在豪华酒店行业,没有这个ng as an arbitrary decision. Managers carefully consider every object, every color, every name to make sure they enhance the guest experience and reflect the hotel brand’s image just right.
Such decisions took on far greater significance at the Oberoi, Mumbai, in the aftermath of what’s referred to locally as “26/11.” On November 26, 2008, Pakistani terrorists laid siege to Mumbai and targeted the five-star hotel along with a half dozen other sites in the city. After three days of gunfire and grenade blasts, 164 people were dead, including more than 30 of the Oberoi’s staff and guests; parts of the building were devastated.
Management vowed to rebuild. After a 17-month, $45 million reconstruction, the Oberoi reopened in April 2010. The Tiffin restaurant, where many of the victims were killed, was renovated and recast as an upscale international eatery and given a name that reflected the hotel’s rebirth: Fenix.
“我们从灰烬中升起，”Oberoi集团，酒店和度假屋拥有孟买物业的酒店和度假村的副总裁Devendra Bharma说。“我们觉得Fenix是一个非常合适的名字。我们的团队在17个月内将酒店带回荣耀。“
事实上，它的光荣回归和坚定不移的服务承诺已经赢得了Oberoi，孟买，是世界上最好的酒店的顶级位置，亚博赞助欧冠全球五大酒店各地的年度排名。
The Oberoi is not alone in its resurgence. The全排名包含全球大量明亮的斑点。这一年十大酒店在地理和物业类型方面比过去几年更加多样化。
These high-end properties are at the forefront of a broader recovery in the hotel industry, and the U.S. market — as in the global economy generally — is leading the way.
“The U.S. luxury segment saw a 5.7 percent increase in room rates in 2014; that’s nearly triple the rate of inflation,” says Bjorn Hanson, professor at New York University’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management. “Luxury occupancy rates were about 72 percent, a little higher than the long-term average. And corporate contract rates will increase 5.5 to 6.5 percent in 2015. If we put all these statistics together, it has been a very positive year.”
虽然大多数普遍经理犹豫不决，但刚才使用“蓬勃发展”这个词，近年来他们肯定被行业的反弹释放了。他们的经济衰退，遵循2008年级的金融危机的经济衰退不仅仅改变了他们的资产负债表，而是访客的期望，而前者也取决于他们如何实现后者。
“Guests are now looking for more value no matter what price point they come in at, whether they’re a suite customer or deluxe-room customer,” says Tim Ananiadis, general manager of Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens, which ranks No. 2 on the list. That has spurred the hotel to increasingly bundle airport transfers with its room rates; it has also just spent €100,000 ($123,000) to upgrade its IT network to provide free Wi-Fi in all its rooms.
Jonas Schuermann, general manager of third-ranked Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, points out another significant shift in customer expectations. “In the past, the prestige of being in a five-star hotel was important,” he says. “Now guests are not concerned about the crystal chandeliers. Convenience of time has become a top priority. For today’s clientele, time is their most precious commodity. So our mission is to take whatever we can off their plate. That’s not the reason for their stay with us, but for us it’s an important service we provide.” For example, guests who need a transit visa between Hong Kong and mainland China can simply turn their passport and paperwork over to the Mandarin Oriental’s concierge and avoid the aggravating queue at the consulate.
Likewise, the Oberoi, Mumbai, has responded to the needs of its time-pressed patrons in a number of ways. “Our chauffeurs have started doing in-car meal ordering for guests,” Bharma says. “Before you reach the hotel, you can place your dinner order so that your meal will be served upon your arrival.” The hotel offers 24-hour butler service on every floor to handle guest requests. And the in-room dining menu now caters to busy guests with a new selection of smaller, simpler meals delivered in just 15 minutes — guaranteed.
Customers’ need for speed is most urgent when it comes to Wi-Fi. It’s an absolute prerequisite for Millennials (ages 18 to 35), who live on their mobile devices. Hotels have heeded the call. Investments in Wi-Fi upgrades accounted for a significant chunk of the record $6 billion spent by U.S. hotels on capital expenditures in 2014, Hanson says.
千禧一代也是另一个主要帽子趋势的司机：大厅的装修和其他公共区域。“研究表明，千禧一代宁愿在酒店的大厅里闲逛而不是在他们的房间里独自工作，”汉森说。“他们喜欢Homey，舒适的会众区域。这需要大规模改变大堂家具的配置和性质。“
The Grande Bretagne recently spent €200,000 to refresh the upholstery in its luxurious Alexander’s Bar. “I’d say one third of our customers in the bar are under 25,” says Ananiadis.
