what technology do you expect from your hotel?

I attended the HOT and Green Hospitality Conference this week and was surprised at a statement that was made regularly in the presentations about technology in the hotel room (TV, TV stations, Internet, etc.).

“Guests expect the hotel in-room technology to be as good or better than what they have at home.”

I agree this is the way it used to be. It may even be true for some of the current guests from a higher age demographic (over 60). But based on my experience the hotel industry is catering to the 25 to 55 crowd, and the chance that it will have better technology than what that traveler has at home is slim…most likely none. The general population is more affluent and technologically advanced than ever before and will continue to be (even with our pending recession). The reality is many households already have a flat screen 32″ TV (or bigger) and maybe an LCD flat panel. They have home theater with surround sound. They have a DVR. They have over 100 channels. They have a iPod docking station or component cables that connect their iPod to their surround sound. They have wireless Internet on 802.11b if not 802.11g and hard connect rates of 6Mbps to 30Mbps. When at home they check email, download from iTunes, listen to music, and watch TV (sometimes all at the same time).

For many (at least me) when they do stay in a hotel that has a cool new technology the first action after arriving home is to go buy one of equal or better quality (welcome to GenX and GenY). After all, if you can’t keep up with a hotel you sure are not keeping up with the Jones. 😉

But again and again I heard this statement and how hard it was to manage this problem. I have a solution…stop trying to manage the problem. It should not be a problem because hotels are not going to be able to surpass home technology in the room anymore. And besides, when I travel is it really an iPod docking station with movie surround sound that I want? No.

I think a good question is “What do you expect from your hotel?” For some the answer may be better technology, but the majority want something else.

As a self proclaimed technology evangelist here are the top 10 things I would like from my hotel room.

power outlets…lots of them
I want power…all over the place. I want four outlets next to the bed with at least two available for me. Oh, and they can’t be in the lamp because sometimes my power supply won’t fit (with the possible exception of on the top of the lamp base). I want four available outlets at the desk, and not so far under the desk that I have to be on my hands and knees to get to it. Better yet, stick a surge protector at the desk so my equipment is protected as well. I want absolute power…but absolute access to power will do.

FREE wireless Internet
Please give me FREE wireless Internet. This is quite possibly my biggest pet peeve when staying at a hotel. I get this feeling the hotel is yelling at me, “WE WILL MAKE YOU PAY!” I understand the plight of hotels that wireless Internet is expensive, especially if you already ran CAT5 to every room. But, I don’t literally mean I want it free. I just want it included in my nightly rate. The perceived value of FREE cannot be understated. FREE Internet makes me feel like I’m getting something free even though I’m paying for it as a room rate. It makes me feel valued and that the hotel understands my desires. If you can’t give me FREE wireless Internet then at least give me FREE Internet. Oh, and in that case I want a 20 foot CAT5 cable so I can wander all over the room (this was actually provided by Adam’s Mark this week). The speed of the Internet is really lesser of an issue than getting it FREE. (I’ll cover that topic in a post in the near future.)

a remote control that works
I want a TV remote control that works. It needs to work when I hit the power button, when I hit the volume button, and when I hit the channel button. I should not have to point it at crazy angles to turn the TV off and on. It should work exactly like my universal remote at home, which is a basic remote but it works every time.

let me see the TV
I want to see the TV from the bed or the desk. If Chrystal is traveling with me then I want her to be able see it from the bed and me from the desk. The room should be arranged so I don’t have to drag the desk over in order to work and watch ESPN at the same time.

good lighting
I want to see at the desk and see in the bathroom. The switch to more energy efficient lighting is awesome and I’m all for it. But if it means my wife has to turn on every light in the room while standing near the window in the morning to put on her makeup then we have kind of defeated the point. Give me good lighting in those two areas and I’m happy…so is Chrystal.

iron and ironing board
What’s with the new trend of having to ask to have an iron and ironing board delivered to the room? I want and need an iron, and it is usually at the last minute. If I have to wait 10 minutes for it to be delivered then I’m late for my meeting. “I thought I had an iron” is worse than “The dog ate my homework.”

odor free room
I do not want my room to smell like an ash tray, a restaurant kitchen, my high school locker room, or an industrial cleaning product. I want an odor free room. It should smell like a clean room (read no smells).

hot water
I want hot water. Not “hot enough” water, but real hot water. I like to take a really hot shower so I want really hot water. And while I’m on that I want the same water pressure I have at home. I have flow control faucets but I still get enough water pressure to enjoy it.

room to room privacy
I don’t want to hear what the guest in the next room is watching on TV or what deal he is trying to close on the speaker phone. I don’t care and it invades my privacy. I expect privacy way before I expect a flat panel TV that is bigger and better then mine at home.

clean sheets and a fluffy towel
If I need fresh bed linens or towels I want the service staff to recognize it when they are cleaning the room. I’m fine if the standard is to change the bed every other day and that I reuse a towel. I use a towel probably 5 times at home and change the sheets when it seems reasonable (or Chrystal changes the sheets really). And my towel should not scratch me when drying off out of the shower. It should be soft and feel like a towel should feel.

extra pillows
I want extra pillows in the closet. I may never use them but I want extra pillows.

