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:

•  Ease of booking - A new booking process that allows for multi-destination, multi-hotel, and multi-person reservations. Spa and restaurant bookings can now be made 
• in one step for many properties.
• On the go - Fully optimised for mobile devices and tablets.
• Access to reviews - Each of the 80-plus property pages features user generated content direct from Twitter, Facebook and TripAdvisor.
• Every property has a story - “Five-star highlights” and “why you’ll love it” sections both demonstrate first-rate service and the story behind the individual property. A quick reference tool kit right on the booking page offers need-to-know information specific to each stay.
• Location, location, location - Four Seasons awe-inspiring destinations are front and centre, with descriptions of amenities, itineraries and experience offerings, while painting an authentic picture of the local culture.
• Personalisation - After setting up a profile and indicating personal interests, related content and recommendations fromFour Seasons will become available on a guest’s next visit and over time, delivering a completely personalised experience.

Take a few minutes and check out the new site by clicking here.  Then book a trip to the Four Seasons Maui.  You deserve it!

Source:  Four Seasons Press Release

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

Will Starwood’s new online reviews be effective?  We believe so.  The most important thing that the reviews will do is to allow Starwood to address any negative publicity before it gets posted all over the internet.  Most guests who have a problem with a stay typically try to resolve their issue on property.  If that does not work, they will they will try and resolve it with the Corporate Office.  If that is a hassle, they like to post their negative comments anywhere they think someone will read it.  And we mean anywhere!  We often see the same negative reviews posted on dozens of websites.  Starwood’s new approach will hopefully give them a chance to resolve the complaint before it spirals out of control.

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

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

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

From the ACSI press release:

Guest satisfaction with hotels rises 2.7% to a score of 77. Lower rates and more perks have enhanced customers’ views of value for money. The aggregate of smaller brands—including small hotel and motel chains, individual luxury hotels, and bed and breakfasts—makes the most progress, up 4% to an ACSI score of 77. The industry is having more success with leisure travelers, as their satisfaction improves 1% to 77 compared to a 1% drop to 75 for business travelers.

“Although guest satisfaction has benefited from lower rates and various perks, there has been no effect on customer loyalty and repeat business,” said Fornell. “Price-induced satisfaction tends to make people shop around for the best deal rather than promote loyalty.”

Hilton leads, unchanged at 80, with both Marriott (-1%) and Starwood (+3%) close behind at 79. Hyatt comes next at 77 (-3%). Budget brands occupy the next tier below the industry average, with Intercontinental (Holiday Inns) down 3% to tie Best Western at 76. Choice Hotels follows, unchanged at 74, while Wyndham Worldwide (Ramada, Super 8, Days Inn) makes the biggest gain, up 4% to 73, but this is still not enough to pull Wyndham out of the industry basement.

Links:

June 2011 and Historical ACSI Scores

June 2011 ACSI Press Release

June 2011 ACSI Commentary on Hotels

“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.

“Since Tuesday, several plainclothes sheriff’s contract employees have been stationed at the hotel round the clock.  Their orders: seize the cash that flows into hotel coffers.  Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department has already collected $40,000, which will be handed over to the city.  An employee at the hotel, who would speak only if not identified because she fears retribution from her bosses, said the keepers are “nice guys” who sit around the hotel lobby all day and night.  At the end of each of her shifts, she hands them a record of how much money she has collected and puts it into a vault, from which the keepers later collect it. Some money is left so the hotel can pay its staff.  The employee said guests have been less happy about the arrangement.  As part of the debt collection, she noted, the staff at the front desk, bar, restaurant and coffee shop have been instructed to take cash only.”

Wow.  What a mess.  Don’t get behind on your occupancy taxes!

Here is the full list (by state, international hotels at the end):

Arizona:

Camelback Inn, A JW Resort and Spa

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess

Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North

The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician

The Phoenician

California:

L’Ermitage Beverly Hills

The Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows

The Peninsula Beverly Hills

Park Hyatt Aviara Resort

St Regis Resort, Monarch Beach

The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel

The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

The Lodge at Torrey Pines

Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills

The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey

Island Hotel Newport Beach

Pelican Hill Resort

Château du Sureau

Ojai Valley Inn & Spa

The Grand Del Mar

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara

Simpson House Inn

Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village

Colorado:

The Little Nell

The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch

The Broadmoor

The Ritz-Carlton, Denver

Connecticut:

Winvian

The Mayflower Inn & Spa

District of Columbia:

Four Seasons Hotel Washington D.C.

