BAIO Hotels and Resorts believes in consistently deliver the most knowledgable information to people with travelling needs or people who involved or wishing to become involved in the hotel or hospitality industry. We share the recent trends and updates as a way of creating insides to help people succeed in the industry and provides guidance for their short and long term business.
You’ve bought your plane ticket, raised all your support, and had your team meetings. So much planning has gone into preparing for your trip up to this point, and it's hard to believe that you'll be leaving soon! All that’s left to do: pack.
You probably have a good idea of what to pack (especially if you follow our Packing 101 guide), but what about those few things that you aren’t sure about? Here is a list of some things not to pack for your mission trip.
1) Birth Certificate and Social Security Card
You may be tempted to pack these “just in case.” Resist the urge! Your passport and license will be all you need to travel internationally. And if something ever happens to your passport, a photocopy of your passport will be the most useful, not your birth certificate or social security card.
Not to mention, if you lose your birth certificate or social security card, getting them replaced is a real hassle.
2) Books
You don’t need 6 books and 3 magazines to keep you busy on your mission trip. Yes, reading material is great for the plane ride and down time, but just choose one. You won’t have as much time (or brain power) to read as you think. Carrying several books just weighs down the carry-on that you have to lug through an airport or two.
3) Your entire beauty routine
This one is mainly for the ladies: You don't need your entire beauty routine. It’s okay to pack some makeup and hair brushes, but you won’t need everything. There won’t be any fancy dinners to dress up for, and you're not taking yearbook pictures.
You'll be spending a lot of time working and playing with kids outside. You'll be sweating and getting dirty. Embrace it, don't spend your mission trip trying to cover it up with makeup!
4) Jewelry
You won’t need to wear much (if any) jewelry on your mission trip. Not only can jewelry get lost or stolen, but it can also make you stand out in the community that you're visiting.
Sometimes we don't realize just how much jewelry we wear. Diamond rings, fancy earrings, big watches, pearl necklaces, etc. It all adds up and can send the wrong message to the community that you're serving. You don't want to "stand out" in the community for the wrong reasons, or make anyone feel uncomfortable. For this reason, avoid wearing a lot of jewelry.
5) Gadgets
You don’t need every gadget you use on a daily basis. Phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches... the list goes on. Leave what you can at home. The goal is to get away from your normal life to dive into serving Christ by connecting with others. This is hard to do if you are on your iPod or computer the whole time.
Plus, if your gadgets require a data plan or wifi, they won’t be too useful anyway (international data plans are expensive, and wifi is not as widespread in developing nations).
6) Fancy clothes
Don't pack fancy clothes, high heels, or any clothing you don’t want to get dirty. It's hard to do construction in high heels or your new skin-tight designer jeans. Whether you're playing with kids in an orphanage or doing construction, you'll want your clothing to be conservative and comfortable.
Note: One exception to this rule would be if you're attending a church service in the community that you're visiting. Ask your trip leader if you need to bring any special, “fancier” clothing for a local church service during your trip.
7) Too many clothes (t-shirts & hoodies)
If you're going on a week long mission trip, you don't need to pack 20 t-shirts. Decide while you're packing what you'll wear on each day, and avoid the, “I'll just pack all of them and decide when I get there,” mindset.
Avoid overpacking on hoodies, too. Hoodies are bulky and take up a bunch of space in your suitcase. If you're traveling to a colder climate, pack only the cold weather clothing that you need. Avoid the temptation to pack 4 hoodies and 3 jackets, “just in case.” You'll never wear them all.
The key
The key to avoid overpacking is not to let the “what if” situations get the best of you. What if I need my birth certificate? What if I get bored on the plane? What if it gets really cold? Pack for the big what-ifs, and don't sweat the small ones. (Easier typed than done, but you can do it.)
Ever want to just pack your bags and go on a journey you'll never forget? Perhaps you can find the best of both worlds by getting a job that requires a lot of travel, thereby feeding your insatiable need for travel but putting bread on the table at the same time. Read on to find out what careers could satisfy your globe-trotting urges.
Consulting
Consultants are problem-solvers, providing companies with expert advice on everything from management to marketing to IT. You won’t be tied to one company as a consultant; rather, you’ll travel from city to city, visiting the businesses who need your help. These visits may be either short- or long-term, depending on just how much support a company needs.
Travel Industry
It may sound obvious, but if you want to travel, look for a job in the travel industry! This can be anything from working as a flight attendant or a pilot, to working on a cruise ship, to becoming a travel writer. Sure, much of the time you’re traveling, you’re also working, but you’re bound to have time to get out and explore the places you visit. And as a travel writer in particular, getting out and exploring is part of your job!
Recruiting
As a recruiter, you’ll be expected to travel to colleges and universities around the country to recruit the best new talent, whether for a company or for an athletic team. During the peak of recruiting season, you’ll probably spend more time on the road than in your own bed, but during the off-season, you’ll find yourself spending more time in the office.
Sales
While some sales jobs require you to stay behind a desk or in a retail store, others — like pharmaceutical sales — require you to cover a territory, which involves lots of travel. Depending on the size of the company, that travel could involve simply driving to different cities in your geographic area, or it could involve flying to a different state every week.
Teaching English
English teachers are in high demand in many foreign countries, and in most cases, you don’t even need a teaching credential to score this gig. The travel involved in this job is of a different sort — you won’t be seeing a new place every week, but you will get to fully absorb the culture around you. Most of these positions require a year-long commitment, so you could teach for a year in one country and then move on to the next.
Travel Writer
Travel writers seem to have dream jobs — they travel the world and many will get VIP treatment in hopes of a glowing review.
A couple of caveats: Getting a travel writing job is tough and you may need some good clips to start with. Start writing for free or on other topics to see where it'll lead you. While you're establishing yourself, your pay may not be consistent or even enough.
You could also start a travel blog to build up your clips and your rep in the industry.
Au Pair
Take off overseas to become an au pair, which is someone who stays with a host family and exchanges domestic services like childcare for a small salary and free lodging. It's a great way to fulfill your travel fantasies on a small budget.
Diplomat
There are a variety of jobs you can do as a diplomat, some of them being healthcare specialists and administrative assistants. Many diplomats are foreign service officers and have to take a foreign service exam. After you've passed all the requirements, you'll then be evaluated to see if you qualify.
Archaeologist
Depending on what type of archaeologist you are, you may be able to enjoy a lot of fieldwork, digging up ancient ruins. You need to go to graduate school to attain a career in this field. This job is perfect for the person with a love of history, culture, and the outdoors.
Reporter
As a reporter, you can choose to go overseas, perhaps working for the foreign branch of a media company based in your country. It's definitely helpful to know another language, though not always required.
Auditor
Auditors can get sent to different locations, giving them opportunities to travel. As an auditor, you will be checking records and statements for accuracy.
Photographer
Your love of photography might take you to places you dream about traveling to. Whether it be a photoshoot for an ad or a destination wedding, the possibilities are endless. Although it sounds like a great gig, it can be very tough to "make it" as a photographer, so you might want to find an alternative income while chasing your photography dreams.
Volunteer
Volunteering can take you far and wide, and even net you paying positions, though the salary will not be high. The Peace Corps and other international volunteer organizations might be a great options if you want a chance to travel and also make your mark in this world by doing some good.
by: Travel+Leisure Staff
Get a better hotel room and rate on your next vacation by following these tips from T+L’s news team.
