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In a world where the term “luxury” is slapped onto every hotel above $200 per night, how can meaningful luxury stand out?
Seemingly every hotel is now attaching the adjective to their offering, which in many ways is confusing not only for the traveler but the market in general. Similar to the overuse of the word “love,” luxury has become a word that has a spectrum of meaning from “nice” to truly meaningful.
Taking this into account, how can business leaders who operate businesses on the truly meaningful side of the spectrum stand out? Below are some ideas to encourage your teams and impact your guests.
1. Anticipation
When we think of luxury, often our minds immediately go to brands like Patek Philippe, Hermès, Dom Pérignon, etc. But when we think of the definition of luxury, it’s completely void of brand. In reality, luxury is more of a feeling. This is where “true” luxury sits — the feeling of being special for a moment, night or week. One of the greatest ways businesses can make a guest feel special is anticipation; thinking of the guest and preparing for them — and specifically them — before they arrive.
Checking in to most luxury hotels involves arriving at the hotel, a grand and warm entrance, and in special occasions, being greeted by name. You then stand in line to check in, the front desk asks for the name on the reservation and tries to locate a room for you. You hand over your credit card and sign some screens. Then, they hand over a plastic key and escort you warmly to the elevator to find your room. While nothing is wrong with this process, perhaps true luxury could be more.
Now imagine if your team was preparing for each guest specifically ahead of check-in and spent time understanding the needs of the guest and their desires for their stay weeks in advance. What could your team accomplish to make their arrival special? What would your team create if they knew the guest better?
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Try creating procedures where each guest has an opportunity to share these items and connect ahead of arrival with a dedicated person on your team. Encourage them to learn, at minimum, one thing that can be acted upon to show the guest you did something just for them. This could be a favorite flower in their room, their favorite snack or drink upon arrival, or simply remembering details that they shared and following through.
2. Thoughtfulness
Think back to the best hotel experiences you have had. From my decade in luxury hospitality, almost every guest email or note about their experience was due to a team member who made them feel special. This is a shockingly overlooked part of luxury hotels. Building the habit of thoughtfulness into your team’s guest interactions is the single best investment you can make in luxury.
When the team sees a guest who needs something outside of their area of responsibility, empower them to act. When a guest shares a preference or detail about their stay, listen and engage that information. Learning to listen to the guest, digest the information and act can create a guest for life — and to the team member who creates these moments, it becomes addictive. The team will see how their moment of thoughtfulness changes a guest’s stay and engraves that feeling into their memory.
3. People
The above two points work well if you have a great team. They fail if you don’t. The foundation of luxury service comes from hiring a team with a heart for hospitality. When you invest in people whose drive is to care for a guest, you will almost always be successful.
Often a great resume tells one side of the story, but it is usually better to hire a person with the right attitude that aligns with the vision rather than a person whose experience is wonderful but built on different values. It’s far harder to teach a heart for caring than it is to teach steps of service. When faced with the choice between the two, opt for the team member who may lack experience but believes in caring.
Final Thoughts
Leaders in this industry have an opportunity to stand on the shoulders of the great hoteliers who’ve built the current luxury market to reach higher. We’ve built the most beautiful hotels, made the beds with the highest thread counts and curated the most special stemware — now let’s invest in people creating moments of thoughtfulness and luxury that impact the guest’s heart for years to come.
