Motella Assists Motels Boost Flagging Demand

In the third in a series of how to assist motels boost flagging demand, we continue to unleash ideas from our think-tank.

Our new mentors at the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel have given us further inspiration.

"Adding value" seem to be a catch phrase that is being over-used in our industry at the moment and we believe a fresh approach is now required.

We are now suggesting that our fellow moteliers ...offer less!

Confessions of ... a housekeeper

Sounds like the movie title of a DVD a sales representative would have hidden at the bottom of his travel bag ... but no, the article below was written by a hotel housekeeper.

It is a timely reminder that all commercial accommodation relies upon minimum wage staff to clean up the mess left behind by guests and rigid systems to ensure high cleaning standards.

Incoming guests should always get the impression that they are the first person to enter the guest room and there should be no evidence that anyone was there before them. That takes a lot of work!

For those of you in the accommodation industry read on...for those of you that frequently use commercial accommodation: skip to the next post!

By Allison Rupp
www.msnbc.msn.com

The best guests sleep in

Three simple letters could inspire the “Hallelujah” chorus: DND, or do not disturb. One sign hanging on a doorknob, and the day’s work was shortened by half an hour. Two signs? Pure heaven, but only if they remained there until my eight-hour shift ended — otherwise I'd have to circle back and clean the rooms ...

for more click HERE

National Geographic's Hot Hotel Picks 2009

The National Geographic is not only the source for naked pygmy pictures.

See what accommodation picks they are recommending to their readers:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Pain from price war widely felt

I must admit that I haven't spoken to any of our "motella" colleagues in Queenstown for some time, however it is clear that they have been feeling pain.

The decline in overseas numbers including the tour and coach markets combined with the over-speculation of accommodation development has been a double whammy for Queenstown.

In most surveys you will find tariff is down the list of what a potential guest will consider when making an accommodation selection. We believe this to be a Pollyanna view that is far from reality. From our experience, we have found that location is the number one factor that is closely followed by tariff.

Tariff comparisons are commonly used by potential guests to determine quality and service levels offered by accommodation providers. Most consumers realise that a $165 motel room is better than a $125 room that is far better than a $85 room. They inherently realise that more often than not, price will determine quality.

The important distinction here is not the actual dollar value, but the comparison with other accommodation choices available. Some guests are happy with the cheapest in town, others prefer mid-range, while some prefer the top end.

Often the actual dollar value is academic. Mid to high end properties reducing tariff en masse are not distinguishing themselves and are doing themselves no favors. There is a huge opportunity-cost of giving away profit to potential guests that would have been happy to pay more.

The herding mentality of the accommodation industry in some areas is dragging the entire industry down to unsustainable levels.

In good economic times, tariff will be widely spread with obvious distinctions between high and lower quality properties. The potential guest will easily second-guess quality and service levels by comparison and will inevitably choose an accommodation option that will meet their needs.

In not so good economic times, the spread of tariff offered by accommodation providers are clustered closely together as higher quality properties directly compete with lower quality properties. This makes it difficult for the guest to easily second-guess quality and service levels by comparison and consumer dissatisfaction can prevail.

The Hotel Price Index, which looks at hotel tariff for October to December 2008 compared to the same period the year before, revealed that Queenstown hotel prices declined by 35 per cent being the most in Australasia.

By Felicity Wolfe 18 May 2009

News: Queenstown Lakes

A price war has erupted among Queenstown accommodation providers as hotels try to keep rooms full during a recession-affected shoulder season.

The hotels.com annual hotel price index showed in March that Queenstown hotel-room prices had dropped on average from $256 a night to $164, or 35%, against the worldwide average of a 12% reduction.

Queenstown Lakes District Council holiday parks manager Greg Hartshorne said the park was now competing with hotels and serviced apartments offering discounted room rates.

Moteliers in the area are also struggling as hotels and apartments offer cut-price rates.