In the hotel business, loyalty still has its rewards: free Wi-Fi, loaner BMW bikes, and spa discounts are among the perks you receive for joining Fairmont's free Presidents Club program.
That's just one of the tips and tricks we've compiled that will improve your next hotel stay—and before you even arrive. Some are easy adjustments to your travel habits like bringing your own bottled water or checking in later in the day when managers have a better sense of their inventory and will be more open to a spontaneous upgrade.
Other hotel strategies involve taking advantage of tools that do the research for you. Hipmunk's new last-minute deal aggregator compiles rock-bottom prices for unsold rooms up to 72 hours ahead of arrival. And online service Tingo will automatically rebook you at a lower price if your room rate drops.
Now that's the peace of mind that sets you well on your way to a good hotel night's sleep.
Don’t be a Stranger
Staying in touch pays off: Fairmont Hotels & Resorts posts giveaway contests on its Facebook page (a recent prize: a private party at London’s Abbey Road Studios). Starwood offers bonus points for checking in via Foursquare or Facebook.
Introduce Yourself
On Facebook and Twitter, mentioning a hotel may lead to a more customized experience. For example, a traveler who recently included Hilton in a tweet about his grueling cross-country drive was welcomed with a room upgrade.
Get Personal
If you need a timely response on a customer service issue, sharing the story or even posting a photo can get you a quick answer. Be sure to use direct channels (an @reply tweet on a hotel’s Twitter handle, or a direct message on Facebook).
Ask for Advice
Hilton’s @HiltonSuggests Twitter handle doubles as a concierge: send requests for local tips, and you’ll get a personalized reply from a team of worldwide contributors. Four Seasons’ Pinterest board lets guests create a custom itinerary with local experts before they arrive.
Consult the Algorithm
New website TheSuitest has a Hotel Time Machine that predicts the average room rate in a destination six months out, making it easy to see when rooms will be at their most affordable.
Track the Hotel Rate
Book with online service Tingo, which will automatically rebook you at the lower price if your room rate drops.
Bundle Your Room with Your Airfare
Hotels drop rates when they can disguise them in travel packages offered by websites such as Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz.
Pick a Card
If you want to stockpile airline miles and hotel points, finding the right travel-rewards credit card is key. Compare your options on the websites Nerdwallet and Cardhub. Both offer comprehensive card comparisons and sound advice on maximizing benefits.
Take a Calculated Hotel Gamble
Turns out HotelTonight, the pioneer of same-day mobile bookings, partners with select hotels in each destination so it can guarantee availability. Check the app leading up to your trip to get a sense of what will be on offer in your destination. Then be quick on the draw the day of: deals go up at noon each day.
Look For Unsold Rooms
Don’t want to cut it too close? Hipmunk’s new last-minute deal aggregator compiles rock-bottom prices for unsold rooms up to 72 hours ahead of arrival.
Avoid Hotel Wi-Fi Fees
International: Mi-Fi hot spots, such as Verizon’s Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi (from $49.99 with a two-year contract), provide a set amount of data for a fixed monthly price. Don’t want an annual contract? Boingo Wireless offers access to more than 700,000 hot spots worldwide for as little as $7.95 a month.
Domestic: Android users can tether their phones’ 3G to their laptop with the free app FoxFi; for everyone else, Tether ($29.95 per year) will connect a laptop to a mobile device via Bluetooth or USB.
Kimpton Intouch: Free Wi-Fi, newspaper delivery, mini-bar and hotel bar vouchers, spa credits
Small Luxury Hotels of the World: Automatic upgrade, breakfast for two after one stay
Tip Like a Pro
Change your bills into smaller denominations right as you check in to your hotel. That way you won’t be left empty-handed when the bellman arrives with your bags.
Get a Room Upgrade
Be Nice: Front desk agents are usually empowered to change a guest’s room at their discretion. A little smile can go a long way.
Stay at a New Hotel: Recently opened properties may not be as full, and have an added incentive to court return guests.
Be a Regular: Hotels prioritize guests who are frequent visitors. If you are often in the city, be sure to let them know.
Check in Later in the Day: Hotel managers have a better sense of their open inventory as the day goes on, and will be more amenable to a spontaneous upgrade.
Say “Thank You”: If you had a great stay, let the hotel know in writing or via social media. The compliment may be repaid on your next visit.
Bring Your Own Water
T+L calculated the average cost of bottled water at luxury hotels in five cities.
Las Vegas: $4
Chicago: $5.06
Miami: $6
New York City: $7.25
Los Angeles: $7.81
Stay in Someone Else’s House
For Urbanites:Airbnb has 500,000 listings in some 33,000 cities, from Parisian pieds-à-terre to New York City brownstones.
For Holiday Rentals:HomeAway and VRBO both have great selections in popular second-home destinations, including ski resorts and beach retreats.
For Sophisticates:Onefinestay lists only high-quality apartments in L.A., London, New York, and Paris—all stocked with extra amenities, including loaner iPhones.
For Hands-On Service: House-rental clubs, such as Portico and Inspirato, have hefty membership fees, but offer concierge services and travel-planning help for people needing extra care.
Social media continues to play an even larger role in not only gaining customers, but in retaining and building relationships with current customers. Best selling author Erik Qualman reported in his video #Socialnomics 2014, that 93% of shoppers’ buying decisions are influenced by social media and that 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, while only 14% trust advertisements.
But what about your current customers?
Many companies focus the majority of their attention on gaining new customers, often neglecting to include their current customers in their social media strategy. However, if we follow the 80/20 rule (as many marketers do), we know that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers. As such, it is very important to include your current customers in your social media strategy.
Now not to give customers a bad rep, but you often will never hear from them on social media until they are upset. But, don’t assume that because they don’t tweet often that they don’t expect a quick and appropriate response via social media. While we always want to try to take difficult conversations offline, it is important to publicly acknowledge your customer’s comments and make sure they know that you are listening and care. Your strategy on how to respond to a customer will most likely depend on what type of “complainer” you are responding to. The infographic below, based on research from the University of Florida, breaks down the five types of social media complainers that businesses need to be prepared to respond accordingly with via their preferred social platform. The five types of social media complainers are:
- The Meek Customer
- The Aggressive Customer
- The High-Roller Customer
- The Opportunist Customer
- The Chronic Complainer Customer
In addition to laying out the personas of each type of complainer, this infographic also provides good tips on how to appropriately respond to each individual persona. Check out the tips below!
Do you have had an experience when you had to respond to a very upset customer on social media in order to protect your brand? Or, have you had either a very good or very bad experience with a brand responding to you on social media when you were upset about a situation? I would love to hear about it! Comment below with your story or tweet me at @Brianna5mith.
Not receiving complaints about customer service doesn’t always mean that you’re getting customer service right with your customers.
Research shows that very few of your customers will actually voice their complaints to customer service. This means that even when things seem to be going right, they could be going wrong, very wrong. As a customer service focused organization, you’re better off receiving more complaints as this gives you the opportunity to make things right with your customers instead of just letting them suffer in silence.
The Salesforce team recently published an infographic on 5 common myths that organizations struggle with when it comes to their customer service delivery. Avoiding these typical myths is key for those wanting to align their teams in order to improve the overall customer experiences that customers get from your organization.
5 Customer Service Myths You Can’t Fall For
MYTH: Most customers complain when they get bad customer service
The numbers just don’t add up when it comes to this. Most customers suffer in silence, or better yet, switch to the use the competition. This is the ultimate bad news for your organization. You’re better off getting more complaints as it at least gives you the opportunity to fix the problem, rather than hand a customer over to your competitors.
