This is a free publication of Van Spronsen & Partners horeca - advies

Publication: September 2013

Small gestures in hospitality

Preface Let us introduce ourselves..

Van Spronsen & Partners horeca-advies

Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consulting is part

of the Van Spronsen & Partners group. This group

consists of three more independent companies;

hospitality payroll administration, hospitality

administration and hospitality training. Our slogan is

“think different, act different” and we are active in the

hospitality and leisure market for 26 years. Our

approach is to put our client and his/her goals first.

Within our hospitality consulting we mainly focus on

performing feasibility studies, company audits,

efficiency improvements, development of hospitality

concepts, giving management support and creating

marketing and communications plans.

Besides these activities we publish new industry studies

monthly, where we reveal more depth information about

the different sectors within the hospitality industry in the

Netherlands. Check www.spronsen.com for previously

published studies.

For more information on our other companies check;

www.salaris-spronsen.nl, www.rollemapartners.nl and

www.training-spronsen.nl

A while ago I read an article about a hotel manager that invited his guests for a

tour through the city once a week. This way he showed them the city in a

personal, off the beaten path kind of way. Nice gesture and a good response to

the rapidly expanding market of private room rentals. This market seems to be

expanding mostly because guests prefer the personal contact, maybe you could

grab this opportunity to make a connection between your guests and local

hotspots. Which is especially important with the rising trend of Food Sherpas in

big cities.

As you are used to by now, this edition also features examples of fellow

entrepreneurs that you can use as inspiration. Personally I enjoy surprising

hospitality the most, that’s where you really get to feel the spirit of the

establishment. If you believe your hospitable gesture is inspiring and you would

like to share, please let us know. We would love to post it to our website

horecatrends.com and spread the news via our social media channels.

Marjolein van Spronsen

With the publication of “Small gestures in

hospitality” we want to provide hospitality

entrepreneurs with hospitable gestures that are

usable without having to make large investments.

An example that we once encountered is, an

“Easter Specialty” that appeared in our hotel room

during the Greek Easter period, with a little card at

which the manager explained its’ symbolism. This

felt like a personal gesture and it’s always

interesting to get an understanding of local

holidays.

1

Food

Alcohol free beverage and food pairing

Restaurant 'In de keuken van Floris' in Rotterdam, The Netherlands,

provides a great example. They treat their guests, because of their 7

year anniversary, with a free wine pairing during their nine-course

dinner. For those who do not drink alcohol, they serve a freshly

squeezed juices arrangement.

Non-alcohol beverages / food pairing? Why not? With Father's Day

my daughter of 14 years got a glass of non-alcoholic wine served at

restaurant Merlet (Schoorl, The Netherlands). A nice gesture from

the restaurant, to give another taste sensation for those who don't

drink alcohol. Those guests who do not drink alcohol, often drink

water during dinner. Because you don’t want to spoil the taste of the

dish. Meanwhile we can see a growth in the market of non-alcoholic

beer in The Netherlands and we see lunch & sandwich shops that

offer non-alcoholic wine at lunch. With this information in mind, there

is certainly a great opportunity for gourmet restaurant to upsell and

offer non-alcoholic beverages pairing. Especially for the designated

driver of the culinary party, it’s a nice gesture.

Food Sherpas

There are more and more Food Sherpas in touristic areas. Food Sherpas are

local people who receive tourists and show them the city. Unlike tourist agencies,

the Food Sherpas lead you to local restaurants where you normally wouldn't

come as a tourist. They take you on a local culinary discovery tour and not only

tell you where to go, but also what to order in restaurants. For example Food

Sherpas can be found in Paris, where they guide tourist to the not so touristy

Paris.

Hotels could set up an agreement with local people to guide the hotel guests

through the most local hotspots. This as reaction to the deployment of an AirBnB

host, because the success of this concept is that tourists can stay at and meet

local people. And again it’s a great gesture to your guests.

2

Food

Original

Restaurant San Pau, owned by 3 star chef Carme

Ruscalleda, in Sant Pol de Mar, Spainm serves the

“cookies with the coffee” in a small set of trains. Nice

symbolism since the restaurant overlooks the

Mediterranean sea with the disruption of a train

passing by regularly. There is no noise pollution

whatsoever but you get to see a train every now and

then. By making it come back at the table the

restaurant makes this into part of the experience

instead of an annoying characteristic of the location,

people can’t wait to come back for the train now!

Napkins

In fine dining restaurant the waiting staff often refolds

the napkins when guests leaves the table, which is a

hospitable gesture. At Le 7, Bistrot Chic of Anne

Sophie Pic they have chosen a more practical and

creative approach, here you can hang your napkin on

a small hook attached to the table.

