Beyond The Lobby – Edition 9

^{BIG IDEA FOR THE WEEK}
Narrative Fallacy For Hoteliers

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You have a story about why your hotel is successful. Or why it’s struggling. It sounds logical. It makes sense. It might even be inspiring.

But there’s a good chance it’s wrong.

When occupancy is high, you credit your pricing strategy, your guest experience, your brilliant leadership. When bookings drop, it’s the economy, the new competitor, the seasonality.

This is the narrative fallacy: our brain’s tendency to create neat cause-and-effect stories from messy, unpredictable reality.

We love a clean explanation. It gives us control. But most successes and failures aren’t driven by a single cause. They’re the result of a hundred interwoven factors – many of which you’ll never see.

Take Marriott. In 2018, they uncovered a massive data breach affecting 500 million guests. The problem? The vulnerability was buried in Starwood’s systems years before Marriott even acquired them. The cause wasn’t bad internal processes or a careless mistake. It was bad luck, inherited risk, and a hacker group too sophisticated to stop.

Here’s why this matters: when you buy into a tidy, oversimplified story, you make bad decisions.

• If you believe your hotel runs flawlessly because of tight scheduling, you’ll keep cutting safety margins – until the day something goes wrong and you have no backup.

• If you think five-star reviews come purely from your staff training, you might ignore how much of that guest satisfaction is simply your location, your design, or even the type of travelers you attract.

• If you assume struggling competitors just don’t “get it,” you might be missing the fact that they’ve just been hit with the kind of bad break you haven’t had yet.

Here’s a better approach: Expect randomness.

• Keep a few unsold rooms as buffers, even when it feels inefficient.

• Staff flexibly, not perfectly.

• Build policies that bend rather than break.

The best hoteliers don’t cling to the myth of total control. They don’t build fragile, overly-optimized systems that crumble under pressure.

They know that luck, timing, and randomness play a role. And instead of pretending they don’t, they build their hotels to survive the mess of reality.

Through the lens of hospitality: Hospitality works best when it feels like a partnership, not a transaction. When staff see guests as people, not problems, everything shifts – trust builds, service feels natural, and experiences become personal. Make people feel like they belong. That’s what keeps them coming back.

^{OPERATIONAL INSIGHT}
Build for Real Guests, Not Perfect Ones

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Most hotels spend enormous energy fine-tuning their operations for guests who behave exactly as expected.

But your actual guests? They're wonderfully, frustratingly human.

They arrive early. They leave late. They need extra towels, forget their toothbrush, and ask questions that weren't covered in training.

The real magic happens when you design for actual humans instead of theoretical perfect guests. This means creating systems that bend rather than break when faced with unexpected requests.

Your morning staff meeting should include "What weird thing happened yesterday that our processes couldn't handle?"

Then fix that. Repeat daily.

The best guest experiences don't come from flawless execution of rigid protocols. They come from your team having both the permission and capacity to solve real problems in real time.

Remember: your operational manual was written for guests who don't exist. Your actual guests need a team empowered to color outside those lines when necessary.

^{CRISIS PLAYBOOK}
When a Guest Says, “My Room Smells Weird”

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A guest walks into their room, pauses, and frowns. Something smells… off. Maybe it’s musty. Maybe it’s a strong cleaning product. Maybe it’s just unfamiliar. But instead of feeling relaxed, their first impression is discomfort.

Most hotels brush this off. “We cleaned the room.” “No one else has complained.” “It’s just how the carpets are.” Bad move.

Here’s how to fix it before it turns into a real complaint.

1. Take It Seriously. If a guest brings it up, it’s real to them. A dismissive response only makes it worse. A simple “I totally understand, let’s make this right” keeps things from escalating.

2. Act Fast. Offer immediate solutions. A quick room refresh, an air purifier, a scent-neutralizing spray—something that shows effort. If the issue is persistent, don’t hesitate to offer a room change.

3. Check the Source. If one guest notices, others will too. Housekeeping should have a system for flagging odors—whether it’s leftover food, plumbing, or just a room that needs extra airing out.

4. Follow Up. A quick call or note: “We made some adjustments—let us know if the room feels better now.” Guests appreciate feeling looked after, not brushed aside.

Smell is emotional. It shapes first impressions, comfort, and memory. A bad one lingers—not just in the room, but in a guest’s perception of your hotel. Handle it right, and you don’t just fix a problem—you build trust.

^{WHAT I FOUND INTERESTING}
This Hotel Comes With a Private Fleet. Because Why Not?

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Some hotels offer free Wi-Fi. Some throw in a welcome drink.

The Cooper in Charleston gives you a fleet of boats.

When it opens this fall, guests won’t just be checking into a hotel. They’ll be stepping onto an on-site marina stocked with luxury vessels.

Want a sunset cruise? Done.

A private dinner on a house yacht? Easy.

Need a water taxi to downtown Charleston? Why walk when you can float?

It’s a smart move. The best hotels aren’t just selling rooms anymore – they’re selling experiences you can’t get anywhere else.

Think about it: if The Cooper had just another high-end restaurant, it’d be competing with every other luxury hotel. Instead, they’ve made the city itself part of the stay. They aren’t just giving guests a place to sleep—they’re giving them a new way to see Charleston.

And that’s the bigger takeaway.

What’s your hotel’s version of the fleet? It doesn’t have to be boats. Maybe it’s an experience tied to your location, your history, your team’s expertise. The point is, people don’t talk about faster check-ins or slightly better pillows. They talk about the thing they didn’t expect, but can’t stop thinking about.

Not every hotel can build a marina. But every hotel can be unforgettable in its own way.

^{SHOWER THOUGHT}
💡 You've never seen your own face before – only in pictures and reflections.

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

↓↓↓

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.

If you are curious to learn how Haven can help – simply respond to this email and I’d be happy to tell you more over a call.