Key Elements & Facilities of an Authentic Luxury Hotel
A unique and best hotel experience is all that you want with your next trip. Search online and you’re likely to get the results for “luxury”, “boutique” or perhaps any upscale ranking but, labels can be deceiving. Here’s what adds real luxury to a luxury hotel!
● Simple Booking/Reservation
Whether making hotel reservations online, on the phone or via travel agent; it has to be simple. Make sure the process is communicable and understandable easily while responding to customer queries in a timely and effective manner! All else would simply raise the red flag.
● First impression – The Fast & Friendly
First impressions count especially when it comes to the hospitality industry. The moment you walk through the hotel entrance and in the lobby, the feeling can be anything warm and welcoming or foreboding. First contact with the hotel is the valet, doorman and customer desk whereas communication happens in both words and gestures. Check-in smooth and swift with a little basic courtesy!
● Delightful & Trained Staff
Great hotels always hire staff with exceptional qualities and an intuitive approach that comes from being observant, empathetic, kind and humorous. These are the people who really make a difference ensuring guests are given the importance they deserve along with maximum comfort. Good employees accomplish this by careful understanding of the town and facility they work in.
● Distinctive Luxury that Shows
Good hotels always distinguish themselves from the low and mid-range with accents and amenities that deliver international experience in a local flavor. Refined goods and services always show true taste and respect.
Complementary products also count and these may include high-quality beauty and bath products, samples of local snacks and one-bite goodies and so on. Other features may include a plus-size closet and drawer, a safe/locker for valuable items, puffy hangers, free bottled water, bath robes and slippers along with a mobile docking system.
● Pleasant On-site Services
Guest rooms are a critical element to gauge the value of a superior hotel alongside range and quality of services that makes your stay memorable without actually “paying” extra for the club level. Breaking down the services and you may get;
● 24/7 access to the fitness center
● A social lobby
● A concierge and referral service
● Fine Dining
Even if your plan is having most of the meals outside the hotel, a strong reputation for deluxe hotels comes with onsite restaurants. Overall culinary experience should be clean and indulgent which requires a hotel that offers a variety of options including personal room service, casual or bar-style dining, grab-and-go shop and premium coffee shop.
Five-star and luxury hotel restaurants also have organic choices on the menu with ingredients from local producers. Vegetarian options nowadays are a must with chef’s understanding of clean and gluten-free food.
Sustainability & Eco-friendly Initiatives
Eco-friendly practices are increasing all around the world concerning environmental safety. Event planners and hospitality industries likewise are expanding their knowledge on “green initiatives” as it correlates to the venue, vendor and overall services.
Many hotels, including budget-friendly as well as luxurious have taken the initiative to make their business more sustainable. Careful understanding of the green hotel initiatives offer event planners more options to ponder for serving clients and customers in the best possible way.
● Energy & water conservation
From primary operations such as lighting systems and boilers to kitchen equipment and automated energy efficient systems, hotels around the world are committed to reduce energy consumption thereby enhancing the guest experience.
With guest rooms, kitchens, laundries, pools and spas, hotels continue overcoming inefficiencies that reduce water consumption as well as chemicals used for cleaning the facilities and treating the water systems.
It’s achieved through the introduction of the linen and towel reuse programme that eventually became a staple and industry standard for installation of shower heads, faucets and other fixtures that reduces excess water flow.
● Waste Reduction & Recycling
Recycling programmes are now a norm in many hotels be it domestic or international. Initiatives include recycling of the newspapers and beverage containers. Besides the recycling efforts, hotels also look for opportunities to decrease paper waste and various disposables through implementation of food waste composting strategy that can actually reduce landfill to almost 40 and 50-percent.
● Bath Amenities
Only a few hotels around the world have made a statement by offering their guests customized amenities whereas the best ones took it a step further through essential oil and all-natural products made without any preservatives and artificial ingredients. Such products are packed in recyclable containers while other hotel brands are achieving the results with bulk dispenser presentations.
● The Room Keys
Traditional plastic key cards that are made from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) which itself is a highly toxic manufacturing process. With “green initiatives”, hotels are now shifting to more eco-friendly and durable card options made from paper, biodegradable plastic and wood.
● Cleaning Products
Hotels today have opted for cleaning products made of bio-based oils and various natural cleansers after understanding the importance of safe products. The switch allowed them to reduce use of products containing chlorine bleach and petrochemical derivatives. The natural products are less irritating to guests, employees and the environment altogether.
Food Preparation
Food and beverage programmes in hotels today are driven by local produce, farm-fresh goods and likewise ingredients which is a shift to more sustainable and healthier cuisine. Travelers are offered unique opportunities for best experiencing the locations they visit; and in a more sustainable way.
● The Bottled Water Substitutes
Supporting high quality experience and maximum waste reduction, hotels are now shifting to hydration options from the typical bottled water. Installation of filtered water dispensers on convenient locations within the hotel, complementary bottle refill and other such options allow guests pleasant alternatives to plastic water containers.
In-Hotel Gyms & Fitness Facilities
Travelers that are very conscious about their fitness usually base their decisions to stay in a hotel on the gym and related amenities. Hotels need not to market aggressively about their fitness facilities but the gym has to speak for itself. Here’re a few qualities a hotel gym must have in order to inspire the fitness-savvy travelers.
● Clean & Space Efficient Equipment
Just remember that the fitness obsessed crowd doesn’t like lack of maneuverability in the gym. Their concern is only effective workout therefore; functionality should be highly taken care of. Due to the storage ease and affordability, some of the hotels are delving more into style and overall aesthetics.
Though visually appealing, style may conflict with the functionality thereby giving a less-amazing experience. Not to mention the danger of accidents from shabby equipment!
For sure, it doesn’t have to boast extremely advanced and expensive machines and fitness stations but overall functionality mustn’t be compromised. Reputable hotels worldwide have set an example and high-standards concerning their fitness center and workout facilities that cater to functionality with a friendly atmosphere, unlike public gymnasiums.
Cleanliness is another important factor that must not be overlooked. While choosing from the best hotels to stay in the light of fitness facilities, travelers are very much concerned about tidiness. If the environment is messy and cluttered, it isn’t worth considering therefore; hotel staff should take great care and ensure a spotless fitness center. Make sure every single machine and equipment is properly wiped so visitors are comfortable using them.
● Variety
Besides cleanliness, variety plays an essential role. Fitness industry has evolved radically with advanced training modules, effective supplements and futuristic equipment. Keeping up with the pace of transformation and managing things likewise would turn out quite effective and lucrative for both hotels and guests.
Gone are the days when hotels used to have only a few treadmills & benches with flat rods for work out; labeling it as a “GYM”! It’s really important to scale up and bring in the latest and multipurpose equipment for complete workout. It would save more space without compromising the versatility factor.
Primary cardio equipment like treadmills, elliptical and cycling machines are holding up really well but there’s always room for improvement that can be achieved with sturdy equipment.
● Other Exercises
While the basic needs are fulfilled by cardio stations, one expects more from a hotel gym. It’s therefore imperative to have advanced resources for guests to workout effectively. Hotels having large enough space for lockers and multiple workouts are highly preferred by the health conscious.
With more space, hotel management can choose to offer other fitness training sessions like Pilates, Yoga, aerobics and even dancing classes and so on.
Quicker Resolution to Problems
Best hotels really shine with this particular factor and that’s swift, effective and timely response to all the customer queries. Make sure the hotel management and staff are always connected with the customers keeping courtesy and manners as fine as can be.
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