Aiming For the Luxury "Sweet Spot" On Central Park South
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:
"As we saw the economy deteriorate, we saw the need for a
product at a high level but with a more reasonable rate. We thought that if we
could capture them once, they would return. That is already happening."
"Depending on the day the rate at the Top of the Park Lane would range from
about $390 to $415 - against rates as low as $250 on the "regular floors",
though that differentiation is not always that wide.
While
"executive" floors usually provide some kind of club lounge for guests, Keane
said that management decided to offer the extensive extras rather than the club
lounge for now.
Now
that the executive floors have a following, the hotel will be more aggressive
in marketing these rooms through an ad campaign specifically selling them. Said
Keane, "There are a lot of travelers out there who are hesitant to stay with
the luxury brands. And we see they are really taking advantage of all the
extras, which will help in bringing them back."
With
this strategy working well, said Keane, "there may come a point when we would
redo the entire hotel in this mode, but we have not made a decision on that as
yet."
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.