While hotels discounting their rooms over the slower months had "always gone on", Mr Hartshorne told the Queenstown Times 2009 was "the first time it has ever been as bad as this".

"People drive into Queenstown and see signs advertising newly-built apartments at $88 [a night]," he said.

The Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park and the Arrowtown Born of Gold Holiday Park would not be cutting their rates, although Mr Hartshorne said they regularly offered a 10% discount to people who stayed for four or five consecutive nights.

The reductions were also affecting the resort's motel industry, Moteliers Association of New Zealand chief executive officer Michael Baines confirmed.

"Yes, and we have also had comments from around the country," he said.

While accommodation prices were holding steady in many areas, he said there had been pressure in Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch and Queenstown - the places with the highest numbers of hotel beds.

He described a market where camping grounds were competing with hotels for customers as "ludicrous" and "bizarre".

While he understood hotels had staff to think of, and wanted to fill empty rooms, he said once prices were lowered it was hard to raise them again.

"It is like going from a highly-valued product to . . . bargain basement," Mr Baines said.

"They might be busy and full but they will be going out of business."

Rather than dropping prices to unsustainable levels, he believed hotels - and members of his association - should be trying to maximise the value of what was offered.

"It's the value that counts, not the price," Mr Baines said.

Mr Hartshorne hoped Queenstown's accommodation market would return to normal pricing when visitors arrived for the winter ski season but said once expectations were lowered, it was hard to raise them again.

In January, Queenstown industry groups Destination Queenstown and the Lakes District branch of the New Zealand Hotel Council asked local hotels not to lower their prices.

Hotel Council regional chairwoman Victoria Shaw was unavailable for comment on Friday

Source: Click HERE

Motella reaches 20,000 visitors

I should go away more often...

While I had a short break and bonded with my 13 year old son over the weekend, our visitor counter went past 20,000.

Hey, it makes me feel good!

Roarprawn Gooone!

The VRWC (Vast Right Wing Conspiracy) has lost a faithful member.

The folk at the Roar Prawn blog are signing off after having a good poke at the hand-wringing pinkos and corrupt politicians.

To add insult to injury they are crossing the great divide and going over to the dark side. Yes, that's right! They are joining... *gulp* ... the public service!

After causing mischief and having a ball along the way, they leave at the top of their game with their successful blog achieving 1000 readers a day.

Best wishes from Motella. We would love to leave a key under the mat and light on for you some day!

Johnny Rotten Gets Socially Responsible

You know the world's in turmoil, when Johnny Rotten goes all politically correct

I found it amusing to read about Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols selling-out to the mainstream and fronting a campaign in the UK encouraging Brits to buy a local butter brand rather than New Zealand's Anchor butter.

The pithy TV ad is viewable below and is supported by a print campaign that directly targets the iconic Kiwi butter brand with the headline "Anchor's from New Zealand". Underneath, it reads "So, I buy Country Life cos I think it tastes best."

The underlying theme of the campaign promotes "air miles guilt" by advancing mindless protectionism and the socially responsible rhetoric of "buy local."

It will be interesting to see if this campaign has any influence on the buying decisions of Brits.

The "air miles guilt" and "buy local" themes are being used to the detriment of many other business sectors including the tourism industry. There is an irony that a doctrine of mindless social responsible purchasing by Kiwi tourism businesses is being promoted within certain quarters of the NZ tourism industry.

Thankfully most qualified consumers are not influenced by narrow minded "buy local" rhetoric and or "air miles guilt" and by their actions are more focused on cost effective, unique and easily accessible quality experiences.

If political influences can be discounted, New Zealand has a distinct advantage as a producer of butter and as a tourism destination.

See you next week!

I'm about to go "offline" for a while.

My son is at boarding school and I miss the little devil, so I'm off to spend some time with him.

I may turn up soon at a motel near you...

Motella's Environmental Commitment?

In the second in a series of how to assist motels boost flagging demand, we continue to unleash ideas from our think-tank.

We are now suggesting that fellow moteliers get into this "environmental responsibility" caper.

