After hearing on an almost daily basis that "things are so different" before I started to write I decided to speak directly with hotel managers and front of house employees, hotel guests and hotel clients.
OK, so, what is different now from very early 2020? The answers – yes answers – vary with location and type of hotel.
At a warm-climate upscale beach property during high season they are "pretty much back to normal". Employees are required to be vaccinated and wear masks although for guests they are optional. On arrival guests are still offered champagne .. in a real glass. The front desk agent goes over the details of the guest's reservation and the services at the hotel. Housekeeping and turndown service is provided daily and full food and beverage services are available. Complimentary bottled water is offered at the desk, rather than being placed in the room.
Further north, in a major city property with a smallish lobby a very welcoming front desk staff, guests are advised that room service is again available but there are no bellmen and no valet parking. Linens are changed daily unless the guest chooses the option not to have daily service. In that case a daily $10 credit is posted to the guest's account. At check in guests are also advised that there is a resort fee. Guests generally are not happy about the resort fee but it does include free phone calls throughout the US, wifi, a $10 daily mini bar credit and use of the gym. Note: use of the gym is now by reservation for one room at a time.
At other locations guests expressed a request for individually wrapped bar soap so it has been returned to the rooms while the liquid soap holders are still in place. Pens, notepads, menus and brochures have totally disappeared. The requirement that I found interesting is that if you want fresh towels and your bed linens changed you must advise the front desk the day before you want the service.
Regarding food and beverage - the biggest challenge seems to be breakfast. Many hotels still have in room coffee pots but cups and mugs are now the single use variety. Some hotels still have buffet breakfast, but often with less options. I spoke with one mid-city hotel that made arrangements with nearby coffee shops and restaurants so their guests can put their charges on their hotel bill.
At a major branded city property guests have said they understand curtailed service but when they tried to use a supposedly available service it was not. Then they were told the gym was by reservation only and breakfast is available Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday only. On the flip side, another hotel offered guests a list of restaurants showing operating hours.
I was told by several hotels that December was really busy .. but while weekend occupancy in January remains fairly robust, advance reservations for midweek and spring are very slow. Hoteliers have said "in a word, January and February reservations are 'horrible' except for warm and ski destinations".
The guests at hotels now are often different from 2019. More guests are leisure as companies have still not restarted business travel. In addition, more guests are booking through OTAs rather than a hotel's own website. Domestic travel is king and while there are a lot of international bookings already made for December 2022, most short tern bookings are domestic.
Hotels are asking reservation and guest service agents to engage guests more – From where are they travelling? Why did they choose this destination? How often do you usually travel? In many cases, however, hotels have not rehired their professional sales and marketing teams. If they have rehired, the number of people is half. If they have chosen to go with a new team, the people are generally much younger and therefore less experienced and knowledgeable of the hotel and surrounding area.
I found it interesting that many hotels have curtailed most in-person sales trips and are using online efforts to prospect. If hotels are "staying home" do they really think their business clients will be traveling on business?
What Clients Are Saying
International clients, those who book guests from other countries no matter where their offices are located, say that the US is still in very high demand … just not for Q1. Booking patterns have changed dramatically. Because borders were closed, bookings for December 2021 were very late but November and December 2022 already have a lot of bookings.
A major problem is that hotels are still suffering and many have cash flow issues. Full hotels are being operated with less people and almost no food and beverage. If guests order from outside restaurants, they must come to the lobby to pick up their food.
The clients stress that often hotels do not understand how serious the lack of breakfast is for international guests. Right behind the breakfast issue is the resort/destination/facilities (whatever) fee and how it is charged. One client called it incredibly rude and said that hotels are only charging it to avoid showing higher rates.
While clients would prefer no resort fees, they would definitely prefer that they be included in the price contracted. Some countries require that the client pay the fee and that it not be presented to the guest at the hotel. This means that the client, who most likely is booking people from several countries, has to have various payment systems for the same hotel.
But, without question, these days the biggest complaint I heard from clients is the difficulty reaching someone at the hotel. Even if you are just waiting for a confirmation, "it's a nightmare". Hotels are so short-staffed, with people doing more than one job – or doing the same job for more than one hotel – it is often impossible to reach someone for days on end. This is the same for emails and the phone.
Other issues include that housekeeping may be available on request only and that brand standards are not being adhered to – for example, no chocolate chip cookies at a you-know-where.
In the early Fall of 2021 an overseas client called me to ask if I could find out if X Hotel in Rockefeller Center had a resort fee. Without thinking, I said of course. And there began my series of phone calls and emails – to the hotel directly, to the 800 number and to the corporate reservation number. Eventually I reach central reservations, but they did not know the answer. And no, it wasn't on the website (of course) which is why the client called me in the first place. I left messages wherever possible and to this date no one has called me back. Needless to say, the reservation was canceled and the guests stayed at another hotel a few blocks away.
Remember, "the early bird gets the worm?" Now it's the hotel who responds first gets the business and the guest!
By Lucille Yokell Founder, Lucille Yokell Enterprises, Ltd.