MYTH: More customer complaints means more money that customer service costs
If you believe this you’re not tracking the nature of most customer service requests accurately. For most organizations nearly all of customer service requests, on average over 80% are for very basic service questions or account management functions.
Even for our team at DigiCert where we’re working with system administrator and network professionals to install SSL Certificates, the average phone call is just less than 5 minutes. This means that 1) most questions aren’t actually very technical, and 2) training your customer service teams to be more effective saves your company money due to reduced requirements for customer service staff.
FACT: Customer complaints are an opportunity
Customer complaints are a gift. Even when a customer complains about the service they received, it’s an opportunity to make things right. Much of customer service is often actually service recovery. The data shows that nearly 50% of customers who complain will remain loyal to your organization if you make things right when they complain about the problem they encountered.
Enable your customer service teams to recover and make things right with the customer when dealing with problems. In my experience in observing customer service teams and as a customer, most customers who defect do so because when they contacted the company about a problem, customer service was “unable” to do anything about it. “Unable” not because customer service didn’t want to do something, but because often times company “policy” or “protocol” prevented them from doing what they really wanted to do, win the customer.
Don’t let the myths of customer service hold back your organization from connecting with and developing the type of customer relationships that create customer loyalty and propel your business forward with massive numbers of fanatical customers. Use customer service in the way it was intended and win over your customers.
Author : Flavio Martin Flavio Martins is the VP of Customer Support at DigiCert, Inc., and leader of an award winning global customer service team. As a customer service blogger, and customer service fanatic, he's on a mission to show that excellent service can be consistent, simple, and easy.
Seth Krugel, Frugal Traveler
There are so many ways to wrangle deals on hotel rooms these days that no matter how great a bargain you find, it’s not uncommon to worry you missed a better one.
The most obvious method to suss out savings is to explore the pricing and inventory differences among standard booking sites like Hotels.com and Orbitz. But dig a little deeper and there are countless ways to find “unpublished” rates, typically on excess rooms hoteliers think they won’t be able to sell at full or even publicly discounted prices. The problem: There are so many choices and so much information couched in bells and whistles that it’s easy to become overwhelmed.
To tame this wild world into submission, I designed a five-step process (with a two-step bonus round) and tested it out by planning an imaginary four-night trip to Paris over Labor Day Weekend. Though the same general strategy should work for most kinds of trips, feel free to make tweaks as your situation requires. (For more tips on finding last-minute hotel deals, read my colleague Stephanie Rosenbloom’s column this week.)
This guide, of course, is for budget travelers. Those with deeper pockets and a willingness to delve into them can just go browse a site like Small Luxury Hotels of the World and circumvent this system. (Those with points collected at a fancy corporate job can choose to go that route.)
I’m also going to ignore lodging strategies at the other end of the price spectrum — staying with a friend or a member of hospitality exchange sites like Couchsurfing, braving hostel dorm rooms — or alternatives, such as vacation rental companies like Airbnb and Homeaway. We’re looking for actual hotels.
But if you’re looking for a decent, well-located room — maybe even one with a little style — this system should come close to finding you the best deal possible.
1) Get the lay of the land
Log on to a regular old online booking site, plug in your dates, adjust the filters — especially ones that involve cost and location (“spa” and “golf course” are probably not relevant) — and browse through your choices, paying attention to user reviews, cancellation policies and whether all taxes are included. Make a note of your top picks.
Of course, these sites are very different, which became obvious when I went searching for that Paris room. Orbitz, for example, is so inflexible that there’s not even a filter for price. Yet I couldn’t ignore its discount code that claims to knock 10 percent hotel rooms — and to my surprise, actually worked almost every time I applied it in my testing.
I had always found Booking.com to have a wider array of budget choices in obscure parts of the world, but that was true even in Paris, where the site offered over twice as many properties as Orbitz. Hotels.com offered the best filtering experience, using sliding scales that allowed me to choose a precise upper limit for price ($110 per day) and a minimum user rating (2.5 of 5).
I ended up with a couple options as a baseline (all rates are for four nights, and include most or all taxes and fees): the Pavillon Nation, $500 through Booking.com, which I got down to $480 using Orbitz’s higher price but with the 10 percent code; and the Hotel Audran in Montmartre, highly rated and $440.
2) Price check (and search again)
Next step: Check the prices you’ve found first at Kayak.com, which aggregates prices across other sites (it also allows you to check several hotels at once).
The same room at the Pavillon Nation was available for $382 through getaroom.com; no one could beat Hotels.com’s price for the Audran. Then I checked both prices against the hotels’ own website, which sometimes have additional discounts.
Then do your whole search over on other metasearch sites, which are sometimes better than the standard sites anyway. Aside from Kayak, there are a few options:
Hipmunk wowed me with its new mapping feature that appears side-by-side with their hotel suggestions and even offers overlay “heat maps” to see which parts of the city are best for food or night life. (It is also the only American site to show Airbnb and Homeaway rentals alongside hotels.)
Trivago’s main advantage is that it searches about 200 booking sites, meaning it will quite frequently find prices lower than the others, though don’t necessarily expect prime customer service from obscure sites should you need to make a change later. And if you already spend time using the endless planning resources on TripAdvisor, you might as well book with its metasearch pricing component as well.
I spent the most time on Hipmunk, adding easy-to-use filters and then having it order hotels by “Ecstasy,” its mysterious but useful algorithm. The resulting No. 1 choice was quite appealing and I added it to the list: the fairly central and well-rated Element Hôtel for $405.
I now had three choices for about $100 a night, taxes included. But those are all retail or published sale rates, easily searchable (as I found). Time to try a few of the best ways to find unpublished rates.
3) Seek hidden rates
If you want a window into the world of unpublished discounts, fiddle around for a while on getaroom.com. That site offers fast-expiring flash deals, for example, and rooms at “hotels within hotels” — like those within the MGM Grand complex in Las Vegas sold under the rather made-up-sounding name of “Luxury Suites International at The Signature.” But things get really weird when the site urges you to “call for secret unpublished rates!” (So 20th century!)
I plugged in my Paris dates, and getaroom.com revealed a flash deal (“Ends in three hours!”) at the nice-looking, decently reviewed Villa Lutèce Port Royal in Paris, four nights for $450. And then, what the heck, I called the toll-free number. And what do you know? A woman with a very soothing voice instantly lowered the price to $378. Get the Villa Lutèce on the list!
4) Look for a package deal
If you’ve already booked a flight, or are going on a longer, more complicated trip, package deals won’t work. But this straightforward, in-and-out New York-to-Paris trip is exactly the sort where a package deal might be the trick. (Trips to sunny destinations in the winter also work pretty well.) I went to Kayak’s packages page and it led me to a promising deal on Priceline.com: a round-trip, nonstop flight for two from New York to Paris, plus four nights at the Crowne Plaza Paris-Republique, for $2,505. The cheapest nonstop fare on my dates was $2,503.
In other words, four nights at the four-star Crowne Plaza would essentially cost 50 cents a night. I even contacted Priceline to make sure there were no hidden charges. They said the plane might charge me for luggage — um, yep, that much I knew. Assuming I hadn’t booked a flight, this was clearly my winner so far.
5) Go opaque
Some of the sharpest discounts off retail rates come from opaque deals on sites like Priceline and Hotwire. You get to decide on star-level and broad geographic area, and then either bid (as with Priceline) or choose a discount rate (as with Hotwire and Priceline’s new Express Deals feature). Only when your credit card is charged do you find out where you’ll be staying — sometimes a soulless chain, but never, in my experience, a terrible place. Still, I do opaque as a last resort, usually when savings means more to me than anything else. (For, say, a romantic weekend, it’s definitely a risk.)
