Leslie Ciminello chooses Hotel 1000 in Seattle every time she has to move around for business related matters. The reason for this is that she knows what will meet her upon her entry – lactose-free milk alongside gluten-free cereal in the fridge. These are both her predilections and only a few hotels treat their guests as family like this one.
According to Hotel 1000, any guest who does 15 to 20 check-ins every year qualifies as a guest treated like family by the hotelier and all the staff members of the hotel. Therefore, as family, that guest is given the extra mile of treatment, making their stay more exceptional and warm, emulating an environment of a person's blissful home.
Thanks to her work, Ms. Ciminello spends half of her time on the road. So far she has made 130 check-ins at the Hotel 1000 in Seattle for the past six years.
Business travelers and industry experts cordially second the extra effort put up by certain hotels when it comes to not only attracting but also retaining guests in their abode. Hotels throughout the country are stepping their game up in terms of emphasizing the level of personalized services they provide to their guests, apart from the amenities stipulated on the list. This is because of the rebound of hotel occupancy rates being dragged down by the ongoing recessions. As this happens, room rates grow higher, in which case hotels must go the extra mile in their provisions. Since they can't attract that many guests anymore, it is therefore best to keep recurring guests on the loop. That is why these days it is commonplace for hotels to seek for repeat customers.
According to Senior Vice President of Preferred Hotel Group, Casey Ueberroth, loyally engaged guests account most for the figures in the earned revenue. When a hotel takes extra care of a guest, they will come back as they are able to retrospectively think of the quality service they have received.
Hotel 1000 happens to be a part of the Preferred Hotel Group. It took them the extra effort to win Ms. Ciminello's repeat business. During her 26th visit to the hotel, they surprised her with a personalized reward not because of earning loyalty points, but simply because they wanted to keep her coming with the welcoming feeling that a real family can give. Her first surprise reward was a free massage, followed by a spa treatment during her 60th visit. After that, they decided to let her pick the reward of her choice. With all these favors coming in to Ms. Ciminello, it was easy for her to say that the attention the hotel gives her is something almost non-existent in other hotels she has encountered in her past travels.
The real determining principle in retaining guests to a hotel is to create a certain kind of environment that captures the feel of what it is to be at home. This is something that most business travelers miss out during their check-ins and something they constantly yearn for as well.
According to Eric Jellson, Kimpton Hotels and Epic Hotel area director of sales and marketing in Florida, hotels should assign people to take care of guests on a one-on-one basis. He believes that there is always enough room to do personal engagements, preferred by business travelers who constantly miss out on fluctuations that can only be attained from personal relationships.
Just like that, Jonathan Raggett of Red Carnation Hotels said that they are working to give assurance that all guests are looked after thoroughly in the smartest of manners. With that in mind, all of the hotels they own including the ones in London, South Africa, Geneva, and the Channel Islands, make sure that they know at least most of each guests’ preferences apart from their needs. This is one way they are able to avoid providing drinks and other consumables that a guest may be allergic to or anything to that effect.