Analysis of The Concept of Home that is Being Used by The Hotel Companies Today

Abstract

This report investigates the current concept of home being used by different hotels to market their business. In the discussion, a business plan has been proposed to develop a new marketing style to promote the hotel business by using the concept of home. The proposed plan aims to provide specific background information as to why this concept is being used and how this can be beneficial for the business today. This report also suggests new ways of using the concept of home to develop and market the hotel business and how it can be beneficial for the hotel companies in the coming few years.

Executive Summary

This report provides an analysis and evaluation of the concept of home that is being used by the hotel companies today. This report also suggests ways in which these concepts can be inherited and integrated in the business to market and design your hotel company.

Objective

The main objective is to grow your hotel business with emerging trends by using the concept of home which fell prosper the business itself and the customer satisfaction as well. It will help your business consider new options and strategies to design, develop and market the hospitality experience.

Background

Considering the scenic beauty of the Arabian Sea touching the coastline near your hotel’s location, the hotel will target visitors from around the world. This will boost the tourism economy while allowing you to maximize benefits provided by your location since you do not have competitor hotels providing accommodations within the 10 km radius. Therefore, the key feature that will attract the customers will be the comfort of home even at the distance of thousands of kilometers.

Introduction

Motivation

The rapid rise of personalized experience is a key theme within all kind of industries in the new era. Sleeping on a friend’s sofa seems the most unlikely hotel concept ever, be it a young one or an adult. Airbnb, a company based in San Francisco which operates hospitality services has nurtured the image carefully that the hospitality sector has been revolutionized by the short-stay rental business in less than a decade, has lessons the rest of the industry are fast embracing. “They don’t want a one-size-fits-all hotel – they are looking for experiences and stories,” says Rob Payne, the Chief Executive of Best Western GB, an organization of more than 280 independent hotels. It has also been mentioned in the reports by News Wise that “home away from home” experience is what keeps any guest satisfied.

Statement of the Problem

Home away from home experience is what is required to keep the guests satisfied and for this, the concept of home is to be introduced in hotel management, further proving to be profitable and useful for the specific hotel companies.

Purpose

No matter how much hotels innovate, there are a few basic requirements that all hoteliers should meet to make the experience of their guests both welcoming and comforting. To cut short, a feeling like home is a must do for the hoteliers as travelling has been a major business these days and it is vitally important to keep the guests engaged to help your business proper.

Scope

The scope of this project is not just limited to the normal hotels at a specific place but the scope covers all kinds of hotels in any place, worldwide.

Outline of the Report

The Report further describes the existing hotels that are using the concept of home to design and market their own hotel companies in the Background section. Furthermore, the Concept of Home will be outlined next in which the complete concept will be described as to why this proves to be beneficial for so many industries and how it can be used as a sole strategy to market and engage more and more people. Finally, the report ends with the conclusion section in which further possibilities are discussed related to the usage of the concept of home.

Background

Existing System

The existing locations and target market of hotel companies often makes it difficult for the hoteliers to provide a concept like home and strategize accordingly as it is not just the facilities that you are providing, the location and target market is equally important if you want to help your business prosper.

Proposed System

According to Douglas (1991), the way the home space and its resources are allocated matter the most. Since the location of the hotel is situated at the sea coast, the prime opening of a hotel should be west open to allow ventilation throughout the building with air exhaust systems to provide freshness. However, all tourists shall have an option to utilize air conditioning facility as humidity can be troublesome for the less tolerant visitors. To enhance the visitor’s sea experience, separate sea showers with toiletries and freshening scents will be developed to enable the beach enjoyers to clean the sand off them before entering the hotel.

Lockers will be added near the showers as cupboards to give a homely ambiance. This feature will save the visitors the hassle of walking all the way back to their rooms to freshen up and will keep the hotel clean. Barros (2005) states that the word home is associated with not only the physical place but has a more metaphorical meaning of protection, security and ownership. Therefore, convenience and privacy is a key focus of the proposed system. As tourists are the key market for your hotel, translators should be available to greet and escort them around if they wish to do so in order to give a hometown familiarity.

Lynch (2001) has framed the hospitality concept in his research by mentioning the level of comfort and code of conduct to play a special role in helping the customers to familiarize with the foreign environment. Moreover, the cuisine preference of the customers should be taken in advance in order to facilitate them with a taste they desire. This will require special recruitment of professional chefs familiar with cultural food around the world. Finally, room service should be given according to the nationality of the visitors to allow the customers to communicate their issues openly in case they face any inconveniences.

