A 3.5 Star Hotel Outshines It Star Rating

Hi and welcome to this edition of Talking Points with Jason Live. And if you're watching on the replay, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to catch up on these daily live streams that I'm doing to help you and your business breakthrough and have accelerated success. Now, today's topic is how a three and a half star hotel outshines its star rating. Now, I am fortunate to travel regularly and fortunate enough to travel to some really nice locations, right? And just this last week, you know, I was staying in Sydney at Marriott Circular Key property. Harbour views of the Opera House and the, and the Harbour Bridge. Absolutely breathtaking from a view point of view. However, if you've been following along for a while, you'll know, including in last week's live, that there's a number of ways that five star property doesn't live up to its star rating. And it comes down to, well, essentially the things that this other property I'm going to talk to you about nails absolutely perfectly. So the other property that I'm talking about is actually the one I'm staying in at. Staying in right now. Now, from the outset, it's a three and a half star property. It is not pitched necessarily at the same clients as, say, a Marriott property, although it is part of the Marriott Group. And of course, I'm talking of Australia's first Moxie Hotel here in Mascot, right next to Sydney's domestic and international airports. Now, it's only been opened less than a year. Less than a year. And the wonderful general manager of this property I've had the good pleasure of working with at a number of different venues that Marriott, Fiji Mummy Bay and of course the Western in Brisbane. Now, both of those properties nail the service experience that they deliver, yet they're different brands to the Moxie. But the commonality there is the leadership, of course. Now, Michelle, the GM of the property of the Moxie is not, was not the GM of those other two properties that I mentioned, but she had a single leadership role and definitely had some influence over the team members, of course, as a result of that. So here I am staying at this new property, one that I probably wouldn't normally book. The easiest way to explain it is if you're familiar with the W brand. It's a younger version of the W brand. It is young and trendy and quite a statement piece. You know, they've got. The bar is also where you get breakfast. The, the lobby and bar are all connected. There's games in the lobby, there's lounges everywhere. It's really a communal space that they encourage people to meet and connect over. It's got bright pinks everywhere and neon lights. It really is in many ways the junior version of the W Hotel. Now what is remarkable about remarkable about this property though where others find fail is they have absolutely got the consistency right in their theming. There is no mistaking that you are at the moxie. Everything is branded and themed appropriately with that. You know the vibrancy that you get when you walk in. Now the reason I mentioned this is because there are properties out there, businesses out there that will do this big flashy entrance and then everything else becomes grub and dreary or vanilla if you will. So the first thing that I think this property nails is that consistency of theming right down to the laundry room. Now the fact that they have a guest laundry room in itself sets them apart. But they've got extremely high end products in that look laundry room. They've got chilled and heated filtered water in the laundry room. They've got on the wall instructions on how to use everything in a really elegant way. And okay, I don't necessarily like all the pink but it's on brand, right? It's consistent. And then even when you come into your room it does tone down. You know, there are, well the room I'm in, for example, I can't see pink anywhere other than the head, right. But you still know that it's a moxie because the overall theme is continued through. So they've really got that consistency nailed in terms of the branding. Now you might say to me, well I'm sure the Marriott and circular key has the consistency of their brand as well and they do, but it's very tied and it's not to this five to a five star standard. But I'm not going to compare the property from that perspective because it's not necessarily fan this is a brand new property. But I will say that whoever designed it got the consistency of the brand throughout the property. Really, really well. The consistency though that I'm talking about is the consistency of the energy of the vibe if you will of this experience that the crew members as they, they wear on their T shirts deliver here from every time you walk into the property, the way you're greeted to when you go to the bar to you know, order some food or, or get a drink. Last night I observed a guest come downstairs said they couldn't find something and instead of trying to explain go to level four, go here, go there, they just made it right. They solved the Customer's problem. And that level of energy is really missing in a number of five star properties. A number of five star properties, including the one I stayed at last week, aren't attentive and responsive to customer needs, unfortunately. So they definitely get that consistency of vibe right now. The second one, which I've already touched on, is the attentiveness of the team. Of the team, of the crew members, of the cast members, whatever you call your team members, right? The people that work for you, that deliver the service to your guests, to your customers, they are extremely attentive. Now, are they perfect? No. I would give them a 95 out of 100. But 95% of the team members, the crew members that I've come across, doesn't matter whether they're sweeping the floor, packing the trash or working on the front desk, they very quickly acknowledge that you're in their presence and offer assistance. You don't need to be a five star property, you don't need to be a five star business to deliver an attentive customer experience. And then the third thing that you are noticing