Hotel ICON, supported by UPSELL GURU is inviting Ôbook direct’ guests to bid online for room upgrades prior to their arrivals, to enhance the guest’s experience.
ÒToday’s travelers are digital natives,Ó according to Richard Hatter, the General Manager of Hotel ICON and Òby leveraging on technology, they want to have control over their entire journey, from researching the hotels, comparing prices, to the actual booking process.
By offering our Ôbook direct’ guests the opportunity to submit a competitive bid for a room upgrade prior to their arrivals, Hotel ICON is empowering them to decide what an upgrade to a higher room category is worth to them.
It is then the hotel’s choice whether to accept or deny the offer. Cross-selling to extra room amenities and services, such as breakfast or transportation, is also offered to the guestÓ.
Hotel ICON is the first independent hotel in Hong Kong to partner with German-based travel start-up UPSELL GURU to offer the online bidding to guests.
Hans Schmidtner, founder of UPSELL GURU said that ÒWe are very excited to work with such a renowned hotel as Hotel ICON and is happy to see the level of response from their guests right from the first hours of launching. By upgrading the offers to Hotel ICON’s unsold higher room categories, the hotel is able to increase revenue and average daily rate. As an added benefit, the standard rooms are freed up for re-sell, increasing occupancyÓ.
Launched in May 2016, UPSELL GURU is the only Ôroom upgrade’ system on the market that allows hotel guests to bid on higher room categories.
The room upgrade bidding is a Ôbook direct’ perk for guests who book via Hotel ICON’s official channels. Other benefits include early check-in / late check-out, priority room upgrade, complimentary access to the Timeless Lounge and more.
How the online bidding works
ÔBook direct’ eligible guests will be notified by email. They can submit an offer based on the amount they are willing to spend to upgrade (within a minimum and maximum value specified by the hotel) prior to check-in. After bidding a “nominal” amount, guests will be notified with a confirmation email of a winning bid within 24 hours. If a bid has not been accepted, the guest will retain their original reservation.
Wholly owned by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the teaching and research Hotel ICON is also the first hotel in the city to experiment with the idea of contextualised open pricing.
Last year, Hotel ICON was the recipient of the prestigious PATA Grand Award for Education and Training. Ever since it opened in 2011, the hotel has maintained its high ranking as being among the top five hotels in Hong Kong on TripAdvisor.