FREE coffee with real cream and sugar
“Again with the FREE,” you say! I want FREE coffee with real creamer and sugar. Provide Mini Moos (half-and-half that does not need to be refrigerated) as it is way way way way better than powdered-non-dairy-gross-creamer. Oh and I’m a coffee snob so I don’t want Folgers. I doesn’t have to be Peet’s but give me something in the middle. The perception that I’m getting good coffee FREE makes me feel great. Don’t you love feeling great?!

clean room
I want a clean room and bathroom. I want it to look like it was vacuumed and scrubbed just for me. I don’t want toe nails in the bathroom corner. I don’t want candy wrappers under the bed. I don’t want someone else’s used tissue in the trash can. And I never again want someone’s underwear between the bed sheets (yes that really happened).

The reality is I want the same normal comforts I have at home but be taken care of like I’m special. Eating out and having someone pick up after me is a luxury, so do that really really well.

alarm clock that works in the dark
I want to see the alarm clock. Oh, and yes especially when the room is dark. I’m impressed if the clock is sleek, artsy, and black. I’m unimpressed if I can’t see it when I need to. If I want to know what time it is when I’m up and around I’ll look at my watch or my phone. I don’t want to search for my watch or phone in the dark. I want to see the glow-in-the-dark-big-huge-glowing-digital-clock.

attentive staff
I want better service. Pick up the phone at the front desk after no more than three rings. Have a concierge service that knows about local restaurants and which ones are good.

Do this better than everyone else and I may stay at your hotel (so will many many others). And if you have technology better than mine bonus for me. But the next time I stay most likely my technology will be better than yours.

The hotel-room-of-the-future project may disagree with me, but I’m betting my home technology will better in 2010.

apathy = a problem technology cannot solve

I am a big believer that technology can solve many business and operational problems. There is POS for tracking product mix, streamlining order flow, and revenue reporting; Inventory Management for getting accurate food costs, purchasing cycles, and inventory control; Reservations for managing guest reservations, table turn, and wait times; and a slew of other systems depending on the venue. But for hospitality venues there is a problem that technology solutions cannot solve – mainly apathy or the trait of “learned helplessness.”

Last night my family and some friends went out to dinner at El Paseo restaurant in Santa Barbara. We were doing an early dinner (we had two toddlers in tow) and were glad to see the restaurant was not too busy. We really like El Paseo because of the atmosphere (retractable roof) and good food (our opinion). We LOVE the table-side made guacamole and fresh made warm tortillas, and they usually have a pretty solid margarita. We go enough we know what is good and what is not, so we stick to what is good (like the fajitas). Also an important point is I go there because they are a former customer and I am a firm believer in supporting your customers.

But our experience last night ranks in my top 5 worst at any hospitality venue. I point the cause to apathy on the part of the manager and service staff. I will set the stage as it was immediately apparent El Paseo was understaffed for the night. We were all sensitive to this as my wife and friend both waited tables for years and I have spent hours on end helping restaurant staff work through system technology issues (I bused tables in a suit once at a customer site because that was where I could help ensure the guest’s experience stayed positive). From the moment we walked in the door at El Paseo we were an annoyance versus a guest. I had to find someone to seat us, and once we were seated had to flag down the manager after 15 minutes. We asked the manager if he could bring us water and napkins (napkins came half way through the meal…recall we had two toddlers with us) and requested a waiter to come over. He declined to get us water and replied, “I will find someone to get your drink order.” No apology for the wait or a comment that things might be a little slow.

When our waiter arrived (visibly annoyed we had him summoned) we ordered our drinks, our food (with a one special request), and asked for silverware and napkins. We got three deep sighs and at least four eye rolls. We had been given a kids menu and ordered two kids meals with a lemonade. When our drinks arrived the waiter set a foot-tall-cone-shaped-three-pound-bar-glass filled to top with lemonade in front of our friends 2 year old (no exaggeration!) We asked for kids cup to which he responded they have none (kids menu, kids meals, no kids cup?). We asked if they had a smaller cup, and he came back to the table with a plastic Budweiser cup and no lid (a Bud cup for a toddler?).

