Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 37

perspectives

trends

social media
By Alissa Ponchione

1. A rendering of
the Allotment hotel,
the winner of Tablet
Hotels' crowdsourced
ReThink Hotels
competition.

SHARING SOCIETY

Social media is changing the way hotels handle customer service

By now the ubiquity of social media is all too familiar, though for hoteliers
it can remain elusive, even daunting. But social media is a tool for
companies to engage guests differently-and more effectively. From relying
on customers for thoughtful designs or treating them to surprise and
delight elements, social media is creating real-time shareable moments
and, sometimes, long-lasting loyalty.
Hotel companies can pursue many avenues to persuade guests to
stay with them, and a good social media strategy isn't confined to only
one outlet. By including the public in the conversation, social media can
even help change how hotels are developed. That was the impetus-along
with generating ideas for potential new hotel concepts-for hotel booking
company Tablet Hotels' ReThink Hotels competition held last year. Using
Jovoto, a Berlin-based crowdsourcing platform, the competition called for
ideas that would create a "space that would naturally assemble a diverse
crowd, and get them to mingle freely," explains co-founder and CEO
Laurent Vernhes.
Crowdsourcing can become "a powerful solution to the current drought
of original ideas in hospitality," Vernhes adds. The competition winner,
culinary-focused Allotment hotel-submitted by Dean Moran, who won a

six-night stay at one of the hotels Tablet works with-and the competition
itself inspired people in the hotel world to "think harder about concepts by
expanding the possibilities," he adds.
Social media certainly takes many forms-and a concerted effort to
manage. Four social listening managers monitor social channels around
the clock at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, routing requests to the correct
property so onsite staff can engage guests directly. "We try to respond to
them all," says Whitney Smith, Kimpton's social media manager. "We use
it as a lens to understand how our guests use our properties."

Real-Time Reactions

Though some fear the human element may be missing from online
interactions, Smith disagrees. Instead, social media encourages Kimpton's
properties to act in real time. At FireSky Resort & Spa in Scottsdale,
Arizona, for example, a guest who mentioned on Twitter that he was
traveling to the city for his birthday was greeted with balloons in his room.
"At the core of everything we do is customer care," she says. That means if
a guest tweets they're not feeling well, Kimpton staffers will deliver soup
and crackers. "We're not trying to be Big Brother," she adds. "We use the
information that we have, that's publicly available," to reward guests who
stay at Kimpton.
Building relationships with guests starts before they even set foot on
property. Although Virgin Hotels Chicago doesn't open until later this
month, it is already interacting online with its customers. Starting the
conversation early over social media is "where the true connection occurs,"
says Doug Carrillo of Virgin Hotels.

hospitalitydesign.com December 2014

037


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Hospitality Design - December 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - December 2014

Hospitality Design - December 2014
Contents
Online TOC
From the Editor
From the Show Director
People
People
Perspectives
Sketchbook
Trends: Social Media
Interview: Tal Danai and Adam D. Tihany
Interview: Jonathan Adler
5 Questions for Alice Gray Stites
Products Opener
Profile: Christina Dent
Products: Curated Solutions
Products: Textiles
Products: Bedding
Lessons From the Arts
Art & Architecture
Fashion
Culinary
Performing Arts
Photography
Projects
Pov Rooftop Bar and Terrace
Mondrian London at Sea Containers
Distrito
Ad Index
Back Space: Zaha Hadid
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Intro
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Hospitality Design - December 2014
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Cover2
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 1
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 2
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 3
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 4
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 5
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 6
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Contents
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 8
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 9
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 10
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 11
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 12
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Online TOC
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 14
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 15
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - From the Editor
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 17
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - From the Show Director
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 19
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - People
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 21
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 22
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 23
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - People
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 25
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 26
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 27
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 28
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Perspectives
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 30
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Sketchbook
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 32
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 33
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 34
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 35
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 36
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Trends: Social Media
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 38
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 39
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 40
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 41
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 42
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Interview: Tal Danai and Adam D. Tihany
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 44
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 45
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 46
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 47
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 48
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Interview: Jonathan Adler
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 50
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 51
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 5 Questions for Alice Gray Stites
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 53
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 54
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Products Opener
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 56
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Profile: Christina Dent
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 58
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Products: Curated Solutions
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 60
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 61
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 62
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 63
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 64
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Products: Textiles
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 66
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 67
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 68
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 69
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 70
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 71
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 72
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Products: Bedding
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 74
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Lessons From the Arts
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Art & Architecture
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 77
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Fashion
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 79
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Culinary
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 81
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Performing Arts
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 83
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Photography
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 85
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 86
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Projects
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Pov Rooftop Bar and Terrace
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 89
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 90
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 91
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Mondrian London at Sea Containers
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 93
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 94
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 95
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Distrito
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 97
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 98
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 99
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 100
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 101
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Ad Index
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 103
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Back Space: Zaha Hadid
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Cover3
Hospitality Design - December 2014 - Cover4
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