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Defining luxury in the hospitality industry

10 Jul 2013 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The blurb appearing in a hotel advertisement that said, “Please cast your valuable vote for the Kxxxxxxxx Hotel in the 2013 World Luxury Hotels Awards...” caught my eye and immediately had me thinking. Have you noticed that everything has its “luxury” component nowadays…from coffee blends to detergents.

The concept of luxury is a moving target. Definitions and perceptions are changing and as a consequence the market for luxury is splintering (not cleanly though) into those for whom experiences are becoming more important and those for whom trophy consumption is key. In the words of Paul Kerr, Joint Managing Director, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, “The word luxury has certainly become an overused term … but that said, the standard of luxury is now defined by the consumer’s expectations and experience” How true.

In the view of experienced, demanding luxury travelers, “luxury hotel” has to mean something specific. Our sense of luxury is constantly changing. A luxury isn’t absolutely necessary to survival - but whose standards apply? In the hospitality industry, in-room Wi-Fi, flat screen televisions, and high thread counts are no longer considered luxurious. As technology evolves, guests become savvier, and hotels step up their services and in the process, many hoteliers are struggling to stand up – let alone stand out, in the crowded luxury market. So, how do you define luxury? The former editor of the ‘Hotels’ magazine Jeff Weinstolz had this to say: “For me personally, it is mostly about service. I can be quite content in simple accommodations as long as my needs are anticipated everywhere on the property, and I receive friendly but not familiar attention. Many hotels pretend to offer just that and have awards and plaques on the wall (some paid for) to prove they are worthy of the luxury classification. But for every truly great hotel, there are as many so-called luxury properties that need to look in the mirror and re-examine their practices and approaches to hotelkeeping.”

I think one of the best ways to start is to define luxury. During the Leading Hotels of the World annual convention held some years ago, one of the sessions titled ‘Delivering Luxury in Challenging Times’ brought together business leaders of some of the finest products in other industries to talk about their definitions of luxury and service excellence.

Umberto Angeloni, president and CEO of Brioni, a manufacturer and seller of high-end men’s clothing, spoke of “delivering serendipity”, which he defined as “finding great things you were not looking for”. He urged everyone listening to talk to individual customers and identify what he termed “collaborative value.” What he meant is to find a way to recognise what is precious to your guests and delivering it. Then you have created serendipity.

Luxury means different things to different people. A true luxury hotel provided extraordinary experiences that exceeded customer expectations and created life-long memories. There is no doubt that like beauty; luxury is in the eye of the beholder. To some, privacy is the ultimate luxury whereas to others it’s about antique furniture and priceless chandeliers adorning a lavishly decorated room. For me, a luxury hotel is one which operates around my schedule and convenience and not the other way around, To a certain extent it’s horses for courses, but what is clear is that too many hotels are using the word ‘luxury’ to define their product. This will ultimately confuse and disillusion the customer. What is desperately required is a worldwide rating system to set the record straight once and for all. No longer can something be considered luxury just based on cost, marketing campaigns, desires or by canvassing for votes.

Who decides Luxury or Not?
The hospitality industry generally accepts hotel star ratings designated by critically-minded organizations. But there are no set standards for “luxury hotels,” and both four-star and five star hotels generally describe themselves as “luxury. Expedia Travel describes a five star hotel as “characterized by luxury appointments, superlative service, and the highest standards of comfort. Five-star hotels offer originality in architecture and interior design, high-grade materials in construction and decor, and such special touches as fresh flowers and plants in abundance.

These properties also maintain a high staff-to-guest ratio, gourmet dining, and 24-hour room service.” I would add “fancy gyms, swimming pools and spas, and more” to an endless list of offerings that comes with a steep price. However, luxury is not about claiming to be a 5 star hotel and 5-stars is not an award, it’s a declaration by the hotel that good is not in its vocabulary; only excellence. A 5 star hotel that delivers functional service – however efficient is not a luxury hotel. Only when it provides service that is purposefully efficiently does it enter the realms of luxury.

Translated into one of the numerous staff-guest interactions, it is the difference between the doorman opening the hotel’s door and the doorman providing a welcoming experience .Hotel guests paying high luxury-hotel rates have a right to expect certain luxury hotel standards, in service, in rooms, in dining, and in everything else a “luxury” hotel offers. In short, the guest experience (also referred to as ‘experience customisation’), that Paul Kerr mentioned must go way beyond expectations.

