Hotel that does everything wrong

Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The hotel that does everything wrong.

You have to forgive the guy. It’s his first hotel.
His name is Michael Colomba.
His hotel is called the Crescent Suites Hotel in Waltham, Massachusetts.
The location he chose is not on a major highway, artery or even a main street.
It’s located on a side street between a convenience store and an auto body shop.
Michael is obviously not a highly trained hotel efficiency expert.
If you show up late, or want to check out late, it’s no big deal.
You want an extra serving of his great complimentary breakfast? Why not have another cup of espresso while you do?
When Michael hired staff to clean his rooms, they asked how long they had to clean each one.
“Nine minutes, seven minutes?” they asked.
See, these people had worked at hotel chains before. Every chain had a time limit. Efficiency.
Michael told his staff “I will never have a problem with you taking too long to clean a room.
But I will have a big problem if a guest ever lets me know their room wasn’t perfect.”
And it is close to perfect in his surprisingly clean, well lit, cozy and modern three-star hotel.
A lot closer to perfect than most four-star and even some five-star hotels I’ve been in. And a lot cheaper.
Michael’s been open for less than a year now.
Look him up on TripAdvisor. He’s the one with the five-star ratings across the board.
And he’s the one with occupancy rates consistently running from 70% to 100%. In this economy.
A great host? Genuine friendly staff? Super cleanliness? Personal service? Low rates?
All he really knows about hotels is that service trumps everything.
As I said, you have to forgive the guy. It’s his first hotel.
But I don’t think it will be his last.

Bob Minihan, Executive Creative Director/Partner
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Labels: advertising blog, Crescent Suites Hotel, destination marketing, hospitality consulting, hotel marketing, ism blog, Michael Colomba, tourism marketing, travel blog, travel marketing, TripAdvisor