Hotel Management Firm De-Commoditizes Customer Experiences

Meyer Jabara Hotels challenged each of its many hotel properties to develop an appropriately “themed” hotel guest experience. Guests at a Meyer Jabara property might find themselves learning to mix the perfect margarita at the Holiday Inn El Paso, viewing the royal swan feeding as part of their “estate” experience at the Hilton Christiana (DE), or cruising the Inner Harbor on the “Lady Pintail” at any of three Baltimore boutique hotels.

“We were looking for a way to really distinguish both our branded and independent properties as ‘best in class,’ either within their particular brand or as destinations in their own right,” explained Ken Conklin, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Meyer Jabara Hotels. “This was a creative way to de-commoditize our product and really stand out in the mind of the consumer.”

In its role as a consultant, LRA Worldwide helped both “operationalize” the themed concept at each of the properties and develop the quality assurance audit designed to ensure that each property is properly executing its theme. Currently, LRA conducts mystery shops at each of the properties three times annually on behalf of Meyer Jabara Hotels. Naturally, these inspections are above and beyond any audits mandated by the brand, as the brand program would be ill-equipped to measure the degree to which the property has exemplified the themed experience. Indeed, the program that LRA has designed for Meyer Jabara exists solely to measure how effectively the hotel has embodied the theme, from its physical attributes to its guest service delivery.

“As someone who has been involved in the design and development of countless ‘unique’ hotel experiences and the QA programs created to measure them, this is a truly compelling program,” opined John Roberto, LRA’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Quality Assurance. “Meyer Jabara is on to something – they’ve turned an ordinary hotel stay into a bona fide memory for guests, the type of ‘guest experience engineering’ that one might typically associate with a Disney or Ritz Carlton. And guests who just happen upon the experience their first time at a Meyer Jabara property are seeking it out the next time around.”

The experience begins immediately during the reservations process, as the reservations agent introduces the guest to the property’s theme and the different themed package experiences available. The following day, that guest is contacted by an “Experience Specialist” who gathers enough information about the guest and the traveling party to personalize the hotel stay around the theme. So at the Sheraton Reading (PA) – self-proclaimed as Reading’s Most Fashionable Address – an outlet-shopping spree might be the order of the day, depending on the guests’ whims.

“We thought there was a real opportunity within the mid-price level of the hospitality industry to evolve from being simply reactive ‘reservation takers,’” Conklin continued. “A true service organization is able to anticipate needs and fulfill them, and we felt that level of service needn’t be limited to luxury properties and exotic locales. We’re creating magical, memorable experiences that are accessible to everyone.”

Comments

[John I. Todor, Ph.D.]

Kudos to Meyer Jabara Hotels. I am especially impressed that the themed hotels actively (physically and emotionally) involved the customers in the experience. In many themed properties or efforts at experiential marketing, the customer observes the theme and may be awed by it but is not actively engaged. In my view engagement take the experience from a temporary “thrill” or pleasure to a lasting emotional experience—the foundation of desire, commitment and loyalty. John I. Todor, Ph.D., Author of Addicted Customers.