LOS ANGELES—Boutique hotel owners and operators love to control the vibe and information emanating from their properties, but it’s not always easy to manage the message.
Thanks to the popularity of social media, there’s an extra layer of accountability, but that’s easily covered by doing the basics, according to speakers last month on the “Boutique lifestyle brands - the word from their top executives” general session panel at the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association’s International Boutique & Lifestyle Leadership Symposium .
“It’s in such real time these days; it’s not just about working the (public relations) angles,” said Craig Greenberg, president of 21c Museum Hotels. “The social media aspect of boutique hotels cannot be understated. It’s critically important. To take the time to get people to tell the world (about your hotel) is extremely important.”
Michael Tall, president & COO of Charlestowne Hotels, said boutique hoteliers face a double-edge sword because hotels don’t have complete control over the story being shared.
“There are other people telling the story or controlling your story,” Tall said. “Your ability to control the message that’s distributed around the world is key.”
There is one sure way for hoteliers to keep the positive vibes flowing to social media circles, according to David Duncan, president of Denihan Hospitality.
“You cannot control what the world says about you; you can only control the services you provide,” Duncan said. “If you get that right, people will say nice things about you. You need to be authentic.”
The Internet also has changed the way hoteliers reach the customers who they hope will provide positive messages on social media channels, the leaders said.
“In our space, because you’re dealing with all of the brands from a competition level … what the Internet has done is changed the whole way how you get the message out,” Tall said. “The way you can tailor messages to key demographics is the key. You couldn’t do that 10 years ago.”
Sam Bakhshandehpour, president of Sbe/SLS Hotels, said it’s important to know who exactly your demographic is in the age of technology. SLS has invested a lot of money into customer relationship management and loyalty programs so it can track a 25-year-old for the next 40 years to measure how his or her likes change.
“There is a learning curve with this global environment of digital media,” Bakhshandehpour said. “It’s easier today to follow trends than it was 10 years ago.”
Creating unique experiences
That trend-watching capability is essential in creating the experiences that boutique lifestyle guests are searching for, the speakers said.
Tall said sales-and-marketing efforts are at the core of how to become unique and create an identity. The maturation of the Internet has made that process easier.
“The expectation game is becoming harder and harder,” Greenberg said. “The opportunity for that hotel to surprise that guest and over-deliver on that experience is more difficult.”
Greenberg said the experience must be executed perfectly every time, and hoteliers must constantly innovate to maintain their competitive edge.
That includes hiring top-notch employees at every turn—something that’s not always easy, according to the panelists.
Hiring the right employees
Attracting employees is a challenge for all independent hoteliers because in general the hotel industry isn’t looked at as a profession, said Richard Millard, CEO of Trust Hospitality. That mentality is beginning to change.
“We’re trying to move that along; we can teach them anything but attitude,” Millard said. “There’s a lot of talented young people today who want to get into hotels.”
Millard said it’s important to expand horizons when it comes to hiring talent—and to manage prospects’ expectations.
“We don’t recruit from hotel schools. … They want to be king of the castle,” Millard said. “We think it’s more about the journey than the destination.”
Denihan’s Duncan said finding the right employees who understand what guests are looking for is a job in and of itself.
“We want service levels to be genuine,” Duncan said. “We have systems in place … how to interview for that personality type and that personality trait.”
Duncan said ensuring that all owners, the operator, management staff and employees understand what the hotel is trying to accomplish is an important step to success.
“It’s not hard to attract interested parties; the real challenge is how to make sure that interested party is clearly aligned with the local business,” Duncan said.
Creating culture is a top priority
That all adds up to creating the right culture from the top down.
“When it comes to reading and following trends, we’re culture carriers,” Bakhshandehpour said. “At the same time we’re in the business of building buildings that are profitable.”
“Culture is the most critical thing we face every day,” said Brad Wilson, president of Ace Hotel Group. “How you build that is critical.”
The most important element in building culture is authenticity, according to Wilson.
“There’s a difference between a brand that evolves and a brand that’s created,” he said. “It’s easy to create a brand on paper … but I’ve always found that when you start small and evolve, the creation of that culture is easier.”
The people challenges are the same regardless of the location around the globe, panelists said.
“People are people and they’re all the same around the world,” Millard said. “There are local customs, but we’ve found that if you have a culture, no matter where we’ve gone around the world, they will embrace your culture as long as they believe in it.”
The local customs—such as making sure not to look people in the eye when addressing them in Turks & Caicos—are extremely important, according to Millard.
“Young people today are not stupid,” Millard said. “If you’re insincere, they know it real fast.”