Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

You Can Check in Anytime You Like

Alas, the Night Man in the Eagles' classic "Hotel California" said that to a guest over 40 years ago...and it's just becoming a thing.

We've all been there, especially those of us that red-eye or fly internationally. But, even those of us that hit town at Noon have had to wait until the obligatory 3pm check-in time at most hotels. And, of course, short-staffed hotels are increasingly missing that mark.

But a movement has begun in the smaller, upscale, independent hotel groups around the world to allow customers, upon room availability, to check-in at any time of the day or night. While it could become an additional revenue stream, several of the hotels interviewed for a recent Skift article maintain the move is an opportunity to build loyalty among clients that have many choices in where they lay their head.

And, implementation is deceptively simple. Rather than having a morning and an afternoon crew to clean and prep rooms, these ingenious hotels are scheduling housekeepers on an hourly-rotating schedule.

Brilliant...and it only took 40 years.

Death to Stir Sticks*

The global Plastics crisis is just being recognized by the citizens inhabiting this planet. But, while 80% of Hilton's guests claim to care about that brand's environmental footprint, a Skift study found that only 53% would be willing to pay extra to ensure sustainable hotel practices. And, that's a challenge, as plastics make housekeeping faster and easier. There is no simple answer, as simple as the problem at hand may be.

But plastic straws? Please. Especially for those of us that consume our drinks straight. I totally get a straw or swizzle for a mixed drink.* But, bourbon on the rocks? Why wouldn't management encourage servers to consider whether a drink needs to be served with a stick? It would save them money plus suggest a modicum of environmental concern.

I gotta give serious props to Delta for eliminating straws in favor of bio-degradable bamboo stir sticks on their flights. For all the travel companies that say they plan to address plastics in 2021 or 2023, Delta has proven that a world travel brand can do it much faster...if they take the issue seriously.

Sadly though, I now get a bamboo stick in most of my Woodfords. So, there's still work to do.

Skift has made the Plastics crisis a focus of its reporting and analysis. It's a long read...but worth your time and consideration.

 

Room Service

You'd think that with the advent of fairly ubiquitous food delivery services (at least in tier one and two cities) that hotels would respond by reducing their pricing and fees to stay competitive. Apparently, one hotel in Chicago doesn't think so.

Giving some air to a recent Facebook rant from our friend Peter Greenberg:

 I was at the W in Chicago and ordered a small 10-inch pizza from room service. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less. I expected to pay more for room service. That’s not surprising. I know what a pizza on the street costs. And a pizza delivered to my room should cost more. I get it.

Now let’s look at the bill that arrived with the pizza 38 minutes after the order was placed.

The 10-inch pizza was already a whopping $27. But we’re just getting started.

The hotel then charges me a $7 delivery charge, and then… a nearly 22% “in room delivery,” $6 charge.

This is followed by… sales tax, not just on the overpriced pizza itself, but on the service charges, and that came to $4.59.

And now…not the total, but the SUBTOTAL! It’s $44.53 for a small 10-inch pizza!

But we’re still not done…there was a space left (in case we were totally delusional and wanted to add more to our bill) for GRATUITY.

A GRATUITY? They wanted a tip? Ok…here’s MY tip — not for them, but for YOU.

First, insist on full disclosure from any hotel for ALL the charges it will attempt to hit you with before you order room service.

And second, my advice for hotels: it’s bad enough that this receipt represents a total gouge on guests, but if you still want to blatantly overcharge guests for room service, then at the very least don’t add to the insult by leaving an open space for “gratuity.”

By comparison, a phone order to Dominos for a larger 14-inch, SIX cheese pizza, WITH delivery, costs less than $20. And it got here two minutes faster!

 

Workforce Development

For Destination Marketing Organizations that are evolving into community development agencies, the concept of workforce development is often a struggle. We know that our tourism partners are wrestling to secure workers (one of Madison's top restaurants just closed with the owner saying that the lack of workforce was a key driver in the decision). But, how do we respond?

Hyatt has created a program called RiseHY ("rise high") that seeks to bring out-of-school, out-of-work young people into the Hyatt workforce. And, today, nearly 1,300 “Opportunity Youth” have integrated into the Hyatt world. But, not without some interesting lessons learned along the way. Like showing up to work on time is often most difficult for these individuals, in part because people have complicated living arrangements and uneven access to transportation. 

Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian said: “There are many things you can be proud of in life, but few things provide as much inspiration and hope for the future as watching one of these young people come into the workforce and achieve success.”

Motivational words for us all.

