An exquisite experience
The development, design and operation of hotels and hospitality destinations is becoming increasingly attuned towards creating a branded and unique customer experience.
“The first ten minutes of a guest’s experience has the biggest impact of the entire stay”, says Fay-Linn Yeoh, Brand Director Asia Pacific, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Responsible for the Le Meridien and Westin Brands with her group’s portfolio, Fay-Lin reveals that the customer experience is something that has become central to how the hotel business is being run today.
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The challenge for brand, design teams and hotel operational managers is to achieve that perfect synergy that reflects the brand’s values. That first ten minutes is the starting point. “We have been looking at this for all our brands, seeing how we can touch upon all the senses. The first experiences leave the most important impressions, because they touch upon the subconscious”, Yeoh reveals. It would seem that a smiling face and efficient service is no longer enough. Next time you find yourself in a hotel, breathe through your nose and ask yourself, does the scent fit? Each Starwood property has its own fragrance specifically developed to match the brand’s values.
Along with scent, the interior design of the lobby is crucial for creating the guest experience, and reinforcing the hotel brand. By way of example, Yeoh cites the “calm, soothing and refreshing environment” of The Westin, or the “warm and friendly” Sheraton. The use of custom colour palettes, and specific materials, allows hotel to establish a specific conceptual image in the mind of the guest. This is brought into the fabric of the rooms themselves, with decorations incorporated according to specific guidelines. Le Meridian’s rooms have six elements, including “heritage”, “modular” and “cartography”.
design perspective
“As a designer you want to control everything, and when it comes to the customer experience you want to reach out as far as you possibly can”, says Richard Doone, Managing Director, Conran & Partners. While his firm is best known for its stylistic approach to design, it is currently moving into the hospitality management field with its Conrad Residences in Kuala Lumpur. “The idea is being able to engage first with your customer, to make them as welcome as you possibly can. The physical impact really makes an impression. Designers need to think more like people staying in a hotel.”
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Doone is in a good position to understand the different approaches of the designer and operator, having experienced both sides of the fence. For the Regent Residences in Kuala Lumpur, Conran & Partners acted purely as designers, but the Conran Residences will be wholly branded offering. “It’s the first chance for us to bring all our skills to bear”, he says. “Generally when you work on a hospitality project as an architect you complete the works and somebody else comes in to manage it. Being involved long term allows us to maintain our original vision.”
technology
One factor that is increasingly becoming important for designers and operators looking to create and maintain the vision of their product is the interface between technology and the guest. “Tech-lag” in hotel rooms has already become a common term, and it’s not just a question of Wi-Fi. According to the 2008 Current and Future Technology Use in the Hospitality report by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), found that after Wi-Fi, in-room entertainment systems were cited “important” by about half of respondents.
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The use of technology, and changing customer perceptions and expectations, is altering how hotels are designing both their physical infrastructure and their service approach. “Not only do travellers increasingly consume entertainment in their room on multiple devices via the room’s broadband access. They are more often than not used to an HD [High Definition] viewing experience at home and expect this standard to be met by the hotel they are staying at,” says Karl Sin, Vice President, BNS Ltd.
In response to increasing competition, Marriott’s midrange Courtyard Hotel engaged innovative design consultancy Ideo to revitalise their public spaces. A combination of traditional market research with what they describe as an ethnographic approach led to the establishment of five “guest enabling brand principles: focus on working smarter and anticipating needs; instill proactivity to let personality shine; enable guests to feel comfortable in public spaces using subtle gestures; provide options and a sense of control; and aim to help guests feel refreshed, refuelled, and recharged.”
One of the key physical responses to the branding jargon was the redesign of the lobby, with the goal of injecting fun, style, and functionality into the guest’s experience. Taking centre stage in the lobby is a large LCD screen called a “Go Board” which provides relevant local information for guests such as weather and flight details. The food and beverage areas were also refreshed and flexible areas that support both work and relaxation were created.
lobby to lounge
The revamp of the Courtyard brand reflects a trend in hotel design, away from focussing in on the space itself and towards a concentration on people. Previously, luxury hotels were all about lobbies with large windows, high ceilings and marble reception desks. Nowadays the industry is moving to focus more on the customer’s wants and needs, and how the brand can be reflected in satisifying these. For The Westin, Yeoh points out that “one of our core values is “personal”, and we have to reflect that through the service and experience we offer.” Thus, new lobbies incorporate “pod” reception desks, with one staff member at each station. When the guest has finished checking in, the staff member actually steps around the desk to hand over the key card. Many hotels brands are moving from palatial to personal style, with “living rooms” and “libraries” replacing the lobby as the main greeting point for guests.
Having created this new experience, the main challenge for hotel brands is to maintain standards on a global level. “Consistency is key,” says Yeoh. “There’s always freedom within the framework, but the framework has to be robust enough so that the brand values are maintained.”
