I read an interesting post today from Michelle Schumate who is a Regional Director of Operations with The Hamister Group.
Michelle and Hamister’s idea about “Treating Guests As Friends In The Extended Stay Industry” helps to remind all of us who are involved in the hospitality industry that hotel guests deserve attention that goes well beyond check in, a clean and comfortable room, and a receipt upon check out.
So the question becomes is technology beginning to create barriers that are isolating hoteliers from their guests?
The Booking Barrier – Hotel brands are making every attempt to drive bookings direct through their hotel’s website booking engine and they work diligently to divert that booking from being processed through their 800 number. I’m OK with that because it helps to reduce the hotel’s distribution cost but can you recall the last time you spoke to a reservation agent?
The Check In Barrier – It was nearly 15 years ago that Mike Kasavana developed “hotel self-check in” at a time when it was said that “no one goes to a place, especially a hotel, without a face-to-face person”. Hotel brands are stepping up their deployment of self-service kiosks in their lobbies that help expedite check in thus eliminating some front desk personnel that would have traditionally handled your transaction.
The Room Key Barrier – When I fly I use a paperless boarding pass. It won’t be too long until a kiosk will send my room key to my Android. Unless you’ve been out of the country for the past five years this automation is in full swing.
The Concierge Barrier – In the good old days when you needed directions or a restaurant recommendation you headed straight for the Concierge desk. Hotels of the future, according to IHG’s CIO, Tom Conophy, will have “electronic concierges which will comprehend guest’s individual preferences”. It may not be too far into the future until you can skip the cab ride and get “beamed up” to a restaurant of your choice.
The Personalization Barrier - Amadeus and Fast Future suggest that “hotels must embrace extreme personalization and become ‘living innovation laboratories’ to survive the turbulent decade ahead”. I’m all about technology but isn’t intelligent furniture, adaptive room environments, and individually tailored nutrition and ‘thought control’ of guest facing systems better suited for space travel?
The Business Center Barrier – Any hotel with a business center has a computer or two where you can Google to your hearts content but how do you know if the restaurant review that you read on Yelp mirrors what the Concierge might recommend? My bad. There is no Concierge.
So where does this leave us? According to Schumate “It should be our goal to remind our guests that they are more important than industry guidelines. We must also continually reinforce our service to them during each and every encounter thereafter. By removing the barriers that hotels have placed on themselves, we will return to the basics of being in the hospitality industry”.
I don’t live under a rock and certainly appreciate all that technology has done for every industry but we are talking about the HOSPITALITY industry right?
Your thoughts?
Interesting post. It certainly puts in perspective what “used to be”. I guess I would say I agree with the overall message, which to me is: Don’t forget how powerful real life customer service is. However I also think this post points out a generational gap. The next group of up and coming traveling professionals view technology on a different level. Since they will not have the experience of the “old way of doing things” I think these technological advancements will only continue and will be embraced.
Interesting perspective Ben and yes the next group of up and coming traveling professionals will provide a different dynamic as it relates to how they book, what kind of relationship that they will have with hoteliers, and how the hospitality community must adjust their marketing strategies to to address their needs.
Generations change in habits and interests, but the notion of attentive and appropriate service remain an essential element of hospitality. Technology has improved many areas of hotels (door locks, reservations, in room entertainment, HVAC and energy, sustainability, etc) but there remains a difference between high tech and high touch. They each have their place, but we should all remember the “experience” of flying on most US airlines these days. They have evolved to efficient, technological commodities – that is not what I want in a hotel I own, manage or choose to stay in
Dr. John Hogan CHE CHA CMHS
HospitalityEducators.com
Hogan Hospitality
I wonder John if hotel Revenue Managers aren’t too far behind this evolution?
This is part of an internal discussion we were having around here, and I thought it applied well to this post.
Technology should be used to enhance the experience, not detract from it.
Here are a few key points to consider: it’s not about the hotel, or the brand, it’s about the guest. What does the guest want? Do they all want human interaction? Are all guests the same? Are all stays the same?
When I’ve been traveling all day and I’m a business traveler, the last thing I want when I check into a hotel is someone smiling and shaking my hand and asking me how my day was. What I want is to park easily, and walk straight to my room, and then more often than not, I want to know a good place to eat with local influence, and I want it to be nearby.
As a family traveler on vacation, I would like to be greeted by a someone to help with bags, as I chase kids around, while getting to my room, I still don’t want to go to the front desk, that part should just be eliminated. Once I’m settled into my room, I’d like to be able to explore the local area from my room, and then possibly seek advice from a local concierge on the best things to see and do, after I’ve narrowed down the types of things my family is interested in doing.
Guests want options. Sometimes you want to shake a hand and talk to someone, but a lot of times, a lot of people, just want to get what they want and move on.
Hotels need to empower guests with ways to interact with the hotel on the guests’ terms, not the hotels’ terms, if they do this, they will find new and better ways of connecting with their guests, ways they have never considered before. They will discover that many prefer text or chat, and others prefer face to face. Not everybody is the same.
And according to Schumate, Mandy, “It should be our goal to remind our guests that they are more important than industry guidelines.” I think you’re both on the same page!
Excellent! Nice to connect with you and looking forward to future conversations!