It seems like hotels are getting back to basics and taking beds seriously (The Telegraph). Beds are once again becoming a new way in which hotels can attract more guests.
The truth is that hotels should join the sleep revolution and focus on bed comfort unless they want to end up with unsatisfied guests and bad reviews. A lousy sleep might just ruin your guests’ next day, while a good night’s rest prepares them for a positive day ahead.
The challenge for hotels may however be to please all of the guests’ sleeping quirks. While some people prefer sleeping on soft surfaces, some find it rather disturbing when the bed does not have a certain degree of firmness. In a study by Westin Hotels & Resorts (2001), 48% of guests considered hotel beds to be either too firm (21%) or too soft (27%).
Some hotels have already addressed this problem by introducing adjustable beds, an example of this being First Hotels. In order to see if the change had an impact on First’s guest satisfaction, Loopon gave them a hand. Take a look at the infographic below and the following interviews to get the whole story!
Interview with Kjetil Engum, Vice President Operation, Tribe Hotels
How did First Hotels start considering the introduction of SmartBeds and why?
The first time Youbed was introduced to First Hotels was during our yearly Congress in Copenhagen January 2015. I have been working in the hotel industry since 1994, but I had never seen a bed like this. Out of 100 guests, there are 100 preferences on what a good bed is. In my opinion YouBed is the bed that can suit everyone.
In what ways have you benefitted from the presented study?
The real benefit here is that YouBed is a fantastic bed that our guests appreciate.
How do you think a similar study could be carried out with reference to other services offered by First Hotels?
I think this is perfect. We have a lot of ideas on how to give a better experience to our guests. With such an analysis we are able to establish if it is really a good idea, or if it is just another idea.
Interview with Mattias Sörensen, Founder and CEO, YouBed
Our client First Hotels has let you take part of our analysis of the bed Youbed. What do you think of the result?
We are actually not extremely surprised, but it is obviously an amazing result. Above all, this is a very pleasant and useful confirmation of what we already suspected, but which had been so hard to prove in practice.
It is now statistically ensured that our bed innovation contributes greatly to increased guest satisfaction and that the proportion of promoters increases by 14%. The key value, NPS, is additionally an internationally recognized standard, which makes the result relevant even outside of Scandinavia.
There are two particular things that make me extra impressed and convinced about the fact that Loopon is a valuable and reliable measurement tool for their customers. On the one hand, that the answer frequency from guests is so high, which ensures a broad and relevant analysis of the data. On the other hand, that the analysis can be so detailed and that one can isolate and measure the guest satisfaction of a specific product or area.
Like in this case, comparing data from the same room types with and without YouBed beds. Very impressive!
What challenges have you or your clients (in this case hotels) experienced when trying to understand what users actually think of your beds?
Thanks to statistical reports from over 60 hotels we know with certainty that our beds contribute to both higher occupancy and earnings for the hotel. As an example, the average room price increases by 158kr (17€ / 19$).
This is of course fantastic, but that adjustable beds attract new guests to the hotel and that the room price increases does not necessarily mean that guests are more satisfied.
Understanding and measuring guest satisfaction is therefore the most important key value of thorough evaluation and planning. Only then can the hotel say with assurance whether the beds correspond to the guests’ expectations and whether the room prices can be justified or should be adjusted. Are the guests so satisfied that they will recommend the hotel to others? Is there reason to develop a room category with the new type of rooms?
What possibilities do you see in adjustable beds for hotels?
A major problem for the hotel industry is that normal beds cannot possibly satisfy all guests at the same time. While some guests will want softer beds, others will prefer them harder. With our adjustable beds, each and every guest can decide how hard or soft they want the bed to be.
In theory the majority believes that a ”bed that fits all” is revolutionary for the hotel industry. Research shows that guests value a good bed more than anything in a hotel. At the same time, there is today a large but natural general dissatisfaction with today’s static beds. The interest for this bed is very high and various chains have already launched unique sleeping concepts based on the bed. Today there are over 130 hotels that offer YouBed adjustable beds in Scandinavia.
You can learn more at:
http://www.firsthotels.com/Campaigns/first-smartbed/
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