3

Family fun all in one

We published an article about the ‘Pizza-burger’ by ‘Boston Pizza’ on

our website Horecatrends.com. We did mention this burger on

horecatrends in April (kind of a April the 1st joke) but the burger is

launched on the menu in September. Children at the Boston Pizza

receive a mini pizza box by entering the restaurant, containing

coloring pages, games and crayons. Nice small gesture, that can be

taken home of course.

Surprise Surprise!

Towel folding

In our last publication “Royal hospitable gestures” we

showed how towels folded in different shapes, an old

craft, is appreciated by the young and old. The Airport

Hotel Rotterdam took the examples of Ratilanna

Riverside Spa Resort in Chiang Mai as inspiration. They

have started to fold their towels in different shapes and

got a lot of positive responses from their guests, we

especially liked their dog!

Fifty Shades of Grey goodie

Hotel Mainport in Rotterdam is putting in a lot of effort to

separate themselves from competition, they even

specialized their mini-bar assortment. That’s why they are

now offering the Fifty Shades of Grey goodie bag.

Another personal touch in the room is the travel diary

where you can document your travel experiences.

Vouchers

Upon arrival at the Dylan Hotel in Amsterdam every

guest receives a homemade welcome drink. This varies

from an interpretation of ice tea to refreshing lemonades.

During “turn down”-service every guest receives a cooled

bottle of water and a personal mix of nuts or chocolate.

Guests that stay longer, get to enjoy the “long stay

program” where they are surprised with a new small

surprise everyday. Think of a voucher for an ice-cream or

tickets for one of the museums of Amsterdam.

4

Extra service Hotel allows guests to shop 24-7

The Mark Hotel in New York recently agreed to an exclusive partnership with fashion store

Bergdorf Goodman that will allow its guests to shop at their store at any time. The hotel

guests will have 24/7 access to the fashion store with a personal shopper. A hospitable

gesture, that’s for sure!

Spa Happy Hour

The Spa at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston has introduced a Spa Happy Hour. Guests and

locals can get USD 30 off at a 60 or 90 minutes massage, facial or body treatment from

Monday through Thursday from 12:00 to 6:30 pm. They can also choose a special Happy

Hour menu that includes free Spa cocktails and snacks. The promotion continues until

December 31, 2013. A new kind of happy hour other than your typical happy hour at a bar.

Hotel offers self cooking boxes

Boutique hotel Affinia Hotels has started a partnership with US online grocer 'FreshDirect' to

offer their guests an extra service. The rooms at the Affinia Hotels are equipped with a

kitchen, separate dining area that allows guests to cook in their hotel room. Therefore the

hotel offers meal packages by FreshDirect, such as the Healthy kit or the Business kit. The

boxes are filled with food like fruits, vegetables, biscuits, dairy products and chips. Guests can

order these boxed when they make the reservation for the hotel room or during their stay.

5

The Manhattan Hotel Rotterdam

Twittering concierge

The Manhattan hotel in Rotterdam is going along with tweeting habits of their clientele. The

hotel is the first hotel in The Netherlands with a tweeting concierge, Lesley Klavert keeps hotel

guests posted on touristic attractions, restaurants, nightlife and events every day between 8

AM – 8 PM. Via twitter account @conciergeRTM hotel guests can also pose their questions,

this way the hotel can be in touch with their guests even before arrival.

Personal pickup service from the train station

Doorman Donald welcomes the hotel guests at Rotterdam Central Station with a smile, he

takes their luggage and accompanies them to the hotel. The most famous person Donald has

picked up so far is Jean Paul Gaultier when he arrived from Paris by Thalys to open his

exhibition in ‘the Kunsthal’.

VIP treatments in style

The Manhattan Hotel Rotterdam is involved in many events like Rotterdam Unlimited, City

Racing Rotterdam and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. To ensure that all services

are in style, the hotels’ VIP treatments become theme focused. For example during the ABN

AMRO World Tennis Tournament they served yellow/green macaroons.

The Manhattan Hotel in Rotterdam offers its guests small hospitable gestures before they come

to the hotel. The Twittering concierge Lesley Klavert informs the guests through Social Media

and they have a personal pickup service from the train station.

Personalized bath amenities for VIP guests

The VIP guests of The Manhattan Hotel Rotterdam

are pampered extra with personalized beauty

products of the hotel shop ‘Bibou Organic Products

and Treatments’. The products of Bibou are made in

their own laboratory and are made with passion,

animal-free tested and produced. For special

occasions the bottles are personalized with names

and pictures, to surprise the hotels’ guests.