The Peninsula Chicago, which occupies fourth place in the World’s Best Hotels, is embarking on a significant room renovation that offers a little something for every key demographic, from Millennials to their baby boomer forebears. “It will be a very different look,” says Maria Razumich-Zec, the hotel’s general manager and regional vice president, USA East Coast, of the Peninsula Hotels group. As part of the makeover, the company is replacing everything from linens and carpeting to desks and wardrobes, and installing an espresso machine and tea maker in each room. Rooms will also gain a 55-inch flat-screen TV (65-inch for suites) and complimentary VoIP international calling. In-room tablets will put at guests’ fingertips everything from room service menus to spa services to a list of activities, both in the hotel and local. “The best part is that the tablet content will be in 11 different languages,” says Razumich-Zec. “That’s going to be quite helpful. We don’t have a huge international market, maybe 11 or 12 percent. But we are going after more.”
在那种努力中，半岛芝加哥从这个城市官方目的地营销组织选择芝加哥的联系受益匪浅。根据2014年11月的牛津经济学报告，选择芝加哥和类似的美国城市和州各机构在2013年花费了近20亿美元的促销努力。“这些努力开始偿还，”Razumich-Zec说。“我们已经看到了芝加哥的大涌入游客。”
The Peninsula chain is also appealing to its hometown crowd in Asia by partnering with Luxe City Guides, a popular Hong Kong–based travel publisher. The result is PenCities, a weekly online luxury lifestyle journal that appears on the home page of each hotel in the chain’s ten cities, highlighting must-dos in the local area. The Peninsula Chicago’s site recently contained stories about the opening of a hot new diner by a James Beard Award–winning restaurateur and a preview of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 60th season.
Adam Weissenberg, partner and global leader of the Travel, Hospitality & Leisure (THL) sector at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Parsippany, New Jersey, expects hotels will devote greater attention and capital to expanding their mobile presence in the coming year. “Right now, around 7 percent of THL activity is done over a mobile device,” he says. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see it grow to 40 to 50 percent in the next five years. If you don’t have the ability as a company to interact with your customers through their mobile, you will be at a big competitive disadvantage.”
The Ritz-Carlton chain is leading the mobile charge. In August it unveiled a mobile app that guests at its properties — including Ritz-Carlton Chicago, at No. 20 the highest ranked of 12 Ritz-Carlton hotels on our list — can use to check in and out, order in-room or poolside dining and submit service requests.
普通话东方连锁店仅在11月改造其移动网站。它使访问者能够创建一个综合的嘉宾个人资料，这些资料在全部45家酒店共享，在每间住宿期间提供个性化，一致的经验。该网站还提供社交媒体菜单，鼓励客人分享评论，并提供链接的社交媒体页面，从Facebook到中国微博站点的新浪微博。
在社交媒体评论中保持关于您的酒店的评论，可以是全职工作。事实上，在Hotel Grande Bretagne。雅典酒店的数字团队有三位员工，一个专门用于社交媒体的通信。“我看到的方式，在线营销有两个不同的功能，”Ananiadis说。“首先，您必须以正确的方式出现正确的内容。你不能承担任何不在任何平台上。其次，通过促进您的产品，通过促进技术来保留现有客户并吸引新的客户并吸引新产品，您必须积极。“
“Unique” and “authentic” rank high among hotels’ top hashtags and search engine optimization keywords. For the Peninsula Chicago, that means promoting its Sky Rink, a rooftop ice-skating rink that raises money during the winter for two children’s charities. The Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, boasts three Michelin-starred restaurants as well as, in Schuermann’s words, “Hong Kong’s best-kept secret”: the Krug Room, a 12-seat restaurant featuring Asia’s largest collection of Krug champagne. The Oberoi, Mumbai, claims the first 24-hour spa in India.
然而，不仅仅是任何通过社交媒体的审查使其对宾馆来获得基本面的审议更为重要。“你可以像它一样聪明地让酒店，但如果服务和团队不在那里，它并不是什么用，”Oberoi的Bharma说。
At the Peninsula Chicago, Razumich-Zec holds roundtable meetings with 12 different staff members each week to ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to service. “We talk about what guests are saying, what’s happening in their departments and if they have the tools they need to do the job,” she says. “Our employees know they have an outlet where they can speak up to me and our H.R. director.” That effort has paid off in terms of employee loyalty. Razumich-Zec estimates that 20 percent of the staff has been there ten years or longer, and another 60 percent at least five years.
在17个月期间，欧博罗尼昂关闭，布哈拉及其管理团队继续与员工努力工作。几乎所有员工都被保留并转移到Trident，姐妹Hotel隔壁，或另一家Oberoi酒店。“我们利用当时训练他们很多，”他说。“我们在三叉戟中有很多活动，让他们忙碌。没有人坐着闲着。这带回了他们的自信和动力。“
3月2015展开,复苏的势头ket will no doubt give the Oberoi and its fellow top hotels further opportunities to prove to guests — and social media followers — that their dedication to exceptional service is anything but arbitrary. “Our topmost priority is to have a consistently high level of service,” Bharma says. “How you treat your guests is what brings them back again and again — the key differentiator that sets you apart.”