PRAGUE, Czech Republic — How do luxury hotels and hoteliers “humanize” themselves yet at the same time “bedazzle” guests who don't flinch at high nightly room rates?
Bedazzlement might come at a cost to a luxury hotel's ability to deliver humanization or personalization, according to a panel at the Inspire: Luxury Hospitality Conference.
Sonia Santana Cerpa, CEO of Montreux, Switzerland-based advisory S Strategic Services, said placemaking and design are the first steps to providing something extra that can wow high-end guests who cannot be wowed by luxury add-ons and personalized gifts.
“They still want standards and personalization, but if you’re paying $3,000 a night, then that is a given. What they want is the human touch and an emotional bond. [Humans are] not rational. Ninety percent of our consumer decisions are based on emotions, so for a hotel, it all comes down to the people, and people who care,” she said.
Stellar employees could make the difference of separating one luxury hotel from another, said Abdul Baaghil, the Lisbon-based co-founder and principal of Harvest Cotton Tale Hospitality Group. Baaghil is also a former general manager of the Fairmont Nile City, Cairo, among other hotels.
“Everyone must make the destination better, its character, its humanization and its soul. We need to find aspiring storytellers, musicians, chefs, who can tell their stories. Soul and product need to marry as one. Luxury is intention and presence, not about the marble,” Baaghil said.
Santana Cerpa said there some guests may stop going to their favorite luxury hotels because of staff turnover, leaving no one who remembers their specific stay preferences.
But not enough hoteliers understand what guests want from personalization, Baaghil said.
“General manager sometimes are too busy crunching numbers,” he said.
Panelists cited examples of “luxury” gone wrong, such as neglecting to ensure guest bathrobes are the right sizes or providing things that might be thought of as adding value but don't, according to the guest's perspective.
“Every brand looks the same, and you cannot tell the difference between luxury and lifestyle. If you live in a luxury-branded residence, the blur is more,” Baaghil said.
And in some cases, hoteliers in the luxury segment can overthink the experiences and amenities guests are looking for, said Sofia Rodrigues, founder and CEO of The-Guest Club and based in Brig, Switzerland. Her company is a membership club for high-end guests and travelers that store and distribute their tastes, preferences and requirements.
“iPads!” she exclaimed. “I am [at your hotel] for two days, and you want me to learn this new, complicated system?”
Sometimes a city or destination goes through changes that undercut a luxury hotel's vision and appeal. Anna Domingo, founder of New York City-based consultancy Padzzle, said Prague — although largely a marvel — suffers from an overabundance of Thai massage parlors, cannabis shops and restaurants selling food that has nothing to do with Prague or the Czech Republic.
“I’m from Barcelona, and parts of the old city have been destroyed. I, we, have a responsibility to correct this,” she said.
Building emotion and legacy through a luxury hotel must be in cooperation with guests, a journey that starts with a hotel’s conceptual master planning, Domingo said.
“That is where it starts. How to purpose and add value to a heritage building, as an example. … ‘If you build it, they will come,’ I believe is not the right concept right now,” she said. “As the saying goes, numbers do not lie, and liars do not use numbers. [The hotel industry does] not want community pushback; [it wants] community ideas, ideas you would never have thought about on your own.”
Data dilemma for luxury hotels
IT and AI have major roles to play in the humanization of hotel stays and the bedazzlement of guests, Rodrigues said. However, luxury hotel guests seek out the segment for wellness and rest, which might lead some customers to withhold the amount of data the share.
“IT can enhance and humanize the personal touches. … What data does the guest want to give to the hotel? This is what should be listened to,” she said.
Not all panelists agreed on the importance of data.
“Data is not the solution to provide ethos and soul. A huge amount of instinct has to be involved,” Baaghil said.
Where data falls is when it is siloed data within a hotel or brand, Rodrigues said.
“That is the enemy of the push to humanization, as are excessive or incorrect information,” she said, adding that abiding by Europe's General Data Protection Regulation can also muddy the waters of how useful guest data can be.
Baaghil said IT needs to be balanced against “soul.” He added he is worried many luxury hotels have lost that soul.
“Data is important, but the right data,” he said, adding soul and legacy can be difficult to notions to transfer from their originators to those who take over from them.
“Data is the facilitator. It will never replace the human,” Domingo added.