Deborah R WilsonI am enjoying the most amazing hotel stay this week at the Hotel Monaco in Denver. I got free parking – a bottle of wine – a happy hour with free food and drink – a breakfast that was almost reasonably priced (well hey you can’t ask for everything) – and the most attentive service I’ve had in a long time. The room is not 100% updated. The bathroom walls are a plain tile and the TV is traditional. However, the décor is beautiful and the amount of space I have in my regular room is luxurious.
Why am I raving about a hotel room, you may ask? It’s because I got it for an incredibly reasonable price. The hotel doesn’t seem real full – and it’s not a name brand Marriott or Westin, although I’m not sure that would change its occupancy rate. And the low price . . .well —- suffice it to say I have no doubt it is a reflection of the hotel working hard to keep people employed and thrive during these tough economic times when virtually everyone has travel restrictions.
I also have no doubt that many of our suppliers are trying to think like this hotel. In all our nervousness about the future of our employers and our jobs, it’s so easy to forget that suppliers are nervous too.
I encourage you to do the things you need to do. Cost cut aggressively, renegotiate pricing, and deliver the results your organization needs. But don’t forget those suppliers that have maintained their customer focus, and especially if they delivered it at a good discount, because these are the ones that are likely to survive the downturn with gusto. You can be sure, when I come back to Denver, I’m staying at the Hotel Monaco!
Category: Cost Cutting Tags:
3 responses so far ↓
1 Don Henley February 22, 2009 at 11:58 am
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!
Oops, sorry, wrong hotel.
2 Jari Tavi February 24, 2009 at 6:45 am
Hi Debbie,
Could not resist answering now when I moved from Basware to category spend management area where the specific spend is accomodation (mainly business Hotels).
I think we will see more and more of the same as you mentioned in your blog article. Actually this is one of the reasons why on-line internet booking is becoming highly important tool for hotels as the best tools in the market enable real-time yield management and thus optimize the utilization.
Many of the hotels are already doing or considering higher level of automation for this and are seeking also “Multi channel” distribution models.
Based on what I have learned recently, hotels see this as one of the key differentiators when we are talking about whoi will suucceed amd who not.
Hotel Next Generation (“HotelNG”) is now on its way.
cheers,
-jari
3 Debbie Wilson March 2, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Good to hear from you Jari . . . and best wishes in your latest endeavor. As one who travels a lot, I certainly see a lot of opportunity to improve the transparency of accomodation costs. I nearly got mugged a few weeks ago in New Orleans, in my typical attempt to avoid the $25 hotel breakfast . . . . . .