More than ever hotels need to be all about flexibility and choice.
Modern travellers are sick of identical rooms with identical features and identical furnishings; reliability isn't enough any more. And as for a choice of unnamed tea or coffee at breakfast – we expect a choice of lapsang souchong, Kenya peaberry, Ethiopian mocha, latte skinny or not, or of course Earl Grey tea, served piping hot please.
That kind of choice has typically been the preserve of the five star hotel. But there are different ways of providing it, including some innovative ways that bring it within the range of the slightly less well-heeled customer too. Let's look at examples from hotels I've personally had the experience of staying in when visiting London, moving gradually down the price scale…
Traditional way? The Stafford does it old-style – recording every guest's little foibles, so regulars can be accommodated, whether they want a particular style of tea, early wake-up calls, extra facilities, or even a super-size version of the hotel's trademark rubber ducks. The Stafford's five star concierge, Frank Laino also helps personalise a guest's stay as far as possible. Preferences for a more traditional or more contemporary type of room can also be accommodated. That's incredibly hard work but a true five-star hotel can deliver (though it does outsource part of the service – if you want a swim, the hotel can book you into a nearby health club).
At the mid-price level, Base2stay (soon Nadler Hotels) manages to offer maximum menu flexibility by outsourcing its food service completely.
Every room has a mini-kitchen, and it's up to you whether you buy your breakfast from Sainsbury's (which is what I did when I stayed recently in their Earls Court hotel – and a very good breakfast it was, with fresh warm croissants, fresh orange juice and strawberry yoghurt), or order up ‘room service' from one of the cafes and restaurants that the hotel has on call.
That list includes all sorts of cuisines. But what's startling about this innovation is that you're also in charge of the price bracket you prefer, from a cheap-as-chips £2 supermarket deal to a luxury breakfast hamper. Very nice for those of us who have to trim our budgets (or calorie intakes) to suit our incomes (or diets!) and can't always splurge on the Full English.
Even check-in and check-out times now need to be flexible. At The Stafford, guests are accommodated as much as possible and the front desk keeps an eye on flight details so guests who need to address their jet lag ‘right now' can be slotted into a vacant room.
At budget-friendly Tune Hotels, early check-in and late check-out are paid-for options, putting the traveller in charge of the decision (they're also happy to look after your luggage for the day if you prefer). If you pay for your add-ons online when booking on the Tune website it's cheaper.
One of my fellow LHI bloggers visited the group's Paddington hotel recently and tells me he was struck by how accommodating the staff were to guest requests to "fine tune" their stay – personalisation is now something people value even in the budget-conscious part of the market.
The ‘regular' service nowadays isn't really enough. Going further still down the price scale, even cheap hostels now offer choices – for instance in the size of dorm or room (often shown when you book online) and in extra activities such as tours, pub crawls and film nights as well as free WiFi. Flexibility is clearly here to stay and hoteliers ignore it at their peril.
Photo credit: Canon in 2D, The Stafford Hotel, Base2Stay hotels, London Hotels Insight.
Reprinted with permission, Rajul Chande, Managing Director, Positive Partnerships Ltd
Source: londonhotelsinsight.com