A luxury hotel is thus enormously different. It prides itself on being different. It flaunts each unique piece of its service offering. As a result, luxury hotels get talked about. Donald J. Trump built the Trump Hotel Collection based on the concept of providing exceptional service for guests who value luxury and have the means to pay for it. His concept of “sensibility” resonates especially today despite the reality that our industry has fallen into the trap of one-upmanship and amenity creep, Trump has always believed and reinforced the simple concept that what people really want is great service provided by dedicated individuals who share his passion, drive and enthusiasm. Although there has been an ongoing focus in the luxury hotel sector on providing over-the-top amenities, DJT’s view - that having the right people in place matters most of all, was endorsed by Forbes Travel Guides (formerly Mobil Travel Guides) executives that the Five-Star criterion used by that recognised organisation for evaluating service is that “Staff are intuitive, engaging, passionate, and eagerly deliver service above and beyond the guest’s expectations”. Likewise, we learn that in today’s economy, guests want great service, first and foremost, and that the free newspaper or high-thread-count towels or the Italian marbled flooring is unlikely to compensate for the delivery of an experience that blurs between the normal and the average.

Meeting self-actualization needs
Larry Mogalonski once said that If you’re looking for a creative standard by which to evaluate your guest service priorities, or if you’re simply looking for inspiration, you need only apply Maslow’s 1943 groundbreaking ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ in the context of hotel guest expectations. Abraham Maslow identified five categories of human needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem and self actualization and proposed that basic needs like food and shelter must be met before others can be fulfilled.
Start by reviewing the hierarchy diagram, which has five generalized levels (stratums) outlined in a pyramid with the base being basic and the most important, and hence the biggest in terms of area. Let’s consider the base of the pyramid as representing the need for such rudimentary aspects of sustaining life such as food, breathing, water and sleep.

In other words at this level the less demanding guest expectations are for a well ventilated noise/smell-free room, edible food, clean and free flowing water on tap and a comfortable bed for a good sleep at night. The second stratum (layer), involves more cognitive aspects of one’s life dealing with personal health, shelter and security. How secure is your hotel? What about the surrounding area? How safe are the rooms? Is there a safe in the room? Are the elevators monitored, or the floors secured with key card access? Are there any safety hazards that should have properly flagged (cautionary signage)? Aside from food being edible, does it pose a health risk? Do you offer a menu with a full array of healthy/ vegan choices? Are any allergic concerns made explicit on the menu? Is your food prepared in a clean, germ-free environment? How do you source and store your ingredients? Do you enforce quality control methods? As we cross the midway point (3rd layer) in the pyramid, we begin to deal less with the basic necessities and more with true emotional fulfillment. People need to feel as though they belong. We’re long past meeting the expectation of operating a clean, safe and economically priced hotel but are now challenged to satisfying a guest’s need for an enriching environment. At this level guests expect professionalism. Is the staff warm, welcoming and although friendly - attentive? It is here that consistent quality guest service comes into play. One now begins to care about the physical state of the hotel. Is the exterior looking attractive and inviting? Does the lobby pervade a feeling of warmth and beckon for an intimate relaxing atmosphere? Your F&B choices also bridge this territory, but reflect on your cuisine more in terms of the social experience. What is the ambiance in your restaurants? Do your staff members make people feel at home, or do they make patrons feel inferior? Do you offer any deals or host events to incentivize patrons and encourage a more crowded, vivacious mood? The fourth layer (stratum) is where we transition from expectations to value-added features, although the line between the two is blurred and exceedingly subjective. Instead of merely fulfilling a guest’s need for belonging, esteem deals more with reputation and importance. We’re moving away from satisfaction towards indulgence.

In terms of importance, how can you make your guests feel like VIPs? Do you attend to individual requests promptly and with care? How do you make people feel as though you value and appreciate them choosing you? In terms of reputation, are your guests proud to stay at your hotel? Is it something to brag about? How do you reward your loyal customers to demonstrate that this is a mutual feeling? The expectations at the apex of the pyramid are the hardest to attain and also the most mercurial. Maslow delineated the summit as pertaining to the motivators for someone to achieve his or her personal best.

So, how can your hotel facilitate this? Mogalonski further explains that self-actualization also comes from creating new experiences for the guest. An example: providing the guest with an opportunity to learn about the ecological environment of the property with complimentary guide books and binoculars. Even a bar with several hundred different scotch whiskeys and a knowledgeable bartender could form the basis of a self-actualizing activity. It is these types of ‘wow’ activities that a guest recalls years later as they continue to re-actualize their previous experiences within their own mind.

"A luxury hotel is thus enormously different. It prides itself on being different. It flaunts each unique piece of its service offering. As a result, luxury hotels get talked about"

Even on a subliminal level, every guest wants to be wowed. Self-actualization is the charm, the love, the unbridled happiness, the sense of harmony and the unique touch that only an experience at your hotel can supply. And only when all levels of your operations are functioning at their personal best can you deliver as such. Maslow advised that only a small percentage of people ever reach self-actualization. The same applies to hotels. There are only a very few hotels that enable guests to attain the self actualisation they seek. Hotels that do just that are truly luxurious and will get my vote!

(Shafeek Wahab has an extensive background in Hospitality Management spanning over 30 years. He has held key managerial responsibilities in internationally renowned hotel chains, both locally and abroad, including his last held position as Head of Branding for a leading Hotel Group in Sri Lanka. He can be contacted on [email protected])

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Defining luxury in the hospitality industry

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