For those Paris dates, Priceline offers an Express Deal on a three-star room in the Marais-Republique area for $345. Not bad! Hotwire had a very similar deal in the same area for $351 — most likely the same hotel.
Now review your options and make a choice. If I went for the package, or the Priceline deal, I was all set. For any of the other choices, I had two more possible steps.
6) Make the call
Call the place you’ve chosen (by Skype, to save money). Tell them you’re about to reserve their hotel with, let’s say, Hotels.com, and ask if they’ll give you a discount for booking direct. Hotels typically pay a 20 to 30 percent commission to booking sites, so rationally speaking, they should be eager to split the difference with you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t — it depends a lot on who answers the phone and what kind of power they’ve been given; at smaller places always ask to speak to the owner or manager. (You can also ask for a discount via email if it’s easier or if you call and English turns out not to be the hotel’s strong suit.)
7) Last-minute adjustments
This final step only applies if you’ve got a cancelable reservation, but with lower-cost hotels that’s often the case. Theoretically, you could check back every day to look for better deals, or have a site like Yapta.com send you alerts when prices drop, but let’s be reasonable here. As your date of travel (and your cancellation deadline) approaches, try one of the many last-minute deal sites and apps that I reviewed last summer and are covered in Ms. Rosenbloom’s column. If there’s a better deal, pull a switcheroo.
And — you’re off to Paris. Sure, it was a lot of work, but it gets easier with practice. Admittedly, it was never quite as easy as clicking over to Small Luxury Hotels of the World — as I did just for the fun of it. It took me about three minutes to choose the Hotel Relais Christine, on the site of a former medieval abbey on the Left Bank. Cost: $2,688, nonrefundable. But it’s not a flash sale, so perhaps the price will still be available in my next life.
A version of this article appears in print on August 10, 2014, on page TR2 of the New York edition with the headline: On a Mission to Discover a Discount.
It's been a few years since "staycation" was the buzzword of the summer, but the idea of "traveling" in your own hometown is still a popular concept for budget-friendly vacations. With luxurious linens and a whole host of conveniences, staying in a hotel is always a major treat, even when it's just a few blocks from your front door. But that hotel feeling? You can get that anytime. Even at home. All you need is a little boutique bedroom overhaul.
Step 1: Start with Plump, White Bedding
What sets apart a hotel bed from any other is those fluffy pale sheets. Turn in for the night in style by giving your everyday bed the same treatment with simple white sheets. The next time you're at a hotel, check the sheets for labels or ask the hotel desk who their supplier is. You can find high-thread count white linens almost anywhere, but here are our favorite 10 sources for luxury bedding. Add interest with colorful throw pillows or a sheet set with a decorative border, like the photo at top from a Saskatoon, Canada home designed by Atmosphere Interior Design.
Step 2: Accessorize with Trays
A simple tray is a key piece for simple-chic glamour, and hotels know it's a quick way to make knick-knacks look organized. Use a tray to collect jewelry and watches on a dresser, or perfumes on a vanity. When staging your space for company (or prying eyes at a party), a tray placed on the bed with some magazines and bottled water looks welcoming and luxurious, like in the photo above from Ace Hotel in Seattle.
Step 3: Outfit the Bedside Table
One of the best parts about staying in a hotel is feeling like everything is at your fingertips, probably because there is literally so much within arm's reach on the bedside table. Your home's nightstand can be tricked out too (or nightstands; hotels always have a matching pair). Start with a great lamp, then add fresh flowers, lots of outlets and, yes, maybe even a retro-cool alarm clock radio.
Step 4: Add a Coffee and Refreshments Station
It's a treat to have bed-side coffee ready for you when you wake. Setting up a well-styled coffee station is as easy as finding a spot and plugging in your favorite coffee maker. For your nightcaps, know the trick to adding a mini-fridge without transforming your bedroom into a dorm room is finding one with a luxury finish. Instead of glossy white, go for stainless steel, cabinet-fronts, or a fridge with a sleek glass door (think wine fridge). Give it a faux built-in look by sliding it under a tight-fitting side table or between pieces of furniture with similar heights. Abby's Fabled South End Townhouse
Step 5: Create a Seating Area
Because they need to be your living room and bedroom all at once, most hotel rooms feature a seating area just steps from the bed. It's a luxurious and comfortable element at home, too, offering a great spot to get ready in the morning or read a few pages of a book before bed. If there's some wiggle room in your floor plan, see if you can squeeze in a sofa or a pair of chairs.
Step 6: Dress the Bathroom to Match
If you're lucky enough to have a bath attached to your bedroom, treat it like the posh-sounding en suite that it is. Mentally and visually connecting the spaces with complementary decor makes the whole master suite feel more spa-like. If the space allows, you might even consider arranging the bed to face the bathroom doorway for a more cohesive connection between these two separate rooms. Then use these tips to dress the bath up like a boutique resort.
We scoured the world in search for the World’s 5 Most Unusual Pools. Which one of these is your favorite? They all offer something unique and a lot of drama.. Enjoy!
#1 The Library, Koh Samui, Thailand
This pool with “red water” might suggest a crime scene. Well, no harm was done. This pool at The Library in Thailand looks as though the water is red, that is because of the of red, orange and yellow mosaic tiles installed on the bottom of the pool. The effect is amplified by the red lounge mattresses by the edge of the pool.
#2 Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangpiao, China
This pool is located on the 24th floor of the hotel. It is 30 meters long, 6 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep. The funniest part is that half of the pool is suspended outside the hotel.
#3 Hemeroscopium House, Madrid, Spain
This pool defies gravity and can be admired and tried, in Madrid. Who thinks that swimming at height is too overwhelming? Try the normal pool located under the “Gravity Pool”.
#4 The Cambrian, Switzerland
Those who’d want to swim here should consider two essential things: hypothermia and height. Located high in the Swiss Alps, the pool is built right at the edge of the mountain. With temperatures nearing zero, the water is heated, so the pool can be used no matter the season.
#5 Aquaria Grande Residential Tower, Mumbai, India
Aquaria Grande Tower is currently under construction. But when the project will be finished, it will be one of the most amazing places to live. That is because the balconies will be converted into pools.
There you have it… Our Top 5 very unusual, dramatic and a tad scary pools to choose from. Which do you prefer. Let us know below in our comments section and please subscribe to our blog for more amazing pool stories.
Compared to large travel companies, many independent hotels and travel businesses have low marketing budgets. But if you run an independent travel business, there are plenty of things you can do to make your company stand out - and boost your bookings in the process.
Here are 3 things you can do right now to ensure growth and become a true contender. And while this advice is primarily for travel businesses, the lessons apply to any small business trying to get some market share:
1. Truly value your customers and their (emotional) experiences.
Small businesses in the travel industry have a leg up in that they can provide personalized experiences for their customers. Therefore, it's important to find your unique selling point. This could be your location, specialized tour packages, or even something unusual like rooms that cater to dogs and their owners. Whatever it is, focus on the special capabilities you have as a small business to make guests' experiences truly personal and sell it. Your business has the potential to make an impact on the memories your guests have of a particular trip or even geographical area.
