Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Unveils New Website and Inaugural Luxury Trend Report

Just a few month’s ago, we wrote about how Starwood was the first to allow guests to post reviews on the Starwood website.  Now, Four Seasons is unveiling a brand new website with ‘social media integration’.  Those are fancy words that mean you can now share with facebook and twitter or connect with their pages.  Overall, the new website design looks terrific.  The photography is exceptional.  A few highlights from the press release:

As the first luxury hotel brand to fully embrace social media,Four Seasons moved digital to the forefront early on with Four Seasons Magazines Online , the introduction of blogs such as Have Family Will Travel, and a strong presence on social networking sites to suit the ways guests and travel partners communicate. The newFour Seasons website was thoughtfully designed in the same vein, to deliver an immersive and effortless experience tailored to every user. The brand’s signature service, locations and experiences are showcased through photo-rich, informative property and destination pages. Key features of fourseasons.com include: Read the rest of this entry »

Four Seasons Introduces 15-Minute Room Service in All 86 Hotels & Resorts

Starting at the end of 2011, Four Seasons will offer 15-minute Room Service in all of their hotels (20 minutes in some locations with kitchens not easily accessible).  From the Four Seasons press release:

“Whether needing to quickly replenish after a workout or wanting to toast the perfect sunset, 15-Minute Room Service provides quick and delicious meals for those who want it right away,” says Christopher Hunsberger, executive vice president, global product and innovation at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “It’s also ideal for those who are on the go. Ideally, every meal would be enjoyed at leisure, but at times we really just need to grab a bite quickly – and there’s no reason that it can’t be freshly-made with quality ingredients, and entirely delicious.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Starwood Now Allows Guests To Post Reviews On Starwood.com

We have been talking about hotels managing their internet reputation ever since the days of MySpace.  Yes, that long ago!  One of our recommendations was to allow guests to post reviews directly onto your own website, instead of a third party site like TripAdvisor.  Finally, a hotel company has gotten it right!  Starwood.com will now allow guests to post reviews (good and bad we assume) after check out.  Guests can post a review for a visit within 18 months after logging in and verifying that they were a guest of the hotel.  They currently have the following guidelines for posting reviews:

1. Keep your review focused on the hotel
2. Contact us if you have an issue that requires immediate assistance
3. Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the hotel
4. Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names

Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express names best travel reward credit card by NextAdvisor.com

NextAdvisor.com, a website that offers independent research on all different types of products from Auto Insurance to Web Hosting, just released their analyst on reward credit cards.  Three hotel branded credit cards made it into the top 8 with the Starwood Amex taking the top spot.  The other 5 reward cards are all airline cards.

The Starwood Amex returns about 2.1 cents per point, the highest in the study.  The Marriott Rewards card came in 7th place with a return of about .8 cents per point.  The Hilton HHonors card was 8th with a return of .5 cents per point.  For a full list, hit up the link below.

Source:

NextAdvisor.com

Hotel Occupancy Above Pre-Recession Levels, REVPAR & ADR Gaining Ground

We have not checked in with our favorite financial blog, Calculated Risk,  in a while.  We are pleased to see the incredible progress hotels have made in both occupancy and ADR. Occupancy has now recovered to the median after falling off a cliff in 2008.  REVPAR is now about 3 percent below the median.  Check out the full details by clicking on the graph.

Source:  Calculated Risk

Five Diamond Tips for Using the Guest’s Name

One of the biggest areas of struggle during our Service Experience Audits is the use of the guest name.  The use of the guest name is one of the most important tools you have to build loyalty with your guests.  Rather than providing your associates with general instructions such as ‘use the guest’s name during every interaction’, focus on the key areas of when the name should be used.  Our method is simple, but very effective.

Use the guest name once to open the conversation and once to close the conversation.

By doing this, it will become second nature to your associates.  They wont even have to think about using the guest name.  They will just do it.

Here are some examples for a few departments on how to use the guest name:

Phone Calls:  As soon as the phone rings, the PBX operator should pull up the guest’s information on the computer and get ready to use the name.  The PBX operator should immediately greet the guest by name.  After handling the call, the operator should end the call by using the guest name.

Check In & Check Out:  As soon as the guest gives the name or room number, the GSA should immediately use the name once.  The GSA should close the conversation with “have a great stay, Mr. Smith.”

In Room Dining:  The server should double check the name just prior to knocking on the door.  Once the analyst opens the door and invites them in, the server should greet the guest by name.  Then once the guest signs the check, the server should thank the analyst by name on their way out of the room.

Housekeeping & Engineering:  The associates should double check the name just prior to knocking on the door.  Once the analyst opens the door and invites them in, the server should greet the guest by name.  To close the conversation, the associate should say something like “enjoy the rest of your stay, Mr. Smith.”

The real key to successful use of the guest name is repetition.  If you require all associates to use the name once during the greeting and once during the closing it is very easy to monitor and it wont belong until everyone on your team is using guest names.

