Beyond The Lobby – Edition 17

^{BIG IDEA FOR THE WEEK}
The Danger of Averages

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The average guest experience doesn't exist. No one has ever felt "3.8 stars happy" about their stay.

Yet in boardrooms across the hospitality industry, we make decisions based on these ghosts – averages that smooth away both excellence and failure into a comforting middle that nobody actually experiences.

Your hotel's 87% satisfaction rate sounds impressive until you realise it means 13 out of 100 guests left disappointed. For them, your hotel wasn't "mostly good" – it was simply inadequate.

A recent property we deployed Haven at had strong overall metrics but declining repeat bookings. Their guest satisfaction hovered around 85%, well above industry standards. The GM couldn't understand the problem.

When we dug deeper, we found a tale of two hotels: weekday business travellers consistently rated it 95% while weekend leisure guests scored it 65%. The average looked healthy. The reality was that half their guests were quietly vowing never to return.

The numbers were hiding the truth in plain sight.

This is the danger of averages – they create the illusion of understanding. They reduce the complex symphony of thousands of individual experiences into a single, meaningless note.

Smart hoteliers know better. They segment ruthlessly. They ask: Who's delighted? Who's merely satisfied? Who's disappointed? And most importantly – why?

They understand that a 4.5-star property isn't one where everything is consistently 4.5 stars. It's where most experiences are 5-star excellent, some are 4-star good, and very few fall below that threshold.

Excellence isn't about raising the average. It's about reducing the variance.

Guests don't experience your hotel's average. They experience their specific 48 hours with you – the room they stayed in, the staff they encountered, the shower pressure they endured.

When you hide behind averages, you're not just misunderstanding your business. You're missing the actual human experiences happening under your roof every day.

The most guest-centric hotels I know don't celebrate their averages. They celebrate their outliers – the unexpectedly delightful moments they created and the service failures they'll never repeat.

^{OPERATIONAL INSIGHT}
Fix the Last 10 Minutes

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A luxury hotel GM once confessed something troubling to me: guests who gave them five stars during their stay were downgrading to four stars after checkout.

The culprit? The last 10 minutes of the guest journey.

The stay had been flawless – thoughtful service, immaculate rooms, memorable dining. But then came the departure: waiting for the bill, confusion about parking validation, front desk staff distracted by arriving guests.

Our brains are wired to remember endings vividly. In hospitality, your last impression isn't just another touchpoint – it's the memory that sticks.

So this GM implemented what he called the "Last 10 Minutes Protocol":

• Finalise folios by 6 am for departing guests

• Dedicate one staff member to handle nothing but departures during peak checkout times

• Create a departure lane at the front desk

• Ask every departing guest one question: "Is there anything we didn't get right during your stay that we can fix before you leave?"

The most powerful element? That final question. It's the last chance to convert a four-star experience into a five-star memory.

Most guests say everything was fine. But for the ones who mention something – a missed wake-up call, a room service error, a noisy neighbour – you've just turned a private complaint into a solved problem.

Within three months, their post-checkout review scores aligned with in-stay satisfaction. That small operational adjustment fundamentally changed how guests remembered their experience.

The lesson: Don't let the final moments undo days of excellent service.

^{NOTEWORTHY NUMBER}
Sixty Eight Per Cent – 68%

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That's the percentage of guests willing to pay more for personalized experiences, according to a 2024 APAC Hospitality Impact Study by Agilysys.

Source: Hospitality Industry Trends for 2025

The gap between expectation and reality is stark. While guests crave customisation, 56% of hospitality executives admit they lack the technology needed to deliver it.

This isn't just about remembering a guest's name or preferences. It's about creating an entirely tailored journey – from pre-arrival communications to post-stay follow-ups.

The most successful hotels are shifting from room-centric to experience-centric models. They're using data not just to fill rooms but to craft moments that resonate on a personal level.

The properties winning in 2025 aren't those with the most rooms, but those creating the most relevant experiences for each individual who walks through their doors.

For hoteliers, the message is clear: personalization isn't a luxury amenity – it's the new baseline expectation. And guests are ready to reward it with their wallets.

^{WHAT I FOUND INTERESTING}
The Hotel That Makes More Energy Than It Uses

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In the frigid waters of Norway's Holandsfjorden fjord, a futuristic ring-shaped structure is taking shape that may redefine luxury hospitality.

The Six Senses Svart won't just be carbon-neutral – it's designed to be energy-positive, producing more power than it consumes through an innovative array of solar panels and cutting-edge design.

Set to finally open in 2027 after multiple delays (it was originally slated for 2022), this floating marvel sits at the foot of the Svartisen glacier within the Arctic Circle. The name "Svart" means black and blue in Old Norse, referencing the glacier's distinctive colouration.

What makes this 94-room property revolutionary isn't just its striking circular design, which seems to hover above the water on stilts, but its ambitious environmental targets. The hotel aims to be fully off-grid, carbon-neutral, and zero-waste within five years of operation.

The architects conducted extensive solar radiation mapping to position every element – from guest rooms to restaurants – for optimal energy capture regardless of season or time of day. The building will use 85% less energy than traditional hotels while producing surplus power.

Even more impressive: the entire guest journey is designed to have zero environmental impact from arrival to departure, including the electric boats that will shuttle visitors to and from the property.

This is beyond an eco-resort with bamboo straws. Six Senses Svart could represent what hotel design can become: a destination that adds more than it takes from its surroundings.

While luxury hotels often promise to take your breath away, this one might be the first that gives something back to the atmosphere.

^{SHOWER THOUGHT}
💡 Likely, over 99% of the trees that you look at will still be here when you’re gone..

^{SPONSORED BY HAVEN}
How I Contribute To The Hospitality Industry.

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If you don’t know about me –

I come from a strong tech background – built resilient software for banking, automotive and QSR sectors.

But I finally found true love in hospitality. It’s so full of life and it’s where caring for others is the breadwinner.

However, as a traveller, I have gone through a fair share of displeasures and what’s unfortunate is that even the worst experiences had sincere people putting in their best.

But with a lack of data and systems, the staff is usually just overwhelmed.

That’s why my team and I are building Haven. To help hoteliers and hospitality professionals get ahead of guest frustrations and avoid the most basic pitfalls that destroy guest experience.

Hotels that use Haven –

1. Catch service delays before guests complain.
2. Upsell without being pushy.
3. Fix guest issues before they check out.

Curious how Haven might fit into your operation?

I'd welcome a conversation – Hit the button below or simply reply to this email, and we can find a time to talk.