. We work from home; we cook for ourselves more often; our living
rooms double as fitness centers.
All this social isolation has caused us to become more
introspective. We will expect hotels to appease this behavior with new in-room
amenities so that we can still have a great guest experience but without
strictly relying upon access to onsite (and potentially high contact)
facilities to achieve this. A clear path to this goal is through wellness
features added to each guestroom.
Indeed, most of the major brands are already seizing upon
this trend, like Accor’s All Stay Well or Hyatt Together which are both
on-demand content services offering a range of exercise, meditation, mobility,
sleep or yoga routines, often through partnerships with leading players in the
wellness space. What I emphasize here is that if the big chains are bolstering
their brand standards in this regard, then you cannot allow your property to
get left behind.
The beauty therein is that wellness is such a catchall term
these days that you can get as creative as your budget permits to build a
unique interpretation. While you may not have the resources to put together a
full-fledged app, this shouldn’t stop you from exploring your options.
Get your team together; make it a fun brainstorming
exercise. Here are some ideas:
- Onsite
fitness, meditation or yoga calls, kept within the new guidelines for
viral safety via clearly marked attendee floor circles, strict online
booking for contact tracing and the option of a video alternative for
those who want to remain in their rooms
- Basic
exercise equipment like yoga mats, bands, roam rollers or light weights,
available in the room or at request, and always disinfected prior to
delivery
- Healthy
foods with nutritional tidbits, available as a surprise-and-delight
welcome amenity, as part of a rejuvenated room service program or in the
minibar, again abiding by sanitization rules
- In-room
aromatherapy, which can encompass flowers, allergen-free materials,
essential oil diffusers or branded scents
- Anything
else that can bring the calming experience of an onsite spa into the guestroom
such as beauty product or grooming samples
- Personal
wellness consultations, conducted either in-person with physical
distancing, or via your preferred platform for videoconferencing
- Mindfulness
enhancers such as stimulating in-room artwork, hydrotherapy, daily haikus
or thoughtful materials accessible via a phone, tablet or TV
Undoubtedly your team can come up with a myriad of
incredible recommendations that are tailored to your specific region if you
give them a day or two. Importantly with all of these ideas listed above,
there’s the possibility for an upsell by making these prearrival purchases,
add-on services at any extra cost, bundling them into a rooms package or
incorporating them into a higher product tier.
Take heed, though, as right now these wellness amenities can
be marketed or sold as a value-add for your brand. Similar to what we’ve seen
with the rapid adoption of upgraded cleanliness and safety SOPs this past
spring, these aspirational trends can have a way of quickly becoming the expectation.
The more that chains embrace in-room wellness, the more likely these amenities
are to be perceived as standard rather than noteworthy across our entire
industry.
Ultimately, moving into the wellness space should start with
a pledge to continually guide your guests on the path of introspective
self-improvement. To be started, it need not be something so elaborate and
comprehensive. Simple is often better.
As my dear friend, Janis Clapoff, now the General Manager at
Belmond El Encanto located in the hills just north of Santa Barbara, remarks,
“In this new age we’re living in, good morning cards via room service or a
positive affirmation with a flower and calming quote during turndown can go a
long way. After the madness of the pandemic, we should all slow down and
literally smell the roses.”
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| Larry Mogelonsky |
One of the world’s most published writers in hospitality, Larry Mogelonsky is the principal of Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited, a Toronto-based consulting practice. His experience encompasses hotel properties around the world, both branded and independent, and ranging from luxury and boutique to select-service. Larry is also on several boards for companies focused on hotel technology. His work includes five books “Are You an Ostrich or a Llama?” (2012), “Llamas Rule” (2013), “Hotel Llama” (2015), “The Llama is Inn” (2017) and “The Hotel Mogel” (2018). You can reach Larry at larry@hotelmogel.com to discuss hotel business challenges or to book speaking engagements.
Larry Mogelonsky
Email: larry@hotelmogel.com
Website: http://hotelmogel.com/
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