John Taffer from Spike TVs Bar Rescue Provides Great Bar Tips

Spike TV has a new reality TV show called Bar Rescue.  Bar Consultant Jon Taffer and his team take over bars on the verge of bankruptcy and turn them around.  In addition to remodeling the bar, he gets the management and staff on the right track to running a successful bar.  He covers everything such as managing your pour cost, menu engineering, up-selling, even why proper uniforms are important.  Of course, like any good reality TV show, Bar Rescue is built around the drama that comes from running a bar.

Check out this clip below.  John talks about the perfect one ounce pour, the power of suggestion, bar menu engineering, and why selling fruit drinks helps promote food sales.

♦

Bar Rescue airs on Spike on Sunday but they rerun episodes often.  Also, many clips and some full episodes are available on Spike’s website.  Check out this clip and meet John Taffer, the star of Bar Rescue.

♦

♦

Links:

Spike’s Website for Bar Rescue

Ask Five Diamond: Host Duties for a Breakfast Buffet

Dear Five Diamond Hospitality,

At my hotel, we have a very busy breakfast buffet (especially on the weekends).  Our hosts do a good job of seating guests in a timely manner but don’t add too much to our overall guest service.  What can you recommend?

Good question.  We often see hosts do a poor job on guest service.  Often they just stand behind the desk and wait for guests to approach them and then walk them to a table.  Then they go back to checking their text messages on their iPhone.

1.  First, be sure to check out our Breakfast Buffet Training Guide.  There is a great video on basic service steps

2.  The first goal of every host should be to greet every arriving guest a warm smile and a ‘Good Morning’.  Also, they should make sure to greet every departing guest with a warm smile and a sincere thank you.

3.  Hosts must know how to greet multiple guests at the same time.  Often when two parties arrive in the restaurant at the same time, the host will greet the first party and escort them to the table without saying a word to the second party.  The host must let the second party know that he/she will be back in a minute to seat them.

4.  When escorting guests to a table, the host should make sure to point out the buffet.  The goal is to get the guest excited about the breakfast they are about to have.  Make sure to be excited about the buffet and mention some of the great things such as the omelet chef.

5.  When the guest arrives at the table, the host must hand each guest a menu after they are seated.  Do not just place the menu on the table and walk away!

6.  Have the host introduce the server with a phrase such as ‘John will be taking care of you this morning and will be right over to offer you coffee and juice’.

7.  Finally, make sure the host closes the conversation.  We often just see hosts walk away from the table without saying anything.  Have the host at least say ‘have a great breakfast!’

Have any tips of your own?  Post them below!  Have a question that you would like answered?  Post it below or send it to us via the contact page.

Hotels Continue to Impress in Latest ACSI Surveys. Hilton Still Number 1, Followed by Starwood and Marriott.

The latest ACSI (The American Customer Satisfaction Index) results are in.  Overall, hotels are really pleasing guests with a 2.7 percent jump from the prior year.  This year’s score was 77, the highest score since the index started back in 1994.  Hilton is on top for the fourth straight year with a score of 80.  Starwood increased 2.6 percent to leapfrog Marriott with a score of 79.  Marriott dropped 1.3 percent and is now in third place.  Here are the complete results:

1.  Hilton, score of 80, no change from last year

2.  Starwood, score of 79, up 2.6

3.  Marriott, score of 79, down 1.3

4.  Hyatt, score of 77, down 2.5

5.  All Others, score of 77, up 4.1

6.  InterContinental, score of 76, down 2.6

7.  Best Western, score of 76, no change

8.  Choice, score of 74, no change

9.  Wyndham, score of 73, up 4.3

Read the rest of this entry »

Huff Post Article ‘In California, A Labor Fight Over Hotel Bedsheets’

We have not seen much press on this California proposal for Hotel Housekeeping Safety.  The Huffington Post published an article the other day telling the story of a 69 year old room attendant who recently testified in Sacramento in favor of a bill that would force hotels to get rid of flat bed sheets in favor of fitted sheets.  The bill will also require hotels to supply long-handled tools for cleaning the bathrooms.  You can check out the bill here.  Some details from the Huffington Post article:

“When she isn’t sidelined by an injury, Nenita Ibe cleans 16 rooms a day at the Santa Clara hotel where she’s worked for 10 years. Since some rooms have two beds, that adds up to 25 mattresses per day, each of which needs to be lifted up on each side so that the 69-year-old Filipino immigrant can set the bedsheet properly. Luxury hotel mattresses can weigh more than 150 pounds these days. Ibe weighs a waiflike 125. The beds have taken a toll.”

“Eleazar Dumuk, who, like Ibe, works for Hyatt and is from the Philippines, testified that she and her colleagues used to have long-handled mops — but one day, they suddenly disappeared. “It’s probably just cheaper for the company to have my coworkers and me get on our knees,” she testified. “I came to this country not to work on my knees but to make a just, humane living.” A spokesperson for Hyatt did not respond to requests for comment.”

The article says it will cost California hotels about $15 million to switch from flat sheets to fitted sheets.  Fitted sheets are also harder to clean, store, and transport.  The article is definitely worth a read.  Also, be sure to check out the comments section.  There is a pretty lively discussion happening.