The world is changing at the rate of knots. I get out of my home town for a few months & comeback & some major landscape has already been altered. (Ok, when I say major landscape I generally mean advertisement hoardings. They are like landmarks to me to remember a new route & when they are changed, I get confused) But the world still is changing very rapidly & providers of various services are trying to constantly evolve their services in order to not only ward off competition, but also give their customers the best possible services. The Hotel Industry has come a long way from the days when it was just a room & some food under one roof.
I have always been a great believer in free trade & privatization. All political & ideological debates apart, I do believe that competition in general improves product quality. The best part of such a competition is that it finally adds up to be beneficial to the consumer. ‘Customer is god’, is the new cliche. With tourism blossoming across the planet, the grandest hotels across the world have had to make themselves more appealing over the years to their customers. With growing environmental awareness & demand for greater quality in every product, the Hotel industry had to alter itself.
Modern hotel customer is no longer looking for just a ‘nice & pleasant stay’. It goes beyond that. He wants his stay to be a wonderful & unique experience. The Westin pillow top-mattress bed, introduced in 1999, was an instant hit and is credited with starting a revolution in hotel bedding. This was a way the hotel designed to stamp its uniqueness on the market. People came to the hotel just for the bed! They at least opted to pay the extra buck for the comfort. This was the start of the revolution.
Westin’s Heavenly Bed:
Now hotels across the globe are following suit, trying to carve out a unique niche for themselves in the market place. They are using toilets that are super germ free & wonder-loos that are warm (That was started in Japan & I’m not surprised at all). Bathroom tubs have comfy cushioned backs (I wonder what for… hmmm), even full standing tubs in the bathroom that have a floor to ceiling window view!! Wow! So we get to… what? It is shaded windows with electronically operated shades. So we don’t get to… damn, I’m not writing this any more. I have been left heart broken.
Fine, I’ll continue as you people are pleading so much, but that was a cruel thing to do. I was really… ah, never mind. Then there are mirrors with TV holograms in them so that you don’t miss your favorite TV program while marveling at yourself. (Now, I’m laughing on the inside about this as I know one person for whom this would be perfect, but I’ll spare her for now)
Hologram TV image in mirror:
So, every hotel is trying something new & Wyndham Hotels’ new “Smart Chair” aims to do for in-room lounging and working what Westin’s Heavenly Bed did for sleeping. The chair has loads of plug-in gadgets, an internet connection & what not. Well, there is also lamp dimming facility at your finger tips for the beds in the hotel. They are doing everything to go one up on rivals, I guess.
Ultimately, it is about the best service one can provide. If the customer is happy, that means green paper is flowing. Now I’m not the one who is so much of an indoor type. When I’m on a holiday, I do not care so much for the room as I would like to spend the time outside. But I know most of you might be brimming with ideas that might have stemmed from your own experiences in a hotel room. So feel free to write & in & let’s see what we can do about your next holiday trip!
