This Week in Hotels, July 28: Eliminating the front desk and concierge, usefulness of Foursquare, and more

by Josiah Mackenzie on July 29, 2010 4 Comments

In this week’s episode of This Week in Hotels, Guillaume and I discuss:

  • Can Foursquare (and other geo-location apps) really benefit your hotel…or is it just a waste of time?
  • Change is in the air…or is it? Daniel Edward Craig wrote an article getting a lot of buzz: Is the role of the concierge going away? We talked about how Hyatt’s Andaz brand is eliminating the front desk and concierge AND giving away free amenities. Is that something other hotels should imitate?
  • Question from our audience: How do you know which travel websites are safe to use your credit card? (Plus, how someone tried to steal my identity this week…)
  • New feature: we review a hotel’s website on the spot. Today we analyzed The Bridge End
  • Ciaran’s Hotel Website Marketing workshop in Dublin in September

Watch the show:

Do you prefer the audio version to listen on the go? Grab the mp3 file here.

Please send in your comments, questions, or suggestions for next week’s show!



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Article by Josiah Mackenzie // July 29, 2010 Josiah helps hospitality organizations use technology and the social web to provide better service and generate more profits.

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Comments

 
  • Are Morch // August 2, 2010 @ 3:39 pm Reply

    Great and very interesting discussion here.

    By the way great article on your blog Guillaume.

    Like you mention other Social Networks started out slowly. Twitter has exploded the last couple of years. And for a micro blog it is really unique that they reach as many users as they do. Of course they are not at Facebook or LinkedIn level. But these services offer so much more.

    I think it is time that the Hotel start be among the early adapters of new trends. Even if Foursquare or other similar geo locations application still have room plenty of improvement. Why should Hotels be scared of being trendsetters?

    This relate to some previous topic you guys had about mobile applications. There are some hotels that utilize this in an awesome way.

    Social Media don’t replace traditional marketing resources they are an addition and provides new opportunities to capture new markets.

    I don’t think our Front Office or Concierge members have any reasons to worry yet. As you say this is not really something new, just putting some services in a new concept. I really love the host concept. This provides new opportunities to expand customer service. And we most definitive have something to learn here from Apple. There are technology that allows hosts to carry something similar to an iPad with Credit Card identifiers. We see this a lot on airports where hosts is available to help with a kiosk check in process. On some airports in Europe I have gone through a host station before I get to the security point.

    There are some limited service Hotels that is build up on some of the principles mention in the USA Today article. But this is most definitive a new trend that I can see will be interesting to follow.

    Great info here.. :)

    Cheers.. Are

  • Katie Clapp // August 2, 2010 @ 10:21 pm Reply

    Great insights, Are,

    I completely agree that hoteliers should try and test the results of new trends, and embrace geo locations technology. Worldly, high-frequency travelers are one step ahead of the rest of us when it comes to efficiency-enabling tech, so it makes a lot of sense for hoteliers to lead the way right along with them.

    You should check out this article; Fabrice discusses the need for innovation, and some challenges facing enterprising hoteliers: http://fabriceburtin.com/2010/05/06/innovation-why-the-hotel-industry-missed-the-train/

    It’s great to hear that you value your concierge; their “human touch” is so comforting and valuable to guests. I really hope hoteliers decide, like you, to empower their hosts with technology, rather than substituting hosts FOR technology.

    Thanks again for your thoughts, Are!

    Katie

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