Then, take a page from major brands who constantly utilize emotion to evoke consumers' feelings in advertising. See: Google's recent advertising shift, which was created to "make you cry," according to remarks made by Lorraine Twohill, VP for global marketing at Google, in a New York Times interview. This emotional tug is embodied in their popular commercial "Parisian Love". Although these large brands can be emotional, the good news for your small company is that they often fail to be personal. You, on the other hand, have the power to create nostalgia - which will guarantee great guest reviews and more bookings.
Finally, speaking of reviews, there is another reason for ensuring positive customer experiences: word of mouth. Follow this age-old advice: "It's easier to keep a client than find a new one." Travelers going to new places are more likely to rely on reviews and recommendations from friends or family. At the same time, consumers are more likely than ever to share negative experiences. In fact, 41 percent admitted they are more likely to share a negative experience via Twitter or by writing a review.
2. Start using social media well.
At a minimum, you should have a Facebook page and a Twitter account that clearly displays your brand logo and name. When competing with major brands that are well recognized in traveler's minds, a small business must take every opportunity to bolster their credibility. A 2010 study by Chadwick Martin Bailey found that consumers are 67 percent more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter, and 51 percent more likely to buy from a brand they follow on Facebook.
But don't just let the accounts sit there. Use Facebook and Twitter to keep past and potential customers updated on changes in a very simple way. It might be very time-consuming and expensive to change or update an official website, but with social media accounts, an event calendar, photos, and other travel news can be shared with a large audience effortlessly.
3. Make booking/buying seamless.
If you run a small hotel — or any other business — and you don’t have online booking or buying capabilities on your site, you’re losing tons of business. Period.
Small businesses need to be able to convert website visitors into paying guests (or customers). But there are many factors that go into customer decisions, so to increase conversions, it’s critical that your business decrease the number of boundaries between the customer and the sale.
In other words, make it easy for your website visitors to act on their first impulse! If they visit your website and have to book a reservation via phone or email, they are less likely to book. My team developed a reservation system and widget for exactly this purpose called Dashbell; there are others out there as well. Bottom line? You need to find a seamless way to decrease the time you spend playing phone tag and increase your bookings. If you’re not doing it already, I think you’ll see conversions increase quickly with a good online system.
The suitability of the operator to the hotel and the business
By Ian Graham
When we humans get married, we go through a lengthy and elaborate courting process with extensive support to the couple given by friends and ‘experts’ before the knot is tied.
Yet many developers and hotel owners have jumped into bed with a hotel operator under the terms of a 20-year or more management contract on little more than a whim. Having been engaged recently by several clients to assist in the search and selection for hotel operators, what have we learnt?
There are clearly three elements.
•The legal documents
- to protect the owner and incentivise the operator
- to position the operator as the agent of the owner
• The financial package
- usually a mix of basic and incentive fees
- together with charge back provision
- perhaps with fee stand-aside provisions etc.
• The suitability of the operator to the hotel and the business.
The third Element is arguably the most important and the one we want to discuss here.
Brand v operator
In our view, one must first separate the decision concerning the brand from the decision concerning the operator. For example, while Starwood might both brand and operate a Sheraton or a Westin or a Four Points, in many countries a hotel owner can, and in our view should, separate the decision as to which brand to put on the hotel and which operator to engage.
What a brand does is quite different to what an operator does and one needs to separate the criteria to identify which brand is most likely to deliver the highest number and value of customers through its branded channels to this hotel throughout its life. Choosing a brand should never be an accident – the decision must be carefully made to ensure the brand strategy, structures, processes and execution drive long term value through guest preference and employee behaviour.
Often, of course, the right brand will come with the right operator – in our example above, Starwood will obviously have an operating advantage when it comes to a Westin or a Sheraton or a Four Points because as a company Starwood will possess the first crucial differentiator of an operator – proven experience with the brand, its channels of distribution, its loyalty programme, its customers, its competitors.
The truly excellent operator will, however, also be able to demonstrate an ability to bring business to the hotel through the unbranded channels – and this can be particularly important in a hotel with extensive conference and meeting facilities, or a spa, or other non-hotel-brand influenced elements of the offer.
Surviving change
A key process that a hotel operator needs to bring to almost all situations is the ability to deliver a range of services through a period of change. This might be technical services support during the design and construction phases or it might be the execution of operational changes that arise from a rebranding or a re-positioning.
An excellent operator will be able to demonstrate deep experience in change management.
Profitability
A further area of excellence required of a hotel operator is the delivery of profitability ahead of market averages over a sustained period of time.
This requires the mix of skills that brings excellence in sales and marketing, with excellence in restaurant and bars, and excellence in financial management and reporting - and a passion to benchmark not only R.G.I. but also GOPPAR.
And it’s through employee satisfaction that customer satisfaction comes so an excellent operator will be able to demonstrate a track record in talent management and high levels of employee satisfaction.
Improving employee satisfaction rates, declines rates of labour turnover, an increasing number of skills training hours delivered – these will be the traits of an excellent operator.
Standards of operating performance
One of the key areas of that an excellent operator will focus on is the use of Standards of Operating Performance (SOPs). Whilst such operating manuals should describe the product and service that is intended to be delivered and form the script of skills training, excellent operators have also embedded processes to learn from errors and defects.
Operators that have elimination of error as a high priority will treat guest complaints as an input not an output and will have processes in place that dissect management’s misguided thought processes that gave rise to the complaint in the first place.
Outsourcing
In today’s world, few hotel operators can deliver such a broad range of services from within its own resource base - so we’d expect most operators to be aligned to one or two key business partners.
An operator that buys in certain resources should not be viewed as inherently weak – far from it, managing a number of outsourced vendors is increasingly what hotel management companies need to do in order to stay focused.
The quality of the partners chosen by an operator will tell you a lot about the quality of the operator. And this is perhaps no where more evident than in the mix of telecoms, technology and technology-enabled partners that an operator brings to the table.
Summary
Above, we’ve described some of the traits of an excellent operator. This is a selective list and there will be other traits that are relevant according to location.
IAN GRAHAM gives his clients high value adding advice, free of all bias, with a passion for the industry that has been slow-cooking for 45 years. He leads and contributes to complex advisory assignments for hotel owners and operators around the world, leveraging his deep understanding of the separate but linked goals of each of the guest, the hotelier, the investor, the lender and the brand owner - and all this from a unique base of experience that has seen him working on hotel issues in more than 60 countries. Ian has built an unrivalled network of clients, friends and colleagues around the world of hospitality and this has enabled him to create and lead The Hotel Solutions Partnership Ltd under which outstanding teams of consultants respond to tough questions asked by savvy clients.
by McLean Robbins (RSS feed) on Oct 8th 2012 at 11:00AM
Last week, we introduced you to "The Birth of a Hotel" series, where we announced plans to dissect and discuss all aspects of a hotel's build – from developing and financing to building, marketing, opening and everything in between.
We talked all about the first four steps in the process (location, funding, hotel class and ownership / management structure) in "Hotel 101: So You Want To Build A Hotel (Part One)."
Now we're back with Part Two, where we'll go over the basics of marketing, development, branding and legal concerns – many of the items that can make or break the choices made in Part One's discussion.
Step Five: So ... Do You Have A Marketing Plan?
As in any business, a good marketing plan can make or break your success. Much of the data behind the plan is done at the point of due diligence, where hotel owners and management companies make decisions regarding location, brand, service level, number and quality of rooms and other on-property amenities.
"In some instances [hotels are] more complex than other businesses because [they have] a real estate component that sits separate from the operating component," says John Hughes, director of hospitality management and associate professor of hospitality at the York College of Pennsylvania.
