As someone who travels regularly to hotel industry events, listens to executives share their thoughts on stage and interviews them in hopes of gleaning some sort of broad insights about the trajectory of the industry, on thing I hear about just occasionally is the importance of delivering a simple and straightforward experience.
But this idea is not reflected enough across the industry at large.
There are a lot of cool and interesting and unique hotels across this globe, and obviously the more cool, interesting and unique it is the more attention it will garner in relation to the more cookie-cutter travel experiences.
But let's not forget that cookie cutters exist for a reason. No one wants to be out there cutting their cookie dough by hand trying to make identical shapes through sheer force of will.
Next week, I'll be on the road, and when picking my hotel for a few nights, my north star guiding my booking decision was what hotel will give me the more streamlined, home-like experience possible.
At the end of the day, I'd venture to say the vast majority of hotel experiences need to deliver just that. Be the oasis in the storm of travel anxiety and craziness. Deliver an experience that is predictable and easy.
Somewhere along the way, that idea seemed to have grown uncool, as more of the industry focuses on lifestyle and the hotel stay experience is also supposed to deliver some sort of magical feeling to travelers. It definitely is fair to say that people on the road want to feel like they're getting their money's worth — especially leisure travelers — and part of that means delivering on a sense that where they're staying is more special then predictable.
But at the same time, the specialness you're trying to deliver is completely meaningless if the basics of good sleep and a comfortable space to offer respite from the world aren't delivered on in a straightforward way.
All of this is to say, I don't care how cool your hotel is if it doesn't check the most simple boxes. So let's make sure we're still checking those boxes.
Let me know what you think on LinkedIn or via email.
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