Hotels today promise unforgettable experiences—enticing amenities, unparalleled service. But what truly makes a hotel award-winning? While every hotel can claim they offer these types of stays, only a select few are actually recognized for it. Hotel management company Charlestowne Hotels prides itself on delivering these experiences for guests, while also gaining recognition.
Last year, Charlestowne properties appeared on some of the industry’s most coveted awards lists. But how exactly are management companies responsible for landing these types of awards for their hotels?
Hotel Business spoke with Jennifer Jost, VP, marketing, Charlestowne Hotels, about 360-degree management tactics that lead to award-winning properties.
“The goal of the management company is to help inspire and drive innovative service and experiences,” she said. “For the property, the management company is trying to support them and generate those results through the characteristics needed to be an award-winning stay. They’re working closely with the property to ensure they’re driving that innovation and ideation to create something memorable.”
Jost said that the most important characteristic of an award-winning property is to create a buzz-worthy experience through amenities and services. Most awards, but not all, are driven by voting, which requires the guest to take time out of their day. Not such an easy ask.
“When a guest walks away from a hotel feeling grateful for the unique experiences they had, ready to share those stories with friends, or family or even strangers, that’s the type of guest that’s likely to put in the extra time to vote,” she said. “The best thing a property can do is treat the guest in a way that they want to share with someone else. We think that’s accomplished through the operator and property team being creative and agile in generating curated yet organic experiences.”
Organic experiences allow hotels to feel genuine, Jost said, but properties still need to tap into guest preferences. What do returning guests expect when they arrive on property? Are they there for a certain occasion? Do they like concierge to make reservations at a specific restaurant? These are all considerations. For new guests, however, the staff needs to anticipate their needs, which can be a bit more challenging.
“Sometimes, it can be getting to know new guests at the front desk at the start of their stay, and also, knowing what guests in general might need for that stay,” Jost said. “It’s also leaning into consumer trends—what makes a stay memorable outside of that? Are there things happening on property that are unique?”
For example, Jost mentioned pickleball experiences and astrology-themed cocktail menus, which are just some of the creative ways hotels can generate that buzz-worthy stay.
“It helps to avoid what can be considered stale and stuffy, people want experiences,” she added. “Offer something that’s beyond a stay allowing guests to feel like they know the area and get more out of it than just room.”
A lot of these tactics also have to do with where the hotel is in its business journey. Jost explained that sometimes Charlestowne is with the property from the beginning, so operationally they’re sound and have these strategies already in place with a strong customer base.
However, if the company comes in for a property takeover of a hotel that maybe doesn’t have such favorable experiences, it requires re-educating the guest.
“You have to be strategic and do this before voting even gets there,” she said. “Hopefully, you can get them back to stay before voting and let them know the experience has changed for the better, and here are some new offerings we have.”
There are some challenges that arise, however—even at the most honored, luxury properties. If hotels have vacancies in general manager, concierge or front desk manager roles, this can hurt the overall experience, Jost said.
“Those positions help generate that experience and exceptional stay,” she said. “When those additional touchpoint services aren’t met, it can end up feeling like a good but standard stay, not really worthy of sharing anything.”
A way to manage this challenge is with marketing strategies. Collateral pieces on-site are more subtle touchpoints. Jost said that in a tactful, gentle way, front desk agents can remind guests to vote. And, there are also digital tactics to employ.
“Reaching out to past guests through automated emails, especially when they were just there after the trip and remind them to vote,” she said. “We also have website experiences like pop-ins to request votes and social media is one of the best ways to reach your following.”
While winning awards may lead to increased bookings and overall ADR, these aren’t immediate results.
“Winning awards brings about a lot of brand awareness and new potential guests,” Jost said. “We find during award announcements, we see a large influx of website traffic usually about 2-3x more than we normally do. What’s important is that you have those email acquisition strategies in place.”
The VP said that they know ahead of time if they’ve won an award, allowing the team to put these strategies in place.
The hotel may offer celebratory packages to guests that include special amenities and offerings to create guest involvement and loyalty. It’s also important to share the celebration with staff, Jost said, as they’re the reason the stay was so memorable for guests. Hopefully, these strategies create loyal, hard-working team members, and also help turn guests’ interest into hotel bookings.
“We think about how we can capture the guest’s interest onsite and then reach back out to them,” she said. “We’re also looking at our conversion strategies—getting guests from the research phase to actually booking. What we found the most success from is capturing that and continuing to market to them so that when they are ready to book, they already know this is an award-winning hotel and they have this great experience and are ready to go see it.”