A year to six months from opening, the hotel makes its first major staff hires – a general manager and a director of sales and marketing. The general manager helps govern many of the major management-level hires of the hotel, and will, in many cases, serve as the face of the property.
The director of sales and marketing also will serve to help decide the hotel's fate.
The pair work together to make many of the key marketing and branding decisions for the hotel, all while working to "pre-sell" group space and make critical plans to drive revenue in the year after opening.
Industry experts agree that relationships formed at this stage – both with vendors and area businesses – are critical. Here, experience is key.
Sandy Kunkel, partner and chief operating officer of Z/K Hospitality, which owns New York's The Bowery House, says that drawing from past experience at this step is key.
His business partner, Alessandro Zampedri, put it this way. "You have to know who is most similar to you, what they charge and what they offer. It is also essential to market each property based on the set of limitations each property possesses. After an asset analysis you begin to determine who would be most likely to be attracted to what you are offering and then you build a targeted campaign to reach those particular consumers."
Location is also a key driver as well as marketing through website photographs, PR and social media campaigns.
Step Six: Let's Hire Some Staff
If the hotel being built is branded, like Capella, key staffers are often adopted from other properties in the portfolio. Capella Washington D.C., Georgetown's general manager came from the brand's Dusseldorf, Germany property, while their director of sales and marketing had extensive Washington area experience at other luxury hotels.
Nick Gregory, general manager at boutique brand Kimpton's new Hotel Monaco in Philadelphia, says that "the secret sauce" in hiring the correct staff is using a combination of people who are "torch-bearers for culture and shiny new faces."
The hospitality industry is a small one. Staffers often spend their whole careers working in an industry, and moving from brand to brand or property to property is not uncommon.
"It's nice to be the shiny new toy," Gregory says with a wry laugh.
Step Seven: How's That Construction Coming?
Hotels, like any large building, can often suffer costly construction setbacks – weather, zoning laws and delayed materials or structural issues are just some of the many reasons that can delay a property's opening.
Delays, of course, can be costly.
Capella Washington D.C. will push to meet their public opening, currently scheduled for the second week in January, in order to be fully operational in time for the 2013 presidential inauguration. Thus far, the hotel is on schedule.
Step Eight: Sell, Baby, Sell
From marketing phase to opening day, hotel sales staff work to pre-sell reservations for the hotel's function spaces and room blocks. Weddings, corporate events, and business travel partnerships can make up more than half of many hotels' business, particularly during the week.
Step Nine: Training Is Key
Training is essential. Several weeks before opening, hotels conduct a "move in," where staffers enter the property for the first time and begin learning to properly do their jobs and work with the new team. Here again, branded properties may have an advantage – a culture and training mantra to learn from.
Hank Fried of The Impulsive Group, which owns a number of New York City hotels, says that many of his staff have been with him upwards of two decades. He lacks a formal structured on-boarding program, instead preferring one-on-one interaction with his key staffers to get on the same page regarding corporate culture.
Capella Washington D.C.'s will begin with a daylong welcome initiation, helmed by none other than Capella CEO Horst Schulze. From housekeeping to the hotel concierge, no detail will be overlooked in the quest to have everything in tip-top shape for a grand opening.
And you won't miss a beat – we'll bring you along, every step of the way.
by McLean Robbins (RSS feed) on Oct 4th 2012 at 11:00AM
Let's say that one day you woke up and decided you wanted to build a hotel (hypothetically, of course). Where would you begin? What's next? That's the fundamental question we'll be asking of hoteliers and hospitality experts over the course of the next few months in "The Birth of a Hotel" series on Gadling.
To illustrate our point, we'll be following the development, from conception to opening, of Capella Washington D.C., Georgetown, a boutique luxury property in DC that will serve as the brand's US flagship. We'll go inside to show you the construction process, introduce you to the key players and show you not only how a hotel is built, but how a brand establishes its presence in a new market. And, to add in a little twist, we'll showcase the hotel in its race to the finish line, as it prepares to open in time for one of DC's biggest events – the presidential inauguration – in mid-January, 2013.
Think of the series as a hotel reality show: "How It's Made" meets Bobby Flay's "Three Days to Open" meets (just a little bit) of "Hotel Impossible." Only we won't be giving out cash prizes and we hope to keep the on-camera hissy fits to a minimum.
So let's begin at the beginning.
"One of the biggest misconceptions people have about the hotel business is that it's simple," says John Hughes, Ed.D., CHE, industry veteran and the director of hospitality management and associate professor of hospitality at the York College of Pennsylvania. "It's not."
We're inclined to agree.
Hotels are often a losing gamble. The hotel industry took a huge hit post 9/11 and has been slow, particularly in the luxury sector, to recover. Choosing a location that can support your endeavor is often the first and most important step.
Step One: Where Am I Building?
Capella's decision to establish their U.S. flagship in Washington was a smart one. While New York City is often thought of as a more traditional choice to launch a brand (and, in fact, Capella manages The Setai in the city), Washington is a grounded market offering opportunity for luxury brands.
According to Smith Travel Research, Washington, DC's overall hotel occupancy hovered around 70% in 2011, up from just 66.5% for the nation overall. Revenue, which declined in 2009, grew in 2010 and 2011, and is predicted to grow again in 2012. Supply is also growing, showing the market is expanding, although not fast enough to meet demand. Despite the recession, opportunities in the luxury market remain high in Washington.
Step Two: Show Me The Money.
Hotels aren't cheap – the 49-room Capella Washington will cost about $45 million, The Washington Business Journal estimated. In comparison, Donald Trump will open a $200 million, 250+ room hotel in a historic post office in 2016, and $547 million, 1,200 room Marriott Marquis is currently under construction.
Capella Washington will be a privately owned hotel, property of Castleton Hotel Partners, LLC. Capella Hotels and Resorts will manage the property, but does not have an ownership investment in it.
Step Three: What Am I Building?
There are many opportunities to build hotels at any level of service in the DC market. This year, 23 hotels are currently in the development pipeline in Washington, adding to those 121 properties and 28,000 hotel rooms in DC proper and more than 660 properties and 106,000 rooms in the greater Washington Metropolitan Region.
In contrast, 379 hotels comprising 38,909 rooms opened in the United States in 2011, STR data showed. New York's pipeline exceeds Washington's only slightly, with 172 hotels in development.
Step Four: What Flag Do You Fly?
Hotels can be owned by an individual, a management firm or a brand. Many names, such as Marriott, Four Seasons and Hilton, are primarily management companies – they often don't own the hotels they operate, instead securing multi-year management contracts. Others choose to operate as independent properties. Around 70% of US hotels are branded, STR data shows.
Ownership groups, which often have multiple brands at differing levels within their portfolio, spend significant time weighing the pluses and minuses of each.
Capella Washington managing partner Bruce Bradley says that he believes Capella represents a high-quality product that is not in any way standardized, instead melding to fit the country or city the property is located in.
In terms of popularity, IHG or InterContinental Hotels Group, is the largest hotel brand worldwide, with over 650,000 rooms and more than 4,500 hotels worldwide. You may not know IHG, but chances are you've heard of their properties: Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and Crowne Plaza, as well as their more upscale or boutique brands, InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, Even and Hualuxe. Each brand has unique selling points.
Names like Marriott (which also owns Ritz-Carlton, Autograph Collection, Bulgari and Edition) and Starwood (St. Regis, Westin, and W) are also in the top ten. Capella, in contrast, has just five open properties, with four more to come by 2014. Only one, The Setai, is currently open in the United States.