as a guest here at the Moxie is they're delivering an experience that is not trying to be like everyone else. One of the keys to growing your business is to not be caught up in the sea of sameness. In a previous edition of the newsletter, Talking Points with Jason, which you can subscribe to on my website, Jason S. Bradshaw.com I talked about how during major sale events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday that everyone just did the same thing. Everyone had a Black Friday event and there was only a few businesses that tried to differentiate themselves. Now this is an, for all essential purposes, this is an airport hotel. They could just be like every other airport hotel, but they have found a way to create an energy and a vibe and a guest experience that is remarkable. That sets them apart from the Quest down the road or the Travel Lodge or the Stamford down the road. All of those properties have good brands. But I would argue that the Moxie has really broken the mold here and found a unique way to deliver a guest experience that on first visit might be a little bit jarring. Just a little bit jarring, but you really come to appreciate the, the energy and the quirkiness of the property and how, how just delightfully they've made, managed to deliver that. One of those quirky things is no ironing board in the room. Now when you go down to the laundry facility, there are actually spare irons and ironing boards that you can take to your room if you want, but you wouldn't want to because the equipment that's based there is gold star, like five gold stars. It really was amazing. So much so I did a video of me ironing the shirt that I'm wearing and sent it to my husband because again, it's that unique delivery. How many times have you been at a hotel, Got out the ironing board, got out the iron, started to iron your shirt, your blouse, and it's stuck because it's not clean, it's. It's old, it's leaked water over your shirt. They've done away with that problem by having a central location with top end equipment that they can easily maintain that is convenient, still convenient enough still for guests, but delivers a unique experience. So to sum it up, would I stay at the Moxie again? Look, I think if I was flying out or on a really quick trip, not doing anything in the cbd, then absolutely. If I was doing stuff in the CBD like I'm about to head into the CBD now, then I would suggest this is probably not the most convenient hotel for you, but it's minutes from the airport and it's really great quality property. And although it might Only be rated 3 1/2 stars so far, I'd imagine that you're going to see in Tripvisor, TripAdvisor and other review sites that this property really stands out amongst the crowd of hotels in this area because of that unique way of service delivery, that consistent attentiveness of service experience, and that consistent brand experience. It's, it's a layered experience that when you leave here, you won't forget. And that's really important because you don't want your customers walking out of your business and saying, oh, yeah, I, I went here or I stayed there. Yeah, it was okay. Like you want to give them something to talk about. DoubleTree Hotels has those delicious cookies that they serve when you check in. The Moxie Hotel has this, dare I say, delicious vibe about it and just a really solid guest experience that sure, there's not marble in the bathrooms, there's not a jacuzzi, but I have every confidence that given the leadership and given the way the brand's been positioned and what they've achieved so far, that what you will love about this property is that they just have created a property that they can deliver consistently. You know, it's no good having that superstar at the front desk if everyone else is garbage where here it really does feel like the crew has that attentiveness to make a difference to their guests. And that's ultimately what's going to set them apart. So just to wrap it up, it doesn't matter whether you're selling cans of Coke or five star retreats or something in between. Can you make the entire end to end experience consistent with your brand? Can each element reinforce the brand, whether that be playful or serious, but you know, in a subtle way at times, in a really direct way at others, but in a way that feels layered and consistent? Second, can your team members be attentive to service? And if not, why not? What are you prioritizing in their day? That means that the trash is more important than making a guest's experience better or solving a guest problem. And the third one is how can you stand out from the crowd? How can you deliver a uniqueness in your business, whatever it is that becomes a point of difference that people want to pay for, a point of difference that people want to talk about, a point of difference that people want to come back and experience again and again and tell their friends about? In the Business Breakthrough coaching program over the 12 week program, I go deep into helping you accelerate each of these areas. How can you become more unique in your marketplace? How can you stand out from the crowd so that you create that repeat and referral business? How can your team members genuinely care about the guest experience and deliver consistently on that? And of course, we start by looking at your brand and how that brand flows through in every decision you make and how you present yourself to your audience. If you would like to accelerate your business success in 2024, now is the time. While the program's still open to go to businessbreakthroughcoaching.net and apply for the program. Now, the application process is completely obligation free. It's a way for me to get a sense of your business and then you and I will have a chat to make sure it's going to be a great fit. Because every client that I take on, I want to make sure that I can help accelerate their success. So that's business breakthrough coaching.net certainly look forward to having a chat with you if you complete your application. But for now, I wish you a great evening and a successful rest of your week. Take care.