How to make the most of your hotel refurbishment
Following the completion of a refurbishment in 1988, Claridges in central London increased its turnover by 38% and profitability by more than 90%.
Refurbishing rooms is vital for hotels not maintaining high standards and keeping up with trends can cost you a lot of bookings if your competitors are striding out ahead of you.
What are the three most important things people look for when booking a hotel?
Room size
Room aesthetics
Room quality
While there are other factors such as location and facilities that will play a part in a customer’s decision, these are the three things that will affect room-based decisions most.
Room size
In 2015, the average hotel room size was 350 square feet, but hotel bedroom sizes are shrinking and that’s especially true in the U.K.
Commercial Property Consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton revealed new research that shows that 18% of all room openings in the U.K. in 2018 fell under the category of “compact-sized hotel rooms.”
With these “compact-sized hotel rooms” comes a new audience. A younger audience that wants ease, simplicity and rooms that are cleverly designed to suit their needs.
Knowing your audience and what they want is crucial to hotel success. Never assume that bigger is better.
Room aesthetics
While it’s not possible to keep up with every single fashion trend—and it’s important to remain true to your brand’s style—it’s important to remember the impact of good design.
With the rise of boutique hotels—many of them a collaboration with well-regarded designers—larger hotels need to stay on their toes in order to attract new customers.
Redesigning your rooms gives past customers a reason to come back to you. It also gives you the chance to approach style/travel magazines to boost awareness for your hotel and increase bookings.
Room quality
The attention to detail and quality of your rooms isn’t always obvious on a booking site at first glance. But style is no good without substance. If your rooms look great but don’t function well, your guests won’t be returning and you will be likely to receive some bad reviews.
The quality and functionality of the facilities in your rooms are just as important as the aesthetics.
Do the doors lock properly?
Do the key cards work effortlessly?
Does the shower have good pressure?
If you’re going to refurbish your rooms don’t just think about the aesthetics.
So once you’ve refurbished your hotel, how do you make the most of it?
Tell people.
One of the best things about a hotel refurbishment is the fact that you can make a song and dance about it. People love to hear about new things that they should try and it’s all about making it an experience for them.
And, you don’t have to wait for it to be finished to start talking about it either!
Once you know you’re going to refurbish your hotel, here are 3 things you can do to drive conversation and increase bookings:
1. Ask your audience what they want
By asking your existing audience what they would like to see in your new rooms you’re showing them that you value their opinion and that the reason you’re doing this is to improve their experience. You are highlighting your ‘customer-first’ approach. You’ll probably get some interesting ideas too!
2. Document the journey
By documenting the journey of your refurbishment you can keep customers updated and build excitement as the re-opening gets closer. Take photographs along the way and share them on social media, your audience will feel like they’re on this journey with you and will be more likely to look forward to the end result, and book once its ready.
3. Get professional photographs taken
Once your refurbishment is complete, get a professional photographer to capture the ambience and style of your new rooms in all their glory. Use these images on your website homepage, on booking sites that you’re registered with and across your social media channels.
You can also reach out to hospitality magazines to see if they would be interested in featuring your hotel.
Remember, it will take a while for word to spread about your refurbishment if you wait until it’s already complete. Make sure you keep your existing customers excited for the new launch and that you’re reaching out to new potential customers so that your rooms are fully booked from day 1.
One of our long-standing clients refurbished their rooms recently and booked us in for a full-day shoot straight away.
So, if you’ve just finished a refurbishment, or you’re about to start one, let’s have a chat about how we can capture your amazing new rooms and increase bookings.
If you’re ready to hire a professional photographer to capture your interior design work, let’s chat! Drop me an email: studio@tonyhphoto.com.