Fauchon L’Hotel Paris, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, recently conducted a survey among luxury travel advisors to determine what matters to their clients when selecting a hotel.
One of the key findings—which was 100 percent unanimous by all respondents—was that it is important for a hotel to offer “an authentic sense of place” versus a “cookie-cutter brand design.” This is clearly a departure from when travelers preferred the consistency of knowing no matter where in the world they traveled, they would find the same carpeting, bedding, décor, amenities and overall experience. Additionally, while the top two important factors when selecting a hotel were hotel location (97.5 percent) and staff and service (82.5 percent), when travelers report back about their trip, six in 10 respondents commented about the “warm and welcoming service they received” while only 21.3 percent mentioned the “great location.” The two factors which were the least commented on were “the views, welcome amenity and staff” and “the value for their dollar.”
(Fauchon L’Hotel Paris)
When selecting a hotel which offers some type of promotion or offer, seven in 10 advisors said a “complimentary night” was most important to their clients, with an “added complimentary VIP amenity” coming in a close second. Other deciding factors were “enhanced commission” for the travel advisor, “percentage discount off the room rate,” and “added value in food and beverage.”
Also noteworthy in this age of social media is that travel advisors reported only 30 percent of clients definitively requested a specific hotel after seeing it on social media, and 11.2 percent said that more and more were starting to request a hotel seen on social media.
And while loyalty programs once held incredible power in driving bookings, only 1.3 percent definitely request hotels with loyalty programs, less than 60 percent sometimes request hotels with loyalty programs, and 35 percent do not request hotels with loyalty programs.
As a result of this survey, Fauchon L’Hôtel Paris is using this valuable guidance from luxury travel advisors to inform how they move forward in many areas of their guest experience. For example, their Festive 2025 seasonal offerings will include two new stay packages which incorporate unique destination-oriented experiences. The hotel is also enhancing its spa offerings which will be announced very soon.
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