Do hotel amenities help keep loyal guests when other “better” brands are undercutting your ADR?
I recently had a discussion with a hotel general manager
about how he is finding it difficult to maintain a decent ADR because a couple
brands down the street with a “better flag” have been posting their rates
cheaper. He has excellent guest service scores and his property is in great
shape. He brought up the idea of offering unique hotel amenities. We tossed
around the idea and determined that this could be a great idea but the
amenities need to be appealing to his current guests. We came up with a few
ideas that could be complimentary and others that guests could splurge on.
Deep Sleeping Dreamer’s Menu: masks,
earplugs, specialty pillow
Children’s Play Box – games, animated
movies, dolls and cars, pillows for a pillow fight
Health Nut – specialty protein bars and
shakes, bicycle to tour the area, map of safe running paths
Couples – mini champagne bottles,
chocolates, gourmet picnic basket with a map to a local park
Animal
lover – greet animal with a dog treat and toy, food and water bowls, and maybe
even a dog walker.
We could go on-and-on with various amenities but my
question to the crowd is: do you think it will help? If he already has a high
rating for guest service and his property is clean, should he offer more
amenities to attract new and keep his current guests? I believe we can all
agree that customer service is key and gimmicks can draw business in but it can
also backfire as it gives the guest another opportunity for a guest complaint.
What have you done that has worked?