6

Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna

The Palais Hansen Kempinski in Vienna offers its guests the opportunity to rent

special “Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna Bikes”. These city bikes were especially

made by the hotel for their guests. The bikes are rented to the guests for free. This

way the hotel offers their guests the perfect way to discover Vienna, healthy and

sustainable.

Furthermore they have their own iPad entertainment system. In every room an iPad is

provided with no additional costs. Guests can use the iPad to order room service,

discover the hotel virtually, operate the lightning or the television. Obviously it can also

be used to surf the internet. The lobby also boasts two iPads for external guests and

the two restaurants use iPads to present their wine lists.

7

Hotel Des Indes & The Pulitzer hotel The hospitable gestures a company provides have to match the image

of the hotel. Hotel Des Indes, an original city palace, has welcomed

many royals, aristocrats and celebrities since it’s opening as hotel in

1881. They use a symbol from the past to show their sense of

hospitality. Every room is furnished with an authentic pineapple

chandeliers to provide all guests with a warm welcome.

This is based on the fact that in the 1800’s it was custom to put a

pineapple on tables as a token of hospitality. The Spaniards discovered

that the pineapple symbolizes friendship and hospitality because

pineapples where normally found at the entrance of villages. Also linen,

napkins and carpets were illustrated with pineapples to show the

hospitality of the host of hostess. Hotel Des Indes beautifully reinstated

that symbol in their hotel.

From the Pulitzer hotel we received as a “small hospitable gestures” a

description of their Pulitzers Bar. A gesture that is super easy to

incorporate in your company. Just be awarded the best in town.

They divided their bar in three separate spaces, the Blue Bar where

guests can chat at the bar, the Johnny Walker Black Label Lounge for

a good glass of whiskey and the Red Room for a nice view on the

beautiful Keizersgracht.

Ultimate hospitality, the Pulitzers Bar was recently declared “best five

star hotelbar of Amsterdam 2013” by the newspaper “Parool”. The

Pulitzers Bar is run daily by three passionate barmen; Wajeeh, Nils

and Turgay.

In hospitality it’s vital that your staff carries out your vision. Because in

the hospitality is a combination of beautiful space, quality products

and the personal contact and service.

8

Social media as sales element

Smart use of Social Media

These days we see more and more hotels that

use social media in a smart way. The Four

Seasons for example uses Pinterest to get in

touch with their guests before arrival, they bring

their travels to life with Pin.Pack.Go, a new

travel planner on Pinterest. Via Pinterest the

guest can create a Pin.Pack.Go board and

show which Four Seasons hotel they will visit.

You can start following the specific hotel on

Pinterest and they will follow you back, from

that point on that Four Seasons hotel can start

recommending you touristic attractions,

restaurants and shops via pins. Basically the

hotel plans your ideal travel route from

beginning to end via Pinterest. Because of your

Pinterest profile they know your interests and

can personalize all information. An interesting

and renewing way of informing guests before

arrival and it definitely creates more fun

anticipation!

Instagram hotel

After the Twitter hotel in Majorca, the first

Instagramhotel has now been opened in

Australia. Hotel 1888 has 90 rooms decorated

with photos taken by guests and is fully

dedicated to Instagram. When you have more

than 10.000 followers on Instagram you get a

free stay at the hotel and the

guest/photographer of the Instagramphoto (of

the hotel) of the month also receives a free

additional stay. The hotel has a special room

where you can take photos of yourself and

guests are guided through the environment by

an Instagram map.

9

www.eloundavillas.com

www.airporthotelrotterdam.nl

www.bibou.nl

www.desindes.nl

www.dylanamsterdam.com

www.kempinski.com/vienna

www.mainporthotel.com

www.manhattanhotelrotterdam.com

www.merlet.nl

www.pic-valance.fr

www.pulitzeramsterdam.com

www.ruscalleda.com

www.coolrooms.nl

www.horecatrends.com:

Alcohol free beverage and food pairing

Food Sherpas

Family fun all in one

A burger wrapped in a pizza

Hotel allows guests to shop 24-7

Instagramhotel

Pin Pack Go travel planner

Spa Happy Hour Four Seasons

Hotel offers self cooking boxes

Twitter concierge

Towel art

Check our inspiration on www.horecatrends.com

Trendpresentations for entrepeneurs and students

On a regular basis we supply trend and inspiration sessions about the

(inter)national developments within the hospitality, marketing, leisure, retail

and experience economy. We have experience in giving presentations for

different audiences, from students to board of directors.

Would you like to apply trends in your own company? We can look at your

current communication channels, provide an inspiration session, together we

determine what is attainable and we will help you with the execution! For more

information, send an email to armandsol@spronsen.com.

References