Concept of Home

Problem Breakdown (How is the Concept of Home being used)

Modern hotels have cleverly adapted to rapid social changes with creative solutions. From redesigning the guestroom configurations to ensuring highly personalized experiences, hotel owners are transforming accommodation units into the highlights of any escape. When it comes to the hospitality industry, trends can be both ephemeral and everlasting.

The concept of home is being used in many different ways by many different hoteliers all over the world. Bardhi (2005) has explained the concept of feeling at home in hotels like an experience that one may feel in a remote environment where the physical place provides a sense of home-like patterns in terms of culture, colours and architectural designs.

In Scotland, the Killiehuntly Farmhouse makes use of old touches in their furniture while in India, the 28 Kothi eschews the local design clichés giving it a more homely feel and an amazing experience for the guests. Similarly, in Peru, the Atemporal-Hotelito raises the benchmarks by giving a purely home feeling with its front and back yards, house bikes and a Mini Cooper as well for cruising around. Moving on to Chicago, Villa D’Citta offers a communal kitchen which comes fully stocked with all the snacks you can imagine and the outdoor patio even comes with a barbecue grill making it just perfect for warm summer nights just like at home.

Many hotels are now allowing pets as well so people do not have to worry about their four legged friends at home. A few of them have hidden libraries masquerading as huge book shelves so bookworms will feel right at home while some of them, like the Fifteen Beacon in Boston considers a luxurious feeling to be a feeling like home and offers an in-house Lexus that the guests can use within a 2-mile radius of the hotel.

Creating the Home Experience for Hotel Casterly Rock

Nowadays, design has always been a crucial feature in hospitality services, especially when it comes to defining the hotel’s brand and persona, and the guests are intuitively accustomed to interpret design to fit their own formation of what a hotel is actually like and whether it fits their lifestyle or not.

According to Holjevac (2003), the globalization will have a universal effect on tourism at international and national levels. So, with the entry of homely furnishings and lean luxury, a hotel can be tilted more towards the concept of home rather than the trendy luxuries like having 1000-count-thread sheets or the finest of all Russian caviar. Lean luxury typically is being referred to the new kind of luxury where simplicity matters more than the branded quality standards. Design may also cater to the simplicity of the rooms and hotel view such as having windows in every room, and wooden furniture will give the room an apartment feels just like home. Few hotels still base their attractiveness strictly on “practicability.”

Cooking is an art and so should be the “exhibition space,” thus having a small kitchen will be great way to attract and engage guests. Homely feeling in hospitalized services need to be taken as more of a personalized service, something having a clear sense of community and place, its craftsmanship and a place having a story to tell. “The basics of hospitality have been compromised to make room for innovation, but the best innovation comes from the inside out.”

Distasio and Mulligan (2011) emphasized on the fact that familiarizing with the customers’ living styles enable us to understand the sense of home in a better manner. The role of being a real community fixture is what is needed today, a place where strangers can really get together, a place where you’re in the heart of a local neighborhood and you are able to get introduced to a local host but at times, the experience of home stay can also turn out to be isolating so a central lobby where guests can gather around with other travelers or locals which will help them feel as though they really ‘live there.’

Similarly, as simple as a B-cycle will be a great offer for the guests as it will be a facility of utmost leisure and a friendly grab a bike and go will favor the guests to go around and explore as per their convenience. Furthermore, a selection of books can be dropped off at your room with the option to read and return or buy. This will help the guests spend their leisure time more effectively as a lot of travelers now have a habit of reading.

In today’s world, guests expect surprises and having a sofa right beside your king sized bed won’t appeal the guest much. Color explosions and eclectic decor mixes are a few inventions that will be appealing to the guests and will provide a feeling like home. Recommendations It will always be a debate as to what actually feels like home as the feeling differs from person to person, however, hoteliers can consider the place and the cultures of that place to redesign the concept of home to market their hotel businesses. Surveys will also provide the hoteliers with the data about what the guests actually want from your hotel which can be further discussed and implemented accordingly in the interests of both the hotel companies and the guests.

Conclusion

Creating a home experience in hotels is an excellent way of helping your guests achieve all the satisfaction they require and furthermore, helping your own business to grow on higher levels. If the hotel is using the concept of home in serving its guests, then that hotel certainly has an edge over other hotels in the competing market. However, there are certain limitations to the use of concept of home as with the increasing demand for ‘home away from home,’ it is now a difficult task for the hoteliers to provide the guests with a satisfied experience in a limited budget. Hence, cost plays a vital role here. If a home experience is to be provided then with the luxuries of home, the hotel expenses will drastically increase which will turn out to be a compromise for both the hoteliers and the guests.