Please disturb!
Standard does not stimulate conversation. Hotels would do well to expect a little abnormality from their guests. A call for charming irritation.
The door hangers in hotels are usually so unspectacular that you only give them a cursory glance. Mostly red-green, plasticized - just "do not disturb". Just another prop in a standardized scheme through which visitors glide in hotel (chains).
The game begins with reaching into the bowl of sweets placed in the lobby, continues with the sound system known as "elevator music" on the way to the room, the unadorned keycard with which you open the door, the miniature toiletries, thanks to which many hotel guests smell the same when they storm the breakfast buffet in the morning. The hotel atmosphere is standardized and predictable. What is good is what is not conspicuous, what does not attract attention, what does not give rise to complaints.
It may be functional and pleasant, but it is certainly boring - and certainly not worth mentioning. The standard is delivered with the guarantee that the guest who is asked about his last trip will talk about many things - but certainly not about the hotel. A friendly welcome? Sure, but you don't want to bore anyone with that. A clean room? Who cares about that? From a marketing point of view, this is a wasted opportunity, as people like to rely on the recommendation of a friend, especially when it comes to choosing a hotel.
To get the communication machinery moving, however, the host would need more courage, more creativity. Something that amazes guests, something that surprises them. For example, wildly painted walls, a pillow that invites the guest to "spend the night with him", a "sleeping elephant" that lies on the bed instead of a dubious throw and wants to cuddle. Why not?
Instead of "Please do not disturb" or "Please tidy up", a ring binder with which the guest, depending on their mood, warns the service that a monster is waiting behind the door ("There's a monster behind this door"), justifies themselves ("I'm normally a clean person") or admits that they would be lost without service ("No clue what I would do without you"). And why not?
All little things that the stressed visitor ignores. Things that don't have to be noticed - but can be. And when they have caught the guest's attention, elicit a smile, trigger a shake of the head or even raise concerns that the fair beauty above the bed (choose one below) may break free at night and haunt the sleeping person's dreams.
Ingredients that catapult the stay out of the ordinary. Details that stay in your memory, that you tell others about, that you perhaps even photograph and share. Starting points for communication. Something that many hotels - even if they do everything right to satisfy their guests - usually fail to do.
More of this please.
Mail us: Has your agency designed something unusual for a hotel? Or have you made a discovery yourself? We look forward to receiving your examples by e-mail to [email protected].
