March 28, 2024

Hoteliers Urged To Ramp Up Services in Tandem with Rate Increases

Travelers throughout peak pandemic months were mainly accepting of required modifications in hotels, such as reductions to food-and-beverage offerings, housekeeping services and other features. Now hoteliers need to deal with guests who anticipate a return to typical, even if its not yet financially practical.

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Read remainder of the short article at CoStar.

” Its a truly complicated minefield for us to stroll,” stated Tony Capuano, CEO of Marriott International., but their expectations are for the services and amenities they had prior to the pandemic. “Consumers are back, and they desire those services, particularly in a resort environment.”.

Demand and rate might have come back quicker than operations can deal with in many cases, speakers said.

” What visitors expect now is radically various than what it was six months back,” stated Carlos Flores, president and CEO of Sonesta International Hotels Corp. “We had actually looked at our service offerings and operating standards and done things purposefully, like limitation house cleaning. Now its a point of friction, with guests asking, Why have not you come in and turned down the bed?”.

“If youre not back to typical, youre going to have extremely bad customer experiences.”.

Jeff Wagoner, president and CEO of Outrigger Hospitality Group, stated his business like others likely undervalued this return of guest expectations. Outrigger handles resort residential or commercial properties throughout Hawaii.

” Its a truly intricate minefield for us to walk,” stated Tony Capuano, CEO of Marriott International. “Guests want to pay [high rates], however their expectations are for the services and amenities they had prior to the pandemic. But our owners and franchisees have actually lost a lot in enterprise and property values. We need to browse this disconnect between client expectations and the financial realities our owners are still dealing with.”

With average everyday rates exceeding or approaching 2019 levels in numerous U.S. markets, guests have restored expectations that hotel services and amenities are back completely, said speakers at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference.

Sloan Dean, CEO and president of third-party management company Remington Hotels, said totally opening back up assisted head off the capacity for negative feedback. Remington handles hotels for all major brand name companies throughout the country.

“If youre not back to normal, youre going to have extremely bad consumer experiences.”.

“Consumers are back, and they want those services, specifically in a resort environment.”.