Distinctiveness
Often the hotel is about hardware such as rooms, facilities in the rooms, F&B facilities, the latest bar, location and service level. Furthermore, for chain hotels the (added) value of the brand is important as well. So, what (brand) promise is being made, both towards the guest and the operator?All of this is captured in a property or hospitality concept, which more or less has now become a standard in the hospitality world. However, there are also many hotels that are not or insufficiently distinguished from the mass and simply will not be noticed.
Storytelling
Storytelling or telling stories can be used to distinguish your product in a competitive market. It is more than the impact of a hotel concept. Storytelling is about an identity or image, a way to be remembered, building a lasting relationship with guests and creating a certain feeling.Storytelling facilitates communication between the property and the target audience and enhances the positive image of the property. It can be used for both business and leisure guests and is also a good channel for communication to your target audience. Today's guests definitively are looking for more than just a bed with or without breakfast. The modern guests are looking for authentic experiences in addition to the stay. A unique opportunity for hoteliers to integrate a story or theme into the product and add value. When referring consistently to the main subject, a property builds a strong brand identity. This also makes it easier to establish a good communication strategy. After all the reference to the story is there already!
Stay in your Service ModelThe telling of stories is not only for the big chains that have a lot of money available to fully diagnose and integrate their "story" into the product or the brand. Small or independent hotels with less budget easily can build a strong identity and guest loyalty with their own story.Consider which stories for your property can be valuable and contribute to the experience of guests. Stories that can be used can relate to the history of a building or place, your guests stories, a saga, a lifestyle, artwork, your mission or your employees.If that story has been found, mind mapping on all "service touch points" may determine which part of the central story comes back over and over again. This could be implemented from on-line visibility, communication with guests via social media to the menu, staff uniforms or hotel room layout.
Storytelling is only successful as the employees are aware and know their role in the story, get trained and perform the role with real enthusiasm and fun. The story is only "believed" if it is consistently "lived" by the employees.
Stories Connect
Talking stories or listening to stories makes for connecting guests with your property (increasing loyalty) and also connection between guests. A restaurant where guests just eat but do not communicate between themselves certainly will receive a lower rating than a restaurant where vibrant conversations arise. As a property, you can stimulate those stories, for example at the time of booking, through the interior or through a menu that has interaction.
There are many examples in which storytelling is applied well. A good example of a story in a concept is Mama Shelter. The mainly young guests feel completely at home at Mama Shelter, under the wings of mother chicken. The restaurant is completely furnished as a living room but at a high culinary level. Mama gives advice everywhere, so guests have a safe and comfortable feeling. They are really taken care of.
The Ace Hotel in New York also tells a lot of stories. The stories are genuine and authentic and based on the culture, building and surroundings of the hotel. Such a vision is also found at Hotel New York in Rotterdam, a place where the rich history of the famous Dutch cruise company Holland-America line comes to life again. A place of thousands of stories.
The last excellent example of storytelling must be the Ice Hotel, a hotel made of the frozen water of the Torne River in the far north of Sweden. Sleep at -5 °C! Developed from an igloo in 1990 to a world-renowned hotel with a living address as mentioned above. Collaboration with a vodka brand has led to cool Ice Bars in London, Copenhagen and Istanbul and other cities. These Ice Bars are used as "sales offices" for the unique story of the Ice Hotel. The Ice Hotel receives both business and leisure guests. For both groups, the same story is used with nuances per audience. In this way, the story of Ice Hotel's origin is incorporated into conference packages and focuses more on the beauty and artistic side of the project for the leisure guest. All staff are trained on the story of Ice Hotel, including the employees working in the various Ice Bars.
