In Travel, Memorable Hospitality Happens At The Margins

In passing, I’ll often talk about how I find that my impression of travel experiences is often shaped at the margins. Sure, there are lots of amazing hotels and premium cabin travel experiences out there, but at least for me, the things that are most memorable are the little details you weren’t necessarily expecting.

I wrote about this topic around 12 years ago (time flies!), and since I mention something along these lines every so often, I’d like to revisit it. I’m not claiming this is anything super insightful, but I do think brands sometimes underestimate how much little details matter… or maybe it’s just me who feels that way!

The little touches are what I remember most in hospitality

I think it’s fair to say that airlines and hotels make money at the margins. In other words, you have various groups of guests you can “count on,” and then it’s filling those extra seats and rooms at the highest possible yields that has the greatest impact on your bottom line. Losing a few valuable customers here and there can make a big difference… just ask American Airlines. 😉

I first wrote about how hospitality happens at the margins back in 2014, when a Starwood SVP (remember that brand?) did an interview where he talked about how 2% of their guests generate 30% of their profits. One of the points he was trying to make was how important it is to customize stays for guests, because losing high value customers can be costly:

“One of the things we’ve learned from our SPG members is that their needs change trip to trip. I remember we were doing one of our focus groups and one of our Platinum members said ‘look, I’m on the road 100 nights a year at your hotels, and most of the time as a consultant what I care about is I’m going to arrive late and I want a couple of Diet Cokes and a cobb salad in my room. But you know what, the next time I’m taking a trip I might be with my husband and two small daughters, and if you don’t understand my unique needs for that trip, if you look at me as a Platinum guest as opposed to the valuable guest of yours who has unique needs, then you’ve missed an opportunity.’ So we’ve spent a lot of time on personalization.”

Now, we can certainly debate about how Marriott is doing with personalizing the guest experience nowadays — I mean, is there even a debate? But as a frequent flyer and hotel guest, those numbers sort of resonated for me in a different way — I’d say maybe 30% of my perception and memory of a hotel or airline experience is derived from 2% of the experience.

I absolutely love the airline and hotel industry, and seeing how different brands perform. Often with my travels, the journey and hotel stay is the destination, so to speak, and I tend to think that I notice just about everything, good or bad (and not just how I’m treated directly, but things around me).

The hotel industry is referred to as the “hospitality industry,” but when staying at a hotel, how often do you really feel like you’re a guest, as opposed to a number?

Obviously there are the basic things we all expect when we stay at a certain hotel brand or fly on a certain airline in a certain class of service. And while that can make for a great experience, it rarely makes for an exceptional experience. After all, exceptional is defined as “unusually good, or rare and different from what is normal.” So personally I always love to see how brands go above and beyond, because that’s what stands out to me the most.

Attention to detail in hospitality can come in many forms

To be honest, I can’t say that I remember a whole lot from my stay at the Aman Tokyo in 2019, but I do remember my stay at the Park Hyatt New York from 2014, for one simple reason — the doorman, Christopher, went out of his way to be so damn friendly to every single guest.

What impressed me most, though, was when I left the hotel one evening, and he stopped me and asked if he could fix my collar. That’s literally the thing I remember the most about my stay, even over a decade later. Why? Because that was in no way part of his job description. He wasn’t doing it because I was a transaction, but was doing it because I was a guest.

Standing out in a memorable way doesn’t have to come from an individual employee. For example, the Four Seasons Boston is a solid property, but probably not particularly remarkable by Four Seasons standards… with two exceptions.

The hotel has a complimentary coffee shop for all guests in the morning, and it also has a “vault” on guest room floors, where everyone can help themselves to drinks and snacks. That’s something you don’t at all expect from a Four Seasons, and that’s why it was so memorable, and left a lasting impression.

Hell, here’s a much simpler coffee example — I know, I really love my coffee. 😉 I get up really early no matter where I am, so I value a good coffee setup in the room (or in the lobby, as an alternative). I don’t need anything fancy, just a basic coffee with a little bit of milk. I’ve stayed at three hotels in Japan over the past three nights, and they’ve all been amazing. However, less than a dollar worth of milk has materially impacted my mornings:

• The first hotel had a proper little carton of milk in the minibar
• The second hotel had two tiny little creamers in the minibar
• The last hotel had no sort of milk or creamer

I’m cranky, I still haven’t had my first cup of coffee this morning, so it’s the perfect example of how even at rather expensive properties, my stay is materially impacted by an amenity that costs under a dollar. Now that I think about it, when I’m staying at nice hotels, maybe I should just start asking them in advance if they can put a little milk in the room? I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that…

Often great service experiences even come from minor service failures. For example, I had an excellent flight in Starlux first class, and in particular, the service was exceptionally good. It was great in traditional ways, like me taking off my hoodie and leaving it at the seat, only to return from the lavatory and find that it was hung in the wardrobe.

But what actually impressed me more was how a (minor) service failure was handled. I was served a dish and wasn’t sure if it had pork (which I don’t eat), so I asked the lovely flight attendant. She said she’d check, and came back with a look of horror on her face, saying their catering details didn’t show if it did or didn’t.

It wasn’t a huge deal, but she didn’t just say “sorry about that.” She said “it’s unacceptable that we can’t tell you such a basic thing, I’m really sorry. I’m going to immediately write up a report so that this doesn’t happen again.” That response impressed me more than if she had actually had the correct information.

Of course I have to acknowledge there are limits to how much service can be customized. I recognize a 500-room hotel can’t make everyone feel special, and notice every little detail. However, hotels also aren’t “entitled” to be “exceptional,” so I think it’s really the little things that allow a hotel to stand out.

To me, it’s a reminder of how hiring people with great personality and empowering them to take care of guests can go a much longer way than being a company with very strict policies and procedures, and no flexibility (at least when it comes to service — safety is a different story).

Bottom line

Premium travel is all the rage nowadays, as are brands insisting that guests give them perfect scores in surveys for being “exceptional.” The truth is that airlines and hotels have tough jobs pleasing guests, given all the constraints that exist, and the volume of people they’re serving.

To me, the things that stand out about a travel experience is the little touches that show a brand is paying attention, and actually wants to exceed expectations. The easiest way this happens is just by hiring nice and passionate people, and empowering them to be themselves.

Anyone else feel like a large part of their perception of a travel experience is determined by the smallest touches and gestures?