The Park Lane Hotel, with a prime location near the likes of The Ritz-Carlton, Jumeirah Essex House and Mandarin-Oriental, saw a chance to grab customers from those top-of-market properties. The hotel redid its top seven floors a year ago - overhauling corridors and rooms to make them fresher and with higher quality furnishings.
That worked well enough so that the hotel is now doing an additional five floors for a total of 180 rooms out of 564. With these floors at the top of the 46-story hotel, they provide striking views in every direction. Plus:
Guests enjoy complimentary: continental breakfast via room service or in the restaurant; cappuccino at any time.
Cocktails at Harry's Bar s in the evening; pressing of one item a day;
Specific newspaper on request;
Interent access and calls (including international); and a meeting room.
They also get express check-in and checkout.
The rate difference from "regular rooms" can be significant - but remain well below those luxury brands. If a guest takes advantage of all those extras, they would more than make up the difference (breakfast alone is $25.)
We spoke to Ray Keane, the Park Lane's director of marketing, about the strategy and how it's worked. Here's what he had to say:
Following a tour of the hotel and interviews with the hotel management team, here's why Andaz seems to be living up to those criteria:
Glitz Gone: The décor is elegant but simple in both interiors and public spaces. Some may not like it but no carpeting in the guest rooms.
Enter Intimacy and Inclusivity: Andaz, according to its mission statement, aims for "inclusivity and interactivity" That means no check-in desks; instead hosts take guests through a streamlined arrival process and right to their rooms.
No Nickel and Diming: All complimentary: non-alcoholic mini-bar beverages and snacks; WiFi throughout; and local calls.
Affordable Restaurant: Wall & Water, the hotel's restaurant, keeps up with the trends in serving locally sourced and seasonal food. But menu prices are far from stratospheric for Manhattan.
But Luxury Travel Connoisseur Karen Weiner
Escalera says Value Added Alone Is Not Enough
Karen
Weiner Escalera, president of the KWE Group
in Coral Gables, one of the most insightful thinkers on luxury travel, told an
industry newsletter in an interview that, "Early in 2009, many marketers
thought that offering "value adds" would be enough - i.e. a
four-night stay for the price of three, a resort credit, a free dessert when
ordering an entrée, etc. As the year progressed, it was obvious that these
initiatives weren't enough. The overall rate had to be priced right as
well."
Escalera
continued, "The winning combination is value add and the right rate.
Early
into the economic recovery and with fresh studies in hand, we decided it was
time to revisit some of the companies and people we looked and spoke to in the throes
of the recession for a reality check. We asked them the following:
How did the luxury market change during the crisis - both the customer in their
behavior?
Were some of those changes permanent?
Where do we go now?
Here's
a look at what we heard from these luxury marketers. And we have to note that
much of it tracks with what we are seeing, which is that travelers are:
Being more responsible in their choices in not looking for glitz and lavishness
Seeking a sensible, experiential vacation. They want comfort,
but also the opportunity to drink in local culture (and not necessarily exotic
culture.).
The messaging may be different, but the luxury experience remains resilient.
Following are highlights of the conference on the luxury
front:
When Lalia Rach, the
departing dean at NYU's hospitality school and moderator of a panel of CEO's
asked, "Can we use the word "luxury" anymore?" here were a couple of replies:
Arne Sorenson, president and COO of Marriott: "A lot of the talk about luxury
was poppycock. Luxury got a bad name. But even in the depths of the recession,
luxury had an advantage because it offers a great experience. Ritz-Carlton
(operated by Marriott) is recovering more quickly than our other brands. One financial
firm booked a Ritz-Carlton meeting the day after paying back its TARP money. We
have changed our messaging: rather than images of lavish facilities, we will
focus on experiences."
Andrew Cosslett, InterContinental Hotels corporation: "Luxury brands with an
authentic base of clients weathered the storm well. InterContinental had 75 projects in the pipeline and 67
continue to be viable."
Stats Tell the Story
Mark
Lomanno, president of Smith Travel Research, the industry statisticians,
said, "Luxury
demand is up 15 percent this year." And while rates have not recovered
in a
similar fashion, Lomanno said the first steps have been taken; he
explained, "The
widest gap between our luxury and upper upscale categories was $47; that
is
down to $14 because of price compression caused by discounting; it will
take
some time to decompress."
The Outlook
Kathleen Taylor, just named CEO of
Four Seasons (she takes over on...
Rob Rush, CEO of LRA Worldwide, a consulting company for companies wishing to maximize their service delivery, has worked with the likes of Ritz-Carlton, Starwood, InterContinental and Hyatt. LRA's specialty, said Rush, is to help brands "operationalize their brand promise" - putting that promise into on-the-ground practice - a tough job for luxury hotels in these times. Here are a few bits of advice from Rush:
Before a black-tie crowd of travel industry marketers at the annual Adrian Awards ceremony sponsored by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), Ed Ventimiglia, senior vice president and publisher of Departures, the American Express Publishing magazine, took a tough stand on luxury and its vitality. (The winner was Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club for a "Discovery Kit" brochure)
Here are highlights of the remarks by Ventimiglia, who also shared thoughts from Richard David Story, Departures Editor in Chief.
"You may have noticed that our award is still called the Departures Luxury Marketing Achievement Award. That's because - no matter what some pundits say to the contrary - we do not believe that luxury is a dirty word OR a dying category. True luxury endures."
"Luxury has gone back to what we at Departures have always known it was about: superior quality and service, enduring value, uniqueness, and authenticity. The customer perceives these as providing value - making true luxury goods and services still well worth their price."
Ipsos Mendelsohn and American Express Publishing-Harrison Group OfferFreshInsight on Consumer Behavior in 2010
According to new studies from two blue-chip research sources, Ipsos Mendelsohn and American Express Publishing - the affluent are not only ready to travel -- they are frequently going to spend more on it. While the Ipsos study focused on intent and American Express Publishing on mindset, they both point to a surge in affluents taking to the road (Amex sees an increase of 6 to 8% in spending on all luxury categories).Interestingly, both studies agree on a positive attitude despite lingering concerns about the economy. Here's a look at the highlights of both 2010 studies.
LuxuryTravel 360 has long looked to the affluent as a burgeoning market in business and leisure travel, fueling growth in more affordable, common sense luxury - less glitz and glamour, but ready to pay extra for memorable family experiences and genuine local culture.