We arrived at the restaurant before 6:00 pm and received our food at about 7:00 pm. In that one hour we saw our server once to place our order and once to receive our drinks. We called the manager over twice to ask for more water and napkins, and never once got an apology or a comment on better service. I helped implement El Paseo’s technology solutions so I know their systems cannot be to blame for what we experienced last night. I also know the ownership group and have eaten at their other restaurants in Santa Barbara, so I do not believe it is part of the ownership group. Our experience last night was 100% caused by apathetic management and wait staff. But our experience could have been 100% different with the same staff and same poor service. Here’s how…

roll out the welcome mat
Greet your customer with a smile and welcome them to your venue. Even if the service is going to be below standard you should still make your customer want to be there.

when required set a low expectation
When as a manager or server you know you cannot deliver the best service, be up front with customers and set that expectation. Offer that you will check in as often as possible, but that service may be slower than normal. That way if it is slow the guest expected it, but if it is not you over achieved. Most customers will be accepting of this.

Image credit to Julianfoto

cater to your customer
If you offer a separate kids menu families will come to your restaurant. Parents expect kid cups to be available if you have a kids menu. Not having kids cups is saying you don’t want kids in the restaurant.

apologize when you know you should
You know when you need to apologize for crummy service, even when it’s not your fault. An apology can go a long long way. Everybody has bad days at the office. Apologizing when you flat out do not deliver means you care enough to want to deliver.

If only I could invent a technology solution that solved the apathetic employee problem…

For more information about kevin sturm Consulting please visit my website or email me.

more on RFID in hospitality

A good question came in as a comment from David Wold and I thought I’d take a stab at it in a post versus just as a comment.

Comment: How accurate do those things get with location? Meaning, to find someone in the building, they would probably need bulkier active RFID chips and not the smallest cheapest passive ones. That might bulk things up but still be OK. But can they pinpoint location? From what I know, they can tell you that something is present or in the area but not exactly where it is. For example, with inventory, you can get the full contents of a pallet at your receiving dock in an instant but you may not know which boxes have which parts without opening them up to look. For the spa, you might know Chrystal is in the sauna, but if there are 5 other women in there, it might be hard to know which one is her. Plus the employees would have to walk around with geeky looking receivers to find the women (getting hotter, no now its getting colder). Maybe a combination of a longer range active RFID with a shorter range passive RFID to roughly find and then zero in on the client…

First, the RFID chip size is actually very small and the active RFID chip fits in a wristband quite nicely. Here is an example of a reusable wristband from Precision Dynamics Corp, a leading provider of RFID technology to hospitality venues. These are durable, waterproof, and can be personalized in color and logo. Very easy for the spa guest to keep track of and return. The total cost of the band is fairly low being reusable.

In the specific example of implementing location services for a spa knowing the “exact” location of the guest is not really necessary. The guest is generally confined to a fixed space and will be in either a public room (sauna, locker room, etc.), private area (massage room), or unmonitored area (hallway). Access to these areas would be tracked by an RFID scanner that captures the time a guest enters and leaves each room. As spa guests do not generally linger in hallways a venue would not need to implement an RFID system that was constantly scanning for guest location in all areas. The staff could simply validate the last room a guest entered to find their current location. If a guest’s last tracked location was exiting a room then it is likely they are already on their way to the next appointment.

Also, if the spa captures the guest’s picture it is not a requirement for staff to carry a hand held device to access the guest picture/profile or location. Since the spa is generally a confined area and staff is usually coming from a location with a computer, they could review the guest picture and schedule before leaving to remind them of their next appointment. Another operational scenario is to have staff print the guest’s itinerary with picture so they could identify them by name when requested to provide a reminder of their appointment.

however, this comment brings up a viable option of having real time location services with RFID and how that may change the guest experience, as well as project cost. I’ll tackle this question in the next post so stay tuned.

For more information about kevin sturm Consulting please visit my website.

relax your spa staff with RFID

A few weeks back Chrystal treated herself to a pregnancy massage with another “expecting” friend at Burke Williams Spa in San Jose, CA. The day spa offers a pregnancy package with a lavish milk bath, which Chrystal and Christy thoroughly enjoyed. Chrystal loved it and was definitely more relaxed afterwards. But upon her return from the spa she said that although the guests were becoming more relaxed the staff seemed harried.

