Mary Gostelow, Industry Expert Speaks to Pacific Direct
The worst thing is anything small - tiny bottles that you cannot open with miniscule writing that you cannot read so you end up washing your hair with mouthwash and body lotion rather than shampoo and conditioner.
Small also equates with the ghastly 99ml limit imposed by inhuman airport bodies (over that and your potions, lotions and gels and smells are thrown unfeelingly into the trash bin). You arrive at your hotel and you want a haven from all that. You want size. You want to feel good, that someone is thinking of you.
Hotels need to realise that, unless they have pinched mini bottles from hotels, consumers have full-size containers at home. Hotels must at least emulate, if not surpass, what is home norm. Yes, the industry has realised this when it comes to flat screen televisions, thread-count of bedlinens and in room coffee makers (how many of have Nespresso machines in our bedrooms, for heaven's sake?), but it is often behind the times when it comes to toiletries.
The brand of toiletry is ultra important. Silversea was known for Brand A, then it switched to Brand B. There was an outcry from loyal Venetian club repeaters, who are known in some rare instances to have notched up over 500 nights on board. Now, after you check in, for an average 14 days, one of your two cabin stewards comes with a tray with a choice of 3 brands. Hotels guests are in a hurry and do not want to be bothered, in situ, with a choice. They do want to know beforehand what the brand is, and be able to specify an alternative, possibly at a cost (which would add just a little to that omnipresent need to enhance the bottom line). Please put the toiletry brand on the website.
What do I actually want in my hotel bathroom? Obviously I want big, but not too many items. At the minimum, I want shampoo and separate conditioner, shower and bath gel, and a lovely grainy body scrub. I need body lotion. Soap should be big and a lovely shape that fits well in the hand.
In Asia a whole range of goodies is expected, with toothbrush and paste, razor and shaving cream, comb, hairbrush, loofah, q-tips and cotton pads and so on (the Shangri-La range is one of most comprehensive, but then under COO Symon Bridle this group similarly knows how to give a whole assortment of small office supplies in bedrooms' desk drawers). It is actually a big customer awareness plus for others, too, to offer such variety. Wynn Las Vegas room supplies include fabulous razors, and silver-shafted toothbrushes with Rembrandt toothpaste.
Yes, brand names are definitely an asset. When will we see someone offering a Porsche Design razor, or a Philippe Starck soap holder?
Whatever is given must be the best. Q-tips must be real ones, not fakes that fall apart in your ears, and cotton pads/balls must be real 100% cotton not a blend of artificial fibre. And it is taken for granted that every product is, as far as is possible, free of additives and chemicals (a use-by date would be much appreciated). Consumers do not understand the technical differentiation between the words natural and organic but just as the food mile tag is becoming an asset to attract top-end consumers to buy local groceries, so, for instance, the fact that many properties in Brazil use a local product is definitely commendable to many. They definitely, I feel, want to know name, if not the source, of the product. Indian Ocean resorts have a nasty trend of putting unnamed toiletries into their own ceramic containers, which are often difficult to use and you have no idea how long the contents have been there, or used by whom, before.
Some guests, of course, have time to luxuriate, and appreciate the opportunity for turning the bathroom into a personal spa. For these people, the more bath menu opportunities, the more do-it-yourself treatments are provided, the better. Because of jetlag, it may be that the only waking slot you have to look after your face is 2 a.m. and how many properties' spas are open then? I would also humbly suggest that offering a do-it-yourself mask in bedroom supplies will not lessen actual usage of the spa itself.
For me, anything that saves time, namely a do-it-myself face mask, is a great plus. At night turndown I want the minimum, with perhaps a scented candle into the bargain. And talking of bargains, frankly toiletries are all part of the contract that consumers enter into with a hotel. They know they will pay a set amount (they have indeed given their credit cards on arrival) and in return they expect certain things, including a comfortable bed with high thread-count linens, absolute soundproofing and security, instant hot water, and toiletries that enhance the experience. Toiletries are a tiny tiny cost of the contract but they can be a major contributor to that experience.
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Mary Gostelow travels about 300 days a year.
She is Editor-in-Chief of WOW.travel, the online magazine of www.kiwicollection.com, and she is Publisher-Editor of the definitive monthly Gostelow Report market intelligence papers.
©Mary Gostelow 2007