The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington D.C.

The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.

Florida:

The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami

The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale

The Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne

The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach

Four Seasons Hotel Miami

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort Naples

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples

Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach

The Breakers, Palm Beach

Ponte Vedra Inn and Club

The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota

Acqualina Resort and Spa on the Beach

Georgia:

Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta

InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta

The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta

The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead

The St Regis Atlanta Hotel and Residences

The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation

The Lodge at Sea Island

Hawaii:

The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua

Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu

Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

Illinois:

Elysian

Four Seasons Hotel Chicago

The Peninsula Chicago

Trump International Hotel and Tower

Massachusetts:

Four Seasons Hotel Boston

Mandarin Oriental, Boston

The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common

Misouri:

Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis

Nevada:

Aria Resort and Casino

Bellagio

Encore Las Vegas

Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas

Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas

SKYLOFTS at the MGM Grand

The Pallazzo Las Vegas

The Venetian Las Vegas

Wynn Las Vegas

New Mexico:

Encantado, An Auberge Resort

New York:

Four Seasons Hotel New York

Mandarin Oriental, New York

The Peninsula New York

The Pierre New York

The Plaza Hotel

The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park

The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

Trump International Hotel and Tower

North Carolina:

The Umstead Hotel and Spa

The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte

The Fearrington House Inn

Ohio:

Inn Walden

Pennsylvania:

Falling Rock at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort

Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia

The Rittenhouse Hotel and Condominium Residences

The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia
South Carolina:

Wentworth Mansion

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort

Woodlands Inn

Tennessee:

The Hermitage Hotel

Texas:

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas

Four Seasons Hotel Houston

Four Seasons Resort and Club

Utah:

Stein Eriksen Lodge

The Grand America Hotel

Virginia:

The Jefferson Hotel

The Inn at Little Washington

West Virginia:

The Greenbrier

Wisconsin:

The American Club

Wyoming:

Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole

Canada:

Four Seasons Resort Whistler

Caribbean:

Sandy Lane Hotel

The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman

Tortuga Bay Punta Cana Resort and Club

The Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hall, Jamaica

Jade Mountain Resort

Mexico:

Las Ventanas al Paraiso

Four Seasons Hotel Mexico D.F.

Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort

Four Seasons Resorts Punta Mita, Mexico

The St Regis Punta Mita Resort

JW Marriott Cancun Resort and Spa

Le Blanc Spa Resort

The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun

Fairmont Mayakoba

Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort Riviera Maya

Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya

Occidental Royal Hideaway Resort & Spa

Rosewood Mayakoba

Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya

Here is ASSA ABLOY’s video of the keys in use in Stockholm:

ASSA ABLOY also has plans to make all of our locks accessible by cellphone.  Check out this video:

Of guests staying at mid-scale hotels, 96% said they got free Wi-Fi, as did 64% of guests at budget hotels, according to the survey of guests who stayed in hotels from May 2009 to June 2010. None who stayed in luxury hotels said they got free wireless Internet.

We are surprised that 96 percent of guests in mid-scale hotels are now getting free Wi-Fi.  The free Wi-Fi spread at an incredible pace.  We are not surprised that no guests reported free Wi-Fi in luxury hotels.  Free Wi-Fi is a selling tool and makes little difference at a luxury hotel.  From the article:

At the Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel chain, the fee for Wi-Fi access is a top complaint among guests, said Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Vivian A. Deuschl.  Although some Ritz-Carlton hotels offer free Internet access in the lobbies and other public spaces, the hotel chain based in Maryland will continue to charge for the service in guest rooms, she said.

We are actually surprised by the lack of wireless internet in guest rooms or the poor quality of wireless internet in guest rooms.  Many hotels still offer wired internet only.  Not having Wi-Fi will actually cost you business.  Many guests now travel with Wi-Fi only devices, such as the very popular iPad.  In fact, this holiday shopping season, we are going to see more tablet computers from almost every manufacturer.  By next year, you will see many, many guests with Wi-Fi only tablet computers in your restaurant.