When she checked in she did not fill out any paperwork simply signed in and was presented with a key and keychain for her locker. Her schedule was in the computer and on a printout. Throughout her three hour visit she had spa employees pop into the public areas (like the quiet room, sauna or hot tub) and ask, “Do you have an appointment and 2:00 PM?” or “Are you so and so.” If the person was there they informed them of their next appointment time and location. Chrystal had two problems with these very common operations. First, keeping track of a key at a day spa is an inconvenience. At one point Chrystal accidentally grabbed Christy’s robe and then could not get in her locker, as her key was in her robe. Second, consistently having employees ask me if I’m someone I’m not does not equate to the experience associated with a high-end spa.

I know Chrystal would go back to Burke Williams Spa if given the opportunity, but the prices may not be in line with the “experience”. We have a place in Santa Barbara where she can get the same massage treatments for 1/3 the price (maybe less) and many spas where she can get exactly the same treatments for the same price. At core a spa must be measured on the value and quality of the services it offers. But if those services are equal to competing spas then what incentive does a customer have to return?

Answer: A unique experience.

What if Chrystal’s experience instead went like this. After making her spa reservation she had the option to complete the majority of the information online (some HIPPA stuff may be only allowed on a form) and was able to note any preferences, allergies, etc. When arriving at the spa, the information she provided online is complete on the form and she is asked to take a quick profile picture and then sign the form (waiver and legal stuff). She is presented with her schedule of services and a small Breast Cancer Awareness wrist band outfitted with an RFID tag. She is assigned a locker number that can be opened with her wrist band. After relaxingly loosing track of time in the sauna a staff member pops in to let her know it is time for her milk bath. The staff member speaks directly to her and knows her by name, though has never seen her before. This happens throughout her day and both her and the staff are relaxed and enjoying her time.

With the growing number of guests willing to spend money for a unique experience, this story brings customers back. It is not only possible but simple to make a reality. Just about every spa already has a loyalty program and most of them accept a small profile picture to associate with the guest, so that part is done. Implementing location services using RFID is becoming more mainstream with vendors like Motorola, PDC, and Microsoft leading the way. Guest information is linked to the RFID wrist band, which is small, inexpensive, completely waterproof, and even stylish if so desired. The entire staff has access to the guest’s picture and knows where each guest is at all time because of RFID scanners at each door. An added benefit is the spa gets automated guest preferances by reporting each room that a guest goes into and the amount of time they spend in it (this has to free up at least one administrative job). This information is also golden when it comes to personalized marketing with solid Business Intelligence data.

If your spa has a restaurant there is an added option to interface Point of Sale (POS) with Loyalty and allow guests to buy food and other items available for sale with their wrist band. LifeTime Fitness, a specialist in the “health and fitness experience” uses photo recognition at the POS as an added security measure. It also means the customer doesn’t have to carry anything with them.

Implementing location services with RFID obviously is not free. But balance it against the decreased cost of manual system entry and paying staff to herd customers, and the revenue opportunity of very effective personalized marketing campaigns and I believe you’ll find the numbers make sense.

You can call any of the vendors above if you want to look at implementing location services. Or, if you want someone to help you create a memorable guest experience give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to help!

For more information about kevin sturm Consulting please visit my website.

Project at La Cantera Resort

I do not think there are many things worse then flying with a cold! I’m waiting for someone to invent a travel accessory that unplugs your ears after you land. I landed seven hours ago and I still can’t hear out of my right ear and my sinuses still feel pressurized!

I flew to San Antonio today to meet with Gaylord Entertainment tomorrow. They recently purchased the La Cantera Resort, which is a really beautiful property just outside of San Antonio. I’ll do a tour of the property tomorrow and discuss logistics of the project and what the overall plan is. It is a fast turn around project from the technology side with lots of contingencies, so it will be a fun challenge.

This is also a fun project because I’ll be working with a friend and great guy that used to work for me in a former life. Cameron Ahler is a Senior Systems Analyst with Gaylord, but since he is crazy busy with the opening of Gaylord National on the Potomac called me to help out with the La Cantera takeover. I was thrilled and am excited to reconnect with the Gaylord team. Gaylord refers to their employees as STARS, and everyone I’ve ever worked with at there has always lived up to that acronym.

I still can’t believe my job is to travel to a super nice resort, reconnect with great people, and help venues implement technology solutions to meet the needs of the guest. And to boot I have a beautiful view and get to sleep in a Heavenly Bed tonight! Here are a few shots from the balcony of my room. Having this much fun can hardly be considered work.

For more information about kevin sturm Consulting please visit my website.