Nick Gregory, general manager of boutique brand Kimpton's newest property, Hotel Monaco Philadelphia, says that a brand name can have distinct advantages, ranging from corporate structure to a deeper talent pool to economies of scale on the sales side. The lessons learned from previous mistakes can also be valuable. And, of course, brand recognition doesn't hurt.
Bradley agrees. The ability to cross-market and leverage Capella's strong client base in a global capital like Washington was an important part of the decision-making process.
Many more properties operate without branded names – for various reasons. "We like to start with a blank slate," said Abigal Tan, Director of Corporate Affairs and International Investments for London-based St. Giles Hotels. Currently, the company is renovating The Tuscany, a former Starwood property.
"I'm very hands-on," says Hank Fried, President of The Impulsive Group, a New York-based ownership and management firm that operates, among others, independent luxury property the Sanctuary near Times Square. The freedoms afforded by eschewing a corporate brand let him incorporate the best of his travels and experience in hotels into his properties. Operating as an independent "lends itself to a much more family friendly hotel – everything is a little bit warmer," he says.
Step Five: Where Do We Go From Here?
Think you're ready to invest in a hotel? We're just getting started. Next, we'll begin the marketing, development and planning phase. Find this, and more, in the next installment of the series.
On November 14, B Hotels & Resorts® will celebrate the official grand opening of b2 miami downtown, the first property within the new b2 hotel concept. b2 brings the chic approachability of the Florida-based B Hotels & Resorts® brand to savvy travelers seeking a destination experience without compromising delicate travel budgets.
Breaking the mold of conventional value hotels by enhancing lifestyle elements, b2 miami downtown provides lifestyle hospitality experiences and amenities for a great value. b2 miami downtown is the first of many b2 brand hotels that aim to deliver a sophisticated experience with full service amenities at a reasonable cost for guests across a diverse list of urban and suburban markets nationwide.
B Hotels promise Lifestyle without Attitude™, offering full-service amenities and programs that encourage each guest's individuality and sense of adventure. b2 enters as a breakthrough hotel category that provides Lifestyle within Reach™, an experience that combines comfort and style at an approachable price in the heart of urban and suburban hot spots. The b2 brand continues to cater to each guest's individual personality and sophisticated travel needs through B Signature Elements:
1. B in Touch – Travelers stay connected with FreeB Wi-Fi, complimentary high-speed internet access throughout all public spaces and guestrooms, courtesy iPads and the touchscreen Monscierge®, a digital destination guide and virtual concierge
2. B Ambiance – Specially-selected sound, lighting and scent enhance the ambiance and vibe throughout the property
3. B Social – As a brand focused on social interactions, standard design elements incorporate communal seating, tables and inviting gathering spaces
4. B Nourished® – Destination-specific food and beverage offerings include distinct culinary concepts, in-room dining, and banquets and catering services
5. B Indulged® – b2 hotels include an intimate spa suite with tailored massage offerings performed in an inviting, tranquil environment
6. B Active® – Guests can re-energize and stay fit while traveling with 24-hour access to a well-equipped fitness center
7. B Adventurous – Exciting excursions and event offerings enable guests to explore and discover all that each destination has to offer
8. B Sensitive – Green initiatives and sustainable alternatives are implemented during the renovation process and long-term operations; b2 hotels also partner with local organizations to give back to the community
Setting the precedent as the first of its category,b2 miami downtown provides a chic city escape in a prime location with easy access to the area's top attractions including the cruise port of Miami, the city's famous beaches, American Airlines Arena, the Adrienne Arsht Center, Wynwood art neighborhood and Miami's Design District.
b2 miami downtown features 243 well-appointed guest rooms showcasing views of Biscayne Bay and the city's glittering skyline at an approachable price while providing the desired comforts and style of the cherished b2 visitor.
Located on the lobby level of b2 miami downtown, internationally-recognized restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow of China Grill Management introducesBiscayne Tavern, a casual neighborhood gathering post with an eclectic selection of over 30 craft beers, including 16 on tap and a revolving variety of seasonal brews.
Helmed by Executive Chef Will Biscoe, Biscayne Tavern serves up the next evolution of comfort food, infusing international flavors and using sustainable, organic and local ingredients, when possible. Guests who prefer to enjoy Biscayne Tavern's delicious offerings in the comfort of their guest room are able to order in-room delivery seven days a week until 11 p.m.
Accommodations at b2 miami downtown include a comprehensive list of amenities that cater to the modern traveler including FreeB Wi-Fi throughout the hotel. Guests at b2 miami downtown have access to the tranquil B Indulged® spa suite, featuring customized spa services and the B Active® fitness center. A variety of guestroom choices are available to visitors that include striking city and bay views, sleek and modern furnishings, king and double-size signature Blissful Beds® - exclusive to B Hotels & Resorts® - and interactive HD LED televisions with web capabilities to order in-room dining and check out virtually. All guestrooms offer Aveda® bath amenities and built-in docking stations with a clock/radio, USB port and MicroSD cord to charge mobile devices. Seasoned groups will find b2 miami downtown an ideal venue for productive meetings and memorable events with more than 1,000-square-feet of flexible function space.
b2 miami downtown is located at 146 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida.
For reservations and additional information on b2 miami downtown, visit www.b2miamidowntown.com or contact reservations at 888 66BHotels.
About B Hotels & Resorts®:
B Hotels & Resorts®defines and establishes the next generation of lifestyle hotels, inviting guests to revel in Self-Expression Hospitality™and tailor experiences how they desire them to be. The D(destination)-N (n'vogue)-A(approachability) of each hotel defines the identity, character and available programming, while creating a fresh and approachable setting that welcomes today's travelers, both business and leisure. Core B Signature Elements, available at each property, ignite a genuine emotional connection to the hotel and the brand. Combining lifestyle characteristics with distinct, engaging elements, guests are provided a platform to express their individuality with no inhibitions.
Headquartered in South Florida, B Hotels & Resorts offers two hotel categories targeting savvy, sophisticated and experience-driven guests. Full-service B hotels offer a Lifestyle without Attitude™ experience, while b2 hotels combine comfort and style at a value for an experience defined as Lifestyle within Reach™. For additional information on B Hotels & Resorts® visit www.bhotelsandresorts.com or contact 954.389.1919.
The definition of luxury is changing. Amenities like wi-fi, large beds, flat screen televisions, and technology-friendly rooms are no longer luxury items. Rather, today’s guests expect these items. As we discovered in our wi-fi report, it can keep your hotel from receiving five star reviews if you don’t offer them.
So what is luxury? Luxury items are things that your guests can’t get at home. Luxury is an exclusive, extraordinary experience paired with phenomenal service that creates lasting, unforgettable memories. The rule of thumb is, if your guests probably have it at home, it doesn’t count as a luxury experience.
The trouble is, guests now have items that were once considered luxury at home. Many guests are now expecting these items as a default, and some hoteliers are scrambling to meet the demand. Additionally, the exclusive hotel experience is now something that guests, especially Millennials, expect at an affordable price. So, the problem extends to independent and select service hotels, not just big luxury brands. How can hoteliers keep up?
