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Competition across hotel price points drives service offerings.

Article Excerpt
During the past few tough years, hotel companies, regardless of price point, have stressed their customer service programs to distinguish themselves from their competition.

Not only have the upper upscale and deluxe levels delivered an even higher degree of personal service, such as St. Regis' butlers stationed on guest floors or Ritz-Carlton's computer-savvy, on-call technology concierge, but even midprice and economy hotels have enhanced the delivery of consistent minimal standards. At these more modest price points, however, better service was more likely to take the form of improved cleanliness, hours of staffing and even maintenance.

It is surprising, then, to learn from the results of BTNs Service Quality survey that the amenities and features most often touted by high-end hotels--including 24-hour room service, elaborate fitness centers, executive club floors and high-speed Internet access are not necessarily valued highly by either travel managers or travelers. The basics of the hotel stay, including guests' physical comfort, is much more important.

The survey is a measure of buyer and traveler perceptions of service today. Yet, how they perceive the true value of certain items does not necessarily reflect the way they will view them in the future, especially those that entail technology. That explains why there appears to be a disconnect between what customers say they value and where hoteliers are focusing their efforts.

During the economic downturn, hotels have been much more likely to offer additional services that corporate travel managers particularly prize when there was no more leeway in negotiations to discount rate. Among the most popular of those services are airport shuttles and upgrades to suites, as well as free breakfast.

"Even though room rates for 2004 seem to be strengthening in many markets, hotels in surprising numbers still will throw in things like these without you're even asking," said Tina Itschner, corporate travel and purchasing manager at HNTB Corp., a construction and engineering firm in Kansas City, Mo., speaking this month at BTNs mid-market seminar in Los Angeles.

Beyond individual service features that hotels might offer for the benefit of travelers, buyers also are quick to note that there is a second dimension to service quality: precisely the kinds of hands-on support they provide in helping buyers do their jobs better.

"We look for the hotels we work with to be proactive, to say, 'We can fill this need for you this way,' " said Robert McGurk, vice president of corporate travel services for Turner Broadcasting System, this month at a forum for travel buyers and meeting planners in Atlanta.

Asked to rate on a 10-point scale the importance they placed on the hotel having a club floor, 145 travel manager respondents on average rated this feature 6.9. Self-cheekin and 24-hour room service did not fare much better, with ratings of 7.3 and 7.5, respectively.

Reinforcing the discrepancy between the hotels' perception and customers' reality, the 583 traveler respondents placed even less importance on these service features than travel managers. Again using club floors as an example, travelers gave them an average rating of 5.4. In other words, barely hall put a high value on club floors, which for a premium in rate provide upgraded concierge services and use of a restricted lounge.

Similarly, travelers placed a lower value than travel managers on self-checkin, 6.5, and 24-hour room service, 6.4.

In addition, the survey measured respondents' estimation of how well...

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