Exceeding Guest's Expectations in a Post-Covid World
As we begin to peek through the COVID clouds of the last two years, hotel industry guest expectations are rapidly shifting back to pre-pandemic norms.
During the peak of the pandemic, guests became accustomed to lockdowns, health protocols, and a stark reduction in the variety of hotel amenities and human interaction they had come to expect.
Their expectations were significantly lowered, and for a period of time, that was okay.
However, with a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, hotels must pivot quickly to meet an expected shift in guest behavior and embrace growing guest expectations as we see average rate elevations and profitability approaching 75% of pre-COVID levels. Cost value, personalization, and unique experiences must be embraced by hotels as the new expected consumer experience and will be the only way to develop true loyalty.
At Valor Hospitality Partners, we pride ourselves on the programs we are actively implementing to embrace these elevated guest expectations with the flexibility we know is necessary as a global company to keep our guests first in everything we do. We are committed to constantly innovating and developing new ways to meet our customer's expectations.
First, we understand the critical importance of constantly examining, recognizing, and taking an introspective look at our internal guests. Because of that, we have lovingly dubbed our global associates as "Hotelitarians." Our Hotelitarians are a rare group of bold, creative specialists who work together to re-image our business and come up with innovative solutions to keep our guests safe, happy, and coming back. At Valor, we are laser-focused on ensuring the success and recognition of our Hotelitarians – many of whom led the hotel front line during the heights of the pandemic by putting their own health and safety at risk daily to ensure our company was able to remain customer-first. We take great measures to prepare all our Hotelitarians as we emerge out of COVID and ready our forces for the post-pandemic hospitality world to meet and exceed those associated guest expectations.
Valor has developed a number of programs and initiatives that help align our team's culture directly to our guests' expectations by creating environments that allow our employees to feel supported and make changes at a moment's notice. Whether it's supporting our team's mental health and well-being or simply supporting their physical fitness goals, we offer our teammates programs, at no cost to them, to help provide ongoing support so they can excel in both their personal and professional lives on a daily basis.
We've instituted a Work Certification in First Aid program to keep staff and guest safety a priority. We offer mental health counselors to help employees navigate back from the emotional depths of COVID, in addition to providing a company-wide fitness program that promotes health and physical fitness to ensure our staff feels supported in every aspect of their lives. These types of programs help our employees worry less about the things that keep them up at night and empower them to focus more on creating the ultimate guest experience for those visiting our properties.
One trend we are thrilled to see making a comeback is a rapid emergence of outdoor and patio space utilization. At the Valley Hotel, a Curio Collection Hotel by Hilton in Birmingham, we have seen increased activity at our three outdoor food and beverage spaces as guests utilize these spaces to entertain and socialize – bringing back some of the human interaction that was voided during the heights of the pandemic. There has also been an increase in demand for specialized events and smaller corporate group gatherings to book these exterior spaces as private locations for their teams.
Similarly, we have also seen demands and expectations change with our "In-Room Dining" transition, from the pandemic safely secured and packaged drop-and-go, to the more service-friendly delivery approach, accommodating for a full 360-degree dining experience expectation that was once so cherished prior to the pandemic. This is our time and provides us the opportunity to use advances in technology to personalize the in-room dining experience. We have the intelligence to acknowledge a guest's profile, historical requests, and preferences, thus enabling us to use this dining opportunity to surprise and delight as we move deeper into customer loyalty and retention tactics. These are the extra touches that will create a lasting impression and emotional experience, in turn, delivering the repeat business we are all clamoring for.
Another tactic we utilize surrounds locally curated events in partnership with our local business vendors. We aim to hold events at our properties in conjunction with our food and beverage outlets and concepts. We've seen resounding success with events like themed yoga via our celebrated "Yogatini" event which utilized our outdoor bar patios and rooftop spaces to provide signature cocktails while duly promoting the space for our guests to experience local flavors and indulge in the local heritage of our community.
These events help attract our local community residents, encourage mid-week stays and create buzz around the food and beverage offerings from our hotel properties. The future post-pandemic guest naturally exhibits pent-up demand from all they missed during COVID and is now looking for a unique and localized experience tailored to their exceptional needs. We are seeing significant rises in short-term "staycations" in drivable markets, providing us the opportunity to offer the unparalleled local offerings and experiences we know our communities are craving.
Tailoring offerings and events to our local community and capitalizing on the rise in "staycations" is vital in capturing market share and distinguishing our assets from other properties that aren't as quick to react to our guest's needs and demands. While the transformation of food and beverage offerings at our hotels is an ongoing strategy, we realize there is still much work to be done in perfecting our vision of providing unique, authentic, and distinctive offerings that increase revenue and generate customer loyalty.
Alternatively, with many of our traveling guests, we have noticed a change in demand, even at the daily services level across departments such as housekeeping and front office operations. While the guest expectation is still (and will always be) hyper-focused on cleanliness and sanitation with no tolerance for error, we are seeing a return to several pre-pandemic services at many of our properties.
Housekeeping practices that became near obsolete and devoid of any daily services during COVID are starting to shift back to a more consistent, expected routine. We realize we are still in the world of "opt-in" housekeeping services in many of the brands we service, and guest behaviors are beginning to shift with a more relaxed hesitation to frequent daily housekeeping service for a less consistent, more on-demand offering. You can make an argument that hotels are benefiting from savings on a cost-per-occupied-room basis – due to less daily room servicing – but there still needs to be keen awareness and sensitivity to the changing landscape of this amenity delivery.
Several of our hotels have returned to daily housekeeping guest room service, albeit in some cases a hybrid re-fresh and replenishment of amenities. One thing is for sure that the importance of cleanliness and sanitation is still imprinted in the guest consciousness and we do not see that wavering any time in the future. This has to be front and center in our delivery of guest expectations, hotel protocols, and processes to ensure this excellent customer experience is delivered without fail.
In closing, we are working hard to implement programs, change our way of thinking and shift our visions to accommodate the ever changing guest expectations; however, there is more to be done. It is up to our community to work together to find strategies and tactics that we can employ to keep our guests happy, satisfied and not only coming back but also singing our praises to their friends. In this age of social media and where we know our consumers tell us what our brand is and represents, versus the other way around, we have to practice what we preach like never before.
Our guests know when we're being disingenuous and will be the first to call us out – both in person and across their social media profiles. It is imperative that we are constantly keeping a pulse on their changing expectations while remaining genuine with our actions. Valor will continue to ensure that we are not only meeting our customers' needs, but continuously exceeding them at every turn along the way.
