Hastings - the fishing town

It was time for a romantic break, the coast was the destination and heading in the Southerly direction was the intention. Storms had been battering Britain for weeks, we new whichever coastal town we were heading to that it would be cold, wet and potentially bleak.

We chose Hastings, I had last visited in 1993 and my only memories were the ruins of the castle and the pebble beach. We booked bed and breakfast at Alexander's Guest House with a sea view for a respectable £70 just 10 days prior - so we expected Hastimgs to be reasonably quiet.

On the drive down we stopped at Bodium Castle, we were aware it would be closed between the Christmas and New Year break and I was concerned that this detour would be a waste of time. Fortunately the parking gates were wide open and the skies cleared long enough for us to enjoy a walk around the mote marvelling this historic building, the beauty of the surrounding landscape was accentuated by the flooded plains and burst banks of the river. Families hopped across muddy pastures and dog walkers enjoyed the relative peace. The cold soon bit at our cheeks so we headed for the 30 minute remaining drive to Hastings.

Hastings old town is small but perfectly formed. Historic small buildings line the narrow street as you pass trinket stores, vintage shops, fish restaurants, quaint cafés, old pubs and antique hordes. Climb to the East Hill for the castle ruins (closed over Christmas) and enjoy the roof top views overlooking the sea and fisherman's quarter, the roofs covered in vibrant green moss. 

We spent our time dipping in and out of pubs and enjoying fish and steak, the quiet weekend between Christmas and New Year was a perfect time to visit, a romantic time - the cold, the wet, the wind all added to the magic in this historic town as dusk set in at 4pm and the town was lit by amber lighting. 

After another stroll along the promenade, a coffee stop we then headed back home, stopping at Ashford Designer Outlet along the way. We will return to Hastings in the summer to enjoy some Lobster!

Do we understand the power of Travel social media?

So many people travel, it’s an escape…So many people love mobile phones, it’s a connection – to an escape….So many people love to share, it’s a connection, is an escape…

Therefore we should not underestimate the power of social media in all our lives, we should not under estimate our own insignificance in all of this. We after all are 1 of over several billion people who love sharing their travel stories; by mouth, by text, by postcard, by phone, by photos, by video….by tweets, by status updates, by blogs….

Dr Peter O’Connor states: This has formed Generation C – the Creative, the Connected, Conversation obsessed, Cash driven, Content hungry. And businesses are ever more listening in to the noise that is created, to get a snapshot of what is being said. We have to remember this is no different than the “Old days” of customer surveys, focus groups, cold calls, feedback forms.

Remy Merckx of CarlsonRezidor Hotel Group said that as consumers they “want their own moment of fame”, and this certainly is not far from the truth as we parade our lives on Facebook, prance in front of YouTube and paparazzi ourselves on Flickr.

And you know the other funny thing – most of what we officially say is positive. According to Severine Philardeau of TripAdvisor, the average score is 4.5 / 5, which means that we’re all being incredibly generous with our scores.

A new technology coming to our hands soon is TripTease, the founder, Charlie Osmond talking of the necessity to “curate a life online” and through TripTease people can ‘enhance their personal brand’.

So we are being given more tools to use to share and create conversation to stay connected, while giving more secrets and information away – but failing to be proper critics because we love everything so much…Apart from the odd B**ch our friends scream on Facebook or through Forums, it really is quite true…we show our lives as perfect and what makes them perfect

– in my opinion – it’s because we want to make people envious of us, we want to show our so-called “friends” that we are happy and successful.

So what is the real truth in the data we share on social media, and how valuable is it really?

HOSPA - mobile change in hotels

I’m a mobile man…are you? (sorry “person”)

Well we all know the trials and tribulations as we try to hook up to the Wi-Fi at hotels around the globe. The best places I found for catering to travelers needs are the South Americans, they know how to deliver free Wi-Fi. Hostels also recognize the value of Wi-Fi for guests, but why do hotels still struggle with this concept? Why can I go to the pub on the corner and surf, but not in my hotel room…and we wonder why hotels are struggling?

I attended the HOSPAWorkshop event to look at mobile technologies in hotels, beyond Wi-Fi it’s the strategy that hotels, on the whole, really need to catch up. While their retailing counterparts are outdoing them with online purchases and the buying experience, the hotel industry is still using archaic systems to manage their properties, their people and their guests.

Social media is in full swing as we blog, Tweet and Facebook / G+…and hotels are keen to commercialise this instead of jumping straight into the action.

