sympathy for the hotel

I feel sorry for hotels.

They're always getting stick from bloggers - especially from brand strategists or anyone who thinks about service or the relationships between brands/companies and people. They're perfect testing grounds for pet theories. And these kind of people are always in hotels. And every tiny, petty annoyance becomes a late-night, nothing-better-to-do blog entry. Exacerbated by jetlag, loneliness and miserable ennui.

So here's my contribution.

Stop personalising

This is the screen I was greeted with when I got to my room yesterday. I've stayed here at least a dozen times in the past year. I'm a member of their frequent stayer club and they greet me like this. Welcome Dear Davies. Not very friendly.

But that made me think. What would I prefer? Welcome Dear Russell - too friendly (depending how grumpy I'm feeling). Welcome Dear Russell Davies - just doesn't read right, if I'm Dear why are you using my whole name. Anyway, why are you using a greeting style from a letter? this isn't a letter it's a TV screen. Welcome Dear Mr Davies - OK I guess but a little formal.

Which makes me think - why bother? There are so many ways this can go wrong and bug people, compared to such little value if you get it right. Does anyone really feel a warm thrill of human connection from seeing their name on a screen like this? I don't think so.

Why not do away with the fake welcome and put something useful or interesting on the screen instead. Like what's happening in town that evening or something. This onscreen personalisation is a great example of one of those things that technology lets you do, but that you probably shouldn't.

Luxurious vs Expensive

We had a treat at the weekend and stayed in a rather expensive hotel - The Grand in Brighton. One night cost a lot. And it was great, a proper treat, it felt luxurious, comfortable, pampering, premium. And then I noticed that they were charging £10 an hour for a wifi connection. And I suddenly felt like the whole place was a rip-off. £10 an hour. For something that way cheaper hotels will do for free, that costs them virtually nothing. And that there's no way they can deliver in some luxurious way. (I presume £10 an hour doesn't get you an IT butler or a concierege who'll type your mail for you.)

And that's the difference between luxurious and expensive. Luxury costs money but feels worth it. Expensive feels like a rip-off. The thin bubble of luxury is incredibly easy to prick with the wrong move, the wrong moment, it's all in the mind of the buyer and a tiny mis-step can ruin it.

I have to say that overall, the Grand felt worth it (if you don't think about it too much) but that little moment could have undermined it.

You see what I mean about petty annoyances? I feel sorry for hotels.

Comments

[Jason]

Hi Russell -
Your first point made me think about the difference between warmth and personalization. A little warm touch is nice, and probably what they were trying for, but as you've noted personalization done poorly can actually leave you very cold.

On the other hand, I stayed at a nice hotel in Beijing (the China World) a few years back. They put a beautiful woven carpet out in every elevator that said (in English) "Have a happy Monday."
There must have been 12 or 16 elevators, and the mats were changed at the stroke of midnight each night to reflect the correct day. It was a nice, small, simple touch of warmth that always made everybody smile. And much easier than trying to personalize things.
Jason

[Luca Vergano]

You're both absolutely right, Russell and Jason.
Most of the times the problem with hotels is that you feel like from the right side they try to be as institutional and sterile as possible, while from the left side they look like desperately trying to add some kind of personal touch.

Think about what I call Hotel Art. In most hotels you find cheap prints of unknown pictures from the Renaissance or 1800s that looks like they've all been made in the tchotchke district in Hong Kong. Wouldn't be a nice touch putting a bit more personal choices on the wall?

Maybe is just me, but i think that while replication works, let's say, in a supermarket (where you feel it's great to know exactly where all the things are) it doesn't feel as nice in places like Hotels.

[neil]

You're lucky to have got 'Dear Davies' correctly spelt. Hotels usually manage to misspell my surname, which makes it even less personal. And how annoying is it to have to fill in all your personal details again as you check in for your third or fourth visit at the same hotel? Surely much better for a person on reception just to note on the records that you've been there before and say 'welcome back, no need to fill in the form again.'

I had the same internet experience recently at the Soho Grand in New York. You had to pay for an internet connection in the room. Not as much as £10 an hour,which is insane, but enough for it to be irritating. And a bit stupid, as there was a free wireless service in the lobby. Brilliant - so non-guests can get free internet but if you want to use it in the room you've paid for, you're subject to a premium. They will provide a goldfish in the room, though.