 

Everything Comes Back Around

A number of years ago, tired and late, I pulled up in front of my hotel in Wildwood NJ and let out a long sigh. It was a decidedly '60s hotel, the kind with keys (not cards) and room doors opening to the outside balcony. Not what I was expecting from the client who made the reservation.

Which was a good thing...because I was blown away as I walked into the lobby by the attention to detail the owners had exercised as they made this '60s hotel a '60s hotel. Black and white checkerboard tile floors, a jukebox, formica chairs and period lighting put a big smile on my face. Which broadened when I got to my room and found a lava lamp.

And, that's where the Howard Johnson brand has announced it's going with its remaining hotels...back to the '60s.

“Say ‘HoJo’ and people can’t help but to smile as they think back on the memories they’ve made with us over the decades,” said Clem Bence, the brand’s vice president of operations. He promises a "playful" re-design to evoke the nostalgia gene in everyone who remembers the iconic orange roofline, family road trips and fried clams.

Howard Johnson has committed $40 million to the mid-century redesign. It'll be worth every penny.

Can We Just Say It?

A recent article in Travel Weekly cites tourism providers and experts claiming that Mexico's current Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year is because of an over-supply of hotel rooms and Sargassum. And, while these two forces are never good, they could be mitigated by a well-financed and strategic marketing effort from the country's Tourism Board.

Which, of course, no longer really exists...as its previous $300 million budget has been reassigned to develop rail service on the Yucatan Penninsula. Tourism promotion is now, apparently, being handled by Mexico's Embassies around the world (can you say incoherent?).

And, now most (not all) of the country is seeing significant declines in occupancy and revenues. I get that Sargassum sucks. But, I gotta call it like I see it. Without a strong invitation to visit, Mexico will continue to suffer.

Sadly.

 

The Way it Should Be

A great article in Skift yesterday (and, who knew their mission was to keep the travel industry accountable?) on how IHG is pledging to not only do away with plastic straws but eliminate those mini-bottles of shampoo, conditioner and lotion in favor of bulk-size, refillable dispensers.

Best part of the story: IHG CEO Keith Barr says it's not pressure from governments that encouraged the move...the real pressure coming from guests.

“Governments collectively haven’t taken significant action in this space,” Barr told Skift. “The reality is our colleagues and our customers expect us to take a leadership position on things like waste.” 

And, ain't that the way it should be. Hell yeah.

What Took Us All So Long?

Sometimes, we are so consumed with the job at hand that we can't see the opportunity before us. Sometimes we get comfortable with the "norm" of how business has always been done. And, that's when innovation is an orphan.

My alma mater DMO, Destination Madison is starting to pick up some serious industry buzz for its recent roll-out of a concept that is deceptively simple. One that sort of paraphrases Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" to "Start with the Customer."

The Destination Madison Team took the time to break down the challenges faced by today's meeting and event professional. And, juggling contract upon contract from each of the hotels they planned to use certainly floated to the top as one of a planner's biggest pain points.

How to solve the dilemma? Design one contract for all the hotels in the city the planner intends to use.

They call it "One City. One Contract."

It's One brilliant idea. 

Kudos to Deb, John and the Team that makes those of us that call Madison home so proud...

The Proving Just Got Tougher

Those who have seen me present in Boardrooms and on stages know I'm pretty dismissive of counting Room Nights as a primary measure of the efficacy of Destination Marketing. Don't jump to conclusions here. Achieving Room Nights is important. Using them as your proof has been a slippery slope for over a decade.

And, it just got slipperier.

A new study from Hilton, NYC & Company and the PCMA Foundation has found that the practice of convention attendees booking outside the contracted hotel block has gotten much worse over the past 5 years. Like, twice as bad as the last study I saw.

Over the past three years, roughly half of all delegates attending large-scale, urban conventions are booking accommodation outside the block. 25% of attendees actually booked the HQ hotel...but didn't identify themselves as attendees qualifying for the block. Thus, they haven't been counted. Thus, our "proof" just got shakier. 

As the report states, all participants in this dance will need to re-evaluate the practice of establishing Room Blocks from the consumers' point of view.

And, DMOs need to find other ways to communicate our value.

Every Destination Covets a Todd

While government can jump start a visitor economy through the development of a Convention Center, Tournament-grade Sports Complex or other compelling infrastructure asset, it is often the private sector entrepreneur that can have the most profound impact.

Take Todd Nelson...a regular guy who owned a bar and pizza place in Wisconsin Dells. Today, he oversees a hospitality brand that grossed over $300 million in three destinations (soon to be four). A brand most of us would love to have in our destinations.

This USA Today story is both inspirational (from a personal point of view) and motivational.

Find your destination's Todd.

Because he (or she) is out there...just waiting.