1. Invest in the basics
Today’s guests, especially Millennials, aren’t necessarily spending much time in their hotel rooms. Instead of providing luxury items in the room, it would be prudent to focus on providing what your guests need. For example, the average traveler now carries 2.9 devices while on a trip. Hoteliers can focus on the basic needs of today’s traveler by providing an in-room charging station, compatible with a variety of phones and electronic devices. 2. Focus on the public experience
Your hotel can really shine by creating an exclusive experience outside the room in the lobby, lounges, spa, pool, and restaurant areas. Design is one way you can do this, according to Wyndham Hotel Group’s Bill Hall. “Some of the economy brands out there, at least from a design perspective, have really tried to become a little more relevant and contemporary,” he said at the 20th annual Lodging Conference. 3. Make it easy for your staff to deliver on-demand service
With the right guest-facing technology solution, a smaller establishment can feel like a luxury resort. Look for a solution that allows guests to establish a 1:1 connection with staff on their terms, through their mobile devices. The solution should also have a back-end ticketing function, so your entire team can keep track of guest requests, assign them to the correct department immediately, and ensure efficient service.
Nancy Trejos, USA TODAY 9:14 a.m. EDT July 29, 2014
(Photo: Scott Olson Getty Images)
Guests staying at Hilton Worldwide properties will soon be able to check in, choose their exact room and make special requests from their mobile devices, tablets and computers, the company announced today.
Digital check-in and room selection will be available at more than 4,000 Hilton Worldwide properties by the end of this year.
Next year, the McLean, Va.-based company will also introduce the technology to let guests unlock their hotel rooms with their smartphones.
"For nearly a century, our guests have counted on us to consistently deliver exceptional experiences around the world, and in today's digitally connected culture, that means providing them with more choice and control over their hotel stay through technology," Christopher Nassetta, Hilton Worldwide's president and chief executive officer, said in a written statement.
Hilton HHonors member will be able to sign into their accounts through their mobile devices, tablets or computers at 6 a.m. the day before they arrive to check in and select their room using floor maps or lists of available rooms. They can look at photos to help them decide.
Geraldine Calpin, senior vice president and global head of digital at Hilton Worldwide, says a recent internal online survey of 1,009 travelers found that 84% wanted to be able to choose their own room.
"We are giving our guests the ability to do just that by enabling them to select not just their room type, but the exact location in the hotel, all the way down to their room number," she says.
RELATED: The hotel room key goes mobile
After choosing the room, they can then purchase upgrades or ask for amenities to be delivered to their room before they even get to the hotel.
Once they are ready to leave, they won't have to go to the front desk to check out. Their bill will automatically be sent to their e-mail address. Digital check-out will begin rolling out at U.S. hotels this summer and will be available globally by the end of 2016.
The smartphone key technology will also be available at the majority of Hilton Worldwide properties by the end of 2016. Hilton's brands include Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts, Conrad Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, and Hilton Garden Inn.
Other hotel companies are also experimenting with keyless entry. Starwood Hotels and Resorts is testing out virtual keys at the Aloft Harlem in New York and Aloft Cupertino in California.
"Travelers can use their smartphones as boarding passes to get to their seats on an airplane, so it is only natural that they will want to use them as a way to enter their hotel rooms," Nassetta said.
Robert Cole, founder of RockCheetah, a hotel marketing strategy and travel technology consulting firm, says that if Hilton executes the new technology well, it could be a game-changer for the industry.
"If the hotels can streamline the process where travelers can seamlessly book, select the best room for their needs, check-in and pay without stopping at a desk to complete merely administrative tasks, it's fantastic," he says. "It saves the hotel labor cost and also frees the staff to focus on providing hospitality to help guests have better travel experiences."
Millennial travelers rate unique experiences and rewards as crucial when choosing a hotel loyalty program
Deloitte Development LLP on 1 Aug 14
Two-thirds (66 percent) of millennial high-frequency travelers rate "unique rewards" as an important factor when choosing a hotel loyalty program, compared with just 43 percent of their older counterparts, according to a new Deloitte study, Winning the Race for Guest Loyalty.
"Our study indicates that customers will wait and see which program will provide them with the greatest rewards before they start to behave loyally, but they will not wait for too long," said Guy Langford, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and U.S. Travel, Hospitality and Leisure practice leader. "The race is on for brands to provide swift gratification, particularly for the savvy millennial travelers, who are quick to share their positive experiences or broadcast their discontent over their social networks, and who are acutely aware of the rewards that come to loyal customers. As such, the brand that locks in the customer's loyalty first and wins that race — is the brand that wins that customer, and potentially their loyalty, for life."
Three-quarters (75 percent) of millennial respondents also indicate they would remain loyal to a hotel brand even if they lost all their points and status, compared with two-thirds (66 percent) among other travelers.
Deloitte Survey: For Millennial Travelers, It’s the Experience That Counts
High-frequency travelers participate in multiple hotel loyalty programs, waiting to see which generates the most value before focusing on one. Once past this tipping point, guests will go out of their way to build equity with their brand of preference. As Millennials become a more dominant spending segment, it will be especially important for hotel companies and brands to understand their purchasing and loyalty behavior.
Additionally, the types of program benefits millennial travelers expect are no longer solely points-focused.,Overall, 68 percent of frequent travelers indicate that they consider themselves loyal to the program where they have accumulated the most points. However, millennials highly value "soft" benefits such as VIP treatments and exclusive experiences more than other groups. Two-thirds (66 percent) of millennials indicate that unique experiences matter, compared with half (50 percent) of frequent travelers in other age groups.
The study also revealed that the average millennial traveler checks 10 online sources before making a travel purchase, and trusts advice from strangers online more than their own friends and family. Roughly one-quarter (24 percent) of millennials check social media or customer review sites before booking a hotel, whereas only 16 percent check with family.
The 'tipping point' and the power of true loyalty
The study showed that mere enrollment in a loyalty program does not alone lead to active loyalty. Seven in 10 (69 percent) of frequent travelers belong to more than one hotel loyalty program, and the average traveler is enrolled in nearly three (2.6) loyalty programs. As such, finding a traveler's "tipping point" that converts episodic guests into dedicated loyalists — can transform the hotel loyalty program from a cost center to a revenue engine.
The study revealed that once customers establish allegiance to one brand loyalty program, they will go out of their way to patronize that brand, and millennials are most likely to do so. Millennials indicate they would pay $41 more per night and travel up to 15 minutes out of their way to stay with their preferred brand, compared with business travelers in other age groups, who are willing to pay an extra $29. This behavior spills into leisure travel, where millennial travelers would pay up to $35 more per night to stay with their chosen brand, compared with $20 among non-millennials.
Turning casual visitors into active loyalists may be easier said than done, as travelers expect services traditionally considered perks to now be a standard part of the hotel experience. For example, the study revealed that for frequent traveling millennials, free Wi-Fi ranked with cleanliness and comfort as a top three hotel attribute — not a perk, but as an expected basic.
"Ultimately, there is a distinction between a customer who has enrolled in a loyalty program and a customer who makes regular, truly loyal use of the brand because of it," continued Langford. "In the mind of the traveler, particularly millennials, only one brand truly wins their long-term loyalty. To journey past a customer's tipping point and turn them into loyal and enthusiastic brand devotees, companies must understand how travelers view and use rewards, and use that knowledge to craft a program that goes beyond the ordinary and the expected. The prize will be dedicated relationships that enhance long-term revenue."
For additional information or to download a copy of the study, please visit: http://www.deloitte.com/us/thl/hotelloyalty2014.
About the Survey The survey was commissioned by Deloitte and conducted online by an independent research organization over an eight-week period in early 2014. The survey polled 3,001 high-frequency U.S. travelers, defined as individuals who spent more than 25 nights in a hotel in 12 months prior to taking the survey
