If you’re a hotelier, you’ll know that your business lives or dies on your ability to generate guest comforts. If you can change the emotional state of the people who stay with you in a positive way, then you’re much more likely to get business from them in the future. They’re also likely to refer people to your hotel.
Whether you’re upgrading your hospitality business or just trying to create a five-star experience, what can you do to increase and maximise guest comforts at your establishment?
Provide local recommendations
One of the most important things you can do as a hotelier is provide your guests with high-quality local recommendations. Most people won’t be familiar with the area where you’re located, so they’ll want you to tell them where the best spas, restaurants, and leisure activities are located.
It’s worth being honest with them about this and only building relationships with partners who offer genuine value. You don’t want to send your guest to a third-rate restaurant because that can undermine their trust in you.
Personalise comfort
Another thing you want to do is personalise the comfort in your hotel rooms by giving guests more control over their climate. Remember that what feels cosy to one person might feel suffocatingly hot to another. The difference in preferred ambient temperature and humidity can be quite varied, so provide them with instructions on how to use the HVAC system and what they can do to adjust humidity and temperature in their rooms.
Also provide them with a pillow menu. Wool pillows feel quite different from synthetic pillows or pillows made from classical foams, and the same applies to hotel duvets. These can feel thick and heavy to some visitors but cosy and protective to others.
Always use white bedding
You’ll notice that almost every luxury hotel uses white bedding, and there’s a reason for this. It’s a psychological trick called a visual anchor. When a visitor sees a crisp, all-white bed, it usually signals to the brain that the environment is completely clean and fresh. While it might sound simple, this technique can dramatically reduce the anxiety levels of their experience, helping improve the overall atmosphere of their stay.
Engineer the sleep system
Alongside white bedding, you’ll also notice that many top hotels engineer their sleep systems to work around their guests’ requirements. As a result, they use a multi-layered approach. For example, they start with a high-quality pocket-sprung mattress with a 2- to 3-inch feather or memory-foam mattress topper. They then add 1,000-thread-count sheets made of breathable cotton. This is a standard approach for all hotel bedding systems.
Beside the bed, there should be bedside tables with lamps and drawers to put things like books and phones. If you don’t have these elements, it can put guests off, even if they’re not able to identify exactly why.
There you have it: some strategies hoteliers swear by to increase guest comfort levels. Adopting most or all of these techniques can significantly reduce void periods and increase your margins.