Software companies at this event talked about the ‘cloud’, you know that place where we store our photos and documents from our mobiles?! And they talk about SaaS (software as a service), like our Gmail accounts, Flickr etc…

See. Several steps behind us right?

Well just imagine what their Reservation management system looks like? You wonder why it is so difficult to book a hotel direct, or a hotel has the right reservation details for you…well wonder no more…!

We are changing the way we book our hotels, where we find where we want to stay, yet we’re continually forced to use the big brands or TripAdvisor, Expedia or booking to research and make these decisions. We want a new experience to our hotel stay, and as the mobile youth generation begin to afford to travel their decisions are going to be on how well a hotel can service them…through our mobile.

And the impact? A big change in the way that the middle hotels 2 – 4* will survive to deliver guests these expectations.

Everyone talks so highly of CitizenM…the concept of community, loyalty and being part of the club, a hotel brand utilizing new technologies like Apple Passbook (you know how frustrating it is to have to find an internet café to print off your boarding pass or hotel reservation receipt).

Speaking to Mike Murray of Tripcraft, an enterprise solution for hotels, has the guest experience and loyalty at the centre of the system to help hotels improve that customer service. Facilitating multilingual conversation between the guest and the hotel staff…and incorporating all existing technologies in the hotel, so that OUR guest data is centralized so we don’t have to repeat ourselves time and time again.

Mobile technology is developing at such a rate, the question is will hotels be able to tap into it and keep up. iRiS Mobile Concierge is another one that is placing all hotel services within an App to help customers search for information, and order services and products themselves, from their room or when they are on their way to the hotel.

Speaking to Paul Lingard-Kay of Old English Inns, technology is moving in a hotel but adoption is not easy. At local property level, expecting staff to handle these technologies consistently is a challenge, and therefore centralizing this management of digital, marketing, content and communications with guests is the trend.

It helps to understand why some communications is more generic than we would expect from unique properties.

What we also have to understand, as travelers, is that on the whole, the industry has “forgotten” that it’s in the ‘people business’. Salaries have changed little, and you will often be confronted by the lowest qualified staff in the most important positions. As a guest this cannot excuse misgivings in the level of service or quality of experience at the hotel.

It is as though the level of trust in staff has diminished in favour of cutting basic operational costs, that include salaries, rather than trying to maintain a higher quality level of service.

We can put this down to one thing – hotels are looking for the quick fix.

Everything is being bolted in, hotels are trying to evolve rather than take a leap of faith and do something different. And travelers are only going to suffer.

Boutique Hotel News – Post-Olympic debrief, #empty13, Distribution and sales

On Monday 3^rd September the Boutique Hotel News held a panel discussion to review the effect of the Olympics and the results for Independent and Boutique hotels during the period.

Held at The Hempel, the session looked at what can be learned from the London Olympics and what to expect over the next 12 months.

The panel consisted of

Gareth Banner, general manager, The Hempel

Marie Baxter, general manager, Town Hall Hotel

Chris Foy, head of 2012 games unit, Visit Britain

Ruth Mortimer, editor, Marketing Week

Moderator: Jonathan Langston, managing director, TRI Hospitality Consulting

The overview

The London Olympics 2012 is about the long game; promoting and reintroducing Britain back to the world. Building the profile of the country across the world. The panel noted that it drew the best of Britain through the media, that was replicated across the world. The mass number of volunteers demonstrated the country’s hospitality and the ability to be welcoming hosts.

Ruth Mortimer said it is hard to say yet how the legacy will be fulfilled, “however the immediate success can be seen in the interest in the Paralympics.”

For The Hempel, the hotel sold out to a single booking which helped them meet their revenue needs. While Town Hall Hotel experienced good occupancy and ADR, but “In all honesty conferencing and banqueting took a dip – we had no weddings or other entertainments because of so many events were happening with the Olympics.” However Marie noted that the hotel could continue to get success “off the back of marketers, who will bring more people into London.”

The panel noted how boutique properties are good for hospitality events with the right amount of space (40-60 rooms) that adds character and history of London through the original building structure that feels historically different.

The underlying theme though was to truly understand what the customer wants from you! With thousands of hotel room nights opening in London that have more luxury capacity and as the Olympic spotlight fades hoteliers need to begin being creative rather than taking everything for granted.

Boutique hotels will need to work hard and be very smart and creative otherwise 2013 will be a difficult year. The UK has had its fair share of international events over the past couple of yeas with few to come except the Rugby World Cup 2014.