Apparently there are throngs of environmentally conscious guests out there, wringing their hands and craving to save the planet during their stay at a motel.

The following video is from the iconic Hans Brinker Budget Hotel that is leading the the world in it's eco-commitment and is is chock full of ideas to add to your business:

Promoting "Theme Rooms" for Motels

Finding the motel industry a bit tough at the moment?

At Motella, we have been investigating a few ideas that will assist motels boost up flagging demand.

As moteliers, we seem to be a repressed, retentive lot that don't like to stand out too much from the crowd.

We say be bold - go forth into new territory and turn some of your motel units into "theme rooms!"

I must admit that we will not be commencing a theme room project in our own motels just yet, however please feel free to forge on and forward us photos of your completed projects. We promise to critique and publish your masterpieces for all to see!

The following ideas are for inspiration purposes (we kinda like the "Lover's Leap" theme):

Arabian Nights Features 7 ft. round bed with overhead mirror in a sheik's tent, AM/FM stereo, tiled whirlpool.

Caesar's Court Ancient Roman decor with marble whirlpool surrounded by columns and mirrors, king-sized bed with silk drapes.

Caribbean Suites These non-smoking two-room suites bring the tropics to Minnesota! King-sized bed, light colors, tropical plants, refrigerator, three TVs, and a marble whirlpool create your own private paradise. ( Non- smoking only)

Casino Royale Queen-sized bed with mirrored headboard, walk-up whirlpool, red/black decor, Vegas-style.

Castle King-sized bed in chamber, dungeon whirlpool.

Le Cave You've never seen a cave this romantic! 10-sided bed, oversized tiled whirlpool, dinosaur murals, prehistoric theme

Cinderella Horsedrawn carriage with Queen-sized bed, VCR, and "glass slipper" tiled whirlpool.

Cupid's Corner Beware of Cupid's arrow! Neon, a pink marble whirlpool and bathroom with a glass block wall complement the heart-shaped waterbed.

Desert Nights Sheik's tent, 10-sided bed with overhead starlight mirror, tiled whirlpool

Eastern Winds Queen-sized bed, Oriental black lacquer furniture and decor, lava flow tiled whirlpool

The Grecian Ancient Greece is alive! Luxuriate in a king size carved wood bed, relax in a green marble 2 person whirlpool, enjoy the murals of fountains and terraces. ( Non- smoking only)

Jungle Safari Escape to your own thatched hut with a queen size bed. Bathe in the large tiled whirlpool hidden in the jungle. Murals of jungle plants and beasts make this a real getaway. ( Non- smoking only)

Log Cabin Queen-sized bed, hardwood floors, electric fireplace, screen door, oversized tiled whirlpool.

Lover's Leap Queen-sized bed, 1973 Oldsmobile Delta '88 Royale convertible in a secluded park, picnic table, park bench, sitting room, large tiled whirlpool.

Northern Lights Igloo for two with 10-sided bed, tiled whirlpool surrounded by mirrors

Pharaoh's Chambers Pyramid setting with queen-sized sarcophagus bed, large tiled whirlpool.

Sherwood Forest Queen-sized bed and TV nestled among the branches of the trees, tiled whirlpool.

Space Odyssey Re-creation of a Gemini Space Capsule with 10-sided bed, AM/FM stereo, VCR, Nintendo, 'moon crater" tiled whirlpool

The Treehouse Queen-sized bed suspended by chains among the boughs of four trees, TV mounted in the trees, forest setting with tiled whirlpool.

Under The Sea Relax in your 7' round bed under fish nets with the fish or in the large tile whirlpool inside the under sea cave. Blacklights light up the murals for a fun evening. ( Non- smoking only)

Venetian Holiday Queen-sized bed gondola, murals of an Italian river scene, whirlpool.

Wild, Wild West The perfect family suite with two sleeping areas; a queen-size covered wagon bed and a queen-size teepee bed. Tiled whirlpool.

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