More than a week has passed since my Cleveland Indians limped out of the MLB post season after self-imploding during a one-game Wild Card playoff. And while I can still feel the sting, I look back on this season as a resounding success.
Why? Because no one saw it coming.
Months ago, as pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, nearly every talking head predicted the Indians would finish last or second to last in their division. That was before the team won 92 games, landed a playoff spot and emerged as one of the best stories of the regular season.
They exceeded my expectations. They exceeded nearly everyone’s, for that matter. And that’s why I’m still happy with the end results, playoff loss and all.
Like so many things in life, it’s a matter of perception—the space that divides expectation and reality. I expected nothing and was ecstatic they did so well.
The opposite could be said for diehard loyalists of the Toronto Blue Jays, a team many predicted would win the World Series but finished dead last in American League East. The resulting gap between expectation and reality in this case tilts in the negative direction, leaving the Jays’ fan base irate, disillusioned or, worse yet, apathetic.
Hoteliers know how important it is for reality (aka the guest experience) to meet or exceed expectations. That’s why there’s been such a push in recent years to revamp hotel websites to include more robust imagery, videos and descriptions. The more the online world matches the real one, the most guests can form accurate expectations that complement their stays.
Interestingly enough, it appears gaps in perception are more pronounced in certain hotel segments than in others. 1-star hotels often get dinged for lapses in product quality—a stain in a carpet, wear and tear on FF&E, or slow Wi-Fi—when the revenues they generate often can’t support the upgrades or infrastructure to fill them, regardless of how much a guest expects them to.
Upper-upscale brands often fall on the other end of the spectrum. Take a look at the recently released findings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, for instance.
The study, which benchmarks satisfaction for 24 chains in the U.S., counts six upper-upscale brands in its top 10 highest scorers. Only one upper-upscale brand, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, fell below the industry average score of 77.
So what about upper-upscale hotels lends them to higher levels of satisfaction?
“Upper-upscale and luxury brands charge a higher rate but provide for those prices what guests perceive to be a significantly higher quality experience, both in terms of the comfort of the room itself and the food and amenities offered to guests,” explained ACSI Director David VanAmburg in an email. “When guests book higher-end hotels they typically do so precisely because of the higher levels of quality they expect to experience and are willing to pay more for that quality.”
Guests pay for more and expect more, and high-end hotel operators have gotten surgically efficient in directing that extra revenue toward the amenities, associate training and product offerings that delight guests.
Am I arguing certain hotels are predestined to certain satisfaction strata? Hardly. Any hotel can blow guests’ expectations out of the water.
We here at Hotel News Now always marvel at Jerry’s Motel in downtown Los Angeles, which, in a market where average daily rates are nearly $150, charges a meager $75 for standard room. Property management does everything right, however, offering clean bathrooms, Wi-Fi that works and excellent service. The result? A No. 9 ranking out of 309 Los Angeles-area hotels on TripAdvisor.
Of course, as your property develops an excellent reputation, guests begin to expect more, making it more difficult to surprise them.
Take the Cleveland Indians. They caught me off guard this season. But next year? World Series or bust.
And now on to the usual goodies …
What’s making me happy this week
The complete list of winners of the Hotel News Now Stephen W. Brener Silver Plate Award. I don’t know why we starting talking about this during a recent editorial meeting, but I’m glad we did. I’m also glad we have Ed Watkins, formerly of Lodging Hospitality, which used to give the award, to school the rest of the staff on this veritable who’s who of hotel industry titans.
Perusing the list back to its origins in 1959 is like walking in the hotel hall of fame. All the usual names are there: Bill Marriott Jr., Isadore Sharp, Jonathan Tisch, Randy Smith. So are a few surprises. (Read: Rudy Giuliani) But each and every one is well-deserved.
Take a look at the full list for yourself.
Stat of the week
12.1%: Percentage decreases in revenue per available room experienced in both Washington, D.C., and Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia, during the week ending 5 October, according to STR, parent company of HNN. Both markets are heavily reliant on government business, which has ground to a halt because of the shutdown.
“Long-term effects of the shutdown remain to be seen, but in the early going it clearly had an impact on the overall hotel industry,” said Brad Garner, senior VP for STR.
Quote of the week
"Hotels want to drive rates again because demand is back. But I think the real question so far is who really does have the leverage to drive rates? And if it's the hotels, then the question is whether corporate buyers are willing to give in to that."
—Vicki Schell, VP of distribution at Vantage Hospitality Group, discussing corporate rate negotiations as reported in “Hoteliers, buyers clash amid contract season.”
Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies, said hoteliers are looking for rate increases of 6.5% to 7.5% or even more, while buyers want to keep them to 4% to 5%.
Hanson has predicted that the average net result of negotiations will be increases between 5% and 6%.
Reader comment of the week
“It’s nice to hear Arne is at least considering swearing off political donations. I suspect that just like the shutdown, it’s all rhetoric, but at least he’s not afraid to say it. If only leaders like him would follow through with that kind of threat...”
—Reader “Anonymous” responding to comments from Marriott International’s Arne Sorenson saying he’d swear off political contributions to any party or politician who strictly adheres to the party line at the expense of the overall good of the United States—as seen by the ongoing government shutdown.
Someone needs to put an end to the madness. Hoteliers in many markets throughout the country say they’re feeling the impact of the shutdown, a sentiment that was confirmed in this week’s performance data from STR.
Email Patrick Mayock or find him on Twitter.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or its parent company, STR and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to comment or contact an editor with any questions or concerns.