As hotels in the UK will need to market rates inclusive of VAT, at 20%, the country may start to look expensive, especially to Europeans with the low value of the Euro.

#empty13

The panel talked of the year of 2013 that has little to look forward to. More budgeting, people needing to work harder and hotels to find those hidden gems and stories. The industry will need to look closer at the potential of providing a more personalised experience.

By 2014 the country is expecting an additional 4.5milliom visitors, a commitment made by VisitBritain.

Distribution

For the hotels, OTA is a very dirty word as direct sales are more profitable. However OTAs are needed in January, February and Sunday nights. The Town Hall Hotel works with the Kiwi Collection, Mr and Mrs Smith and other very specific boutique brand agencies, doing the marketing on their behalf. Marie said she works hard to qualify whom they work with and there is a growing understanding with consumers that the best rate is a direct rate with the hotel.

For working with the large OTAs like Expedia and Booking, for them it is a listing, to be on the hotel search engine, but keeping an optimum price on these channels positions them correctly in the market.

Ruth talked about how other industries have lost control over their inventory – Insurance for example. Where everything is done through price comparison websites. “People's behaviour in how they look has altered and what the hotel suffers from when people are just looking at the big number. It is totally rate driven.”

For the hoteliers in the room being a boutique hotel means they can stand above the rest because they are unique. “We have a unique quality, an independence. We shouldn't be competing on rate but marketing ourselves on distinct differences. We're not cheapest out there and this is why we are not being ashamed of it because we give out more than others.”

As for Social media, Ruth believes it is great if using it for the right reasons. Some for specials, some quick enquiries, some as communities. Such an individual aspect for each business it needs to be considered on how it works best.

There’s a lot more to come from the Olympics, if hotels, the country and everyone works hard enough to bleed as much from the international profile gained as possible.

Vietnam - Day One. Arriving in Hanoi

Arrived at hotel: 7.30am - Check-in not until 11am.
3 hours to kill
First day, 2 hours of disrupted sleep and here I am in a strange city, in a foreign land. Now What?

I dug my heels in and went for it. No time to mess around, but dull grey skies made Hanoi look pathetic. After 15 minutes of walking and I became easily used to cross the road - just walk, don't stop, don't mind the other traffic, it will move around you - but where now?

A motorbike tour guide picked me up. With my rubbish bartering skills I agreed to $12 per hour for a tour of Hanoi. Seriously what was I thinking? I didn't know Asia at this point, let alone the value of money here. But it should be more like $12 per day. So on the back of his bike I hopped.

I ordered to be taken to the main tourist city sites and for coffee and lunch. And the tour began.

The friendly guide trapsed me across Hanoi in good time, stopping at places I didn't know the name or significance of followed by a strong Vietnam coffee then we perched at a side street food vendor. I hesitated at first, in case my stomach should churn later, but the BBQ minced pork balls in noodle soup was too good to resist.

The tour lasted 2.5 hours and I managed to barter him down to $20 - still stupidly expensive. But he bought the coffee and my lunch so I didn't feel so bad about that first experience.

11am: back to the hotel, shower and nap.

4.30pm the orientation of the old town of Hanoi - the markets, food stalls and realising that Hanoi is not about beauty, architecture or history, but it's people and culture. I had a theme, and I wondered what the rest of the country was going to show me.

7.30pm: dinner. The Vietnamese eat early, try going for food post-8pm and you might have problems finding somewhere that serves. As a group we had a multi-plate meal consisting of 12 dishes at a cost of $25, or 245VND.

It was an eventful dinner, the Vietnamese (especially in the North) seem to keep their Christmas trees out and decorated all year round. Apparently something to do with bringing good luck. Bit peculiar since their faith isn't Christianity. However on this first rather exhausting night, as we sat on the second floor of this small family owned restaurant the waiters hurriedly served us. In such a rush a naked flame fell to the floor and set the tree on fire. Welcome to Vietnam - I was about to be cooked alive. The staff fumbled around trying to douse the flames, unfortunately with materials that soon caught on fire. One of them grabbed a huge bucket and three it over the tree. That was it - the tree's life was over - or so I thought. 15 minutes later another staff member started to readorn the tree. In all this time, we just sat - still - wondering if we should flee for our lives.

Following dinner I made my way to the local gay bar - Golden Cock (GC), a relatively discreet venue with western pop music, pool tables and plenty of vodka and gin being knocked back by the Vietnamese. In the two hours I was there they would polish a bottle of spirit between 3 of them and stumbled out of the bar.