Ever wondered if a room’s name plays a part when securing a reservation? Several revenue management experts think so, and they urge hotel managers to think twice before naming their hotel rooms the old-fashioned way as simple or basic.
According to Chema Herrero, professor at the FORST School of Tourism Business, “when a room is called ‘simple’ or ‘basic’, we send into the customer’s subconscious the image of space without value – even if it does have it – and we reduce that room’s competitiveness ourselves.”
Entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry must keep in mind that the way hotel rooms are named in the booking catalog is important for the customer when making their decision. There needs to be a change when naming or classifying accommodations, thus improving their attractiveness in pre-sales and increasing performance.
An Element Often Ignored
Experts emphasize that hotel managers rarely pay attention to this element. Traditional denominations like ‘standard’, ‘double’, ’single’, ‘interior’, ‘with a view’ or ‘no view’, determine the competitiveness of these accommodations.
The customer’s profile has changed in recent years, and now they demand things from the beginning of their experience, that is, since the moment they decide to make a reservation. Therefore, hotels have to narrate a story.
“It is not the same to encourage a reservation about a room called ‘standard single’, next to something called ‘Green Urban Junior’; or in the case of the Mediterranean coastline, for example, the ‘Bay Room’ or ‘Mediterranean Room’” said the expert. There are little doubts establishments that have addressed this issue have seen their reservations increase.
A Decisive Strategy for Hotel Profitability
It is crucial that hotel managers and owners fully understand that their main concern when managing a hotel is to maximize profits. Precisely, hotel room naming is decisive to achieve profitability. In fact, in most developed destinations about half of the hotels have names for their rooms that instead of securing more reservations have the opposite effect, with some names even causing the potential customer’s outright rejection.
A positive example is that of establishments that offer added value when booking a room. It is important to keep in mind that a high percentage of customers choose a destination based on the city or location and not the hotel, so lining up the destination and its features with the name of the room would be a very successful yet profitable strategy.