The ancient Greek scholar Heraclitus noted that the only thing that is constant is change … and that is especially true in hospitality. An in-room amenity that in the past may have been something worth writing home about, quickly becomes table stakes offered everywhere or disappears forever. Hoteliers must continuously scramble to stay ahead of the competition.
Combine this constant search for the next big differentiator with the concurrent drive toward guest experience personalization, and you are presented with an inevitable outcome: guest room personalization. Attribute-based bookings that reflect guests’ preferences stand ready to change the way properties offer individual components of their rooms. Whether it’s space for a yoga mat rather than a desk, or improved technology that allows the streaming of personal content, guest expectations are dramatically changing the hotel experience landscape.
Travelers are demonstrating a preference for accommodations to be priced according to their unique requirements, rather than by the size and number of beds provided. Given this dynamic, hotels are exploring ways to grow revenue by unbundling their offerings (similar in some respects to the way airlines have already done this), showcasing all the unique inventory, amenities, attributes and experiences available.
Heraclitus missed one important element in his observation of change … that the pace of change is continuously increasing. Hoteliers must react and adapt quickly to capitalize on the trend toward hyper-personalization if they expect to outperform their competitors in the battle for superior guest experience and loyalty.