What do your guests really really want?

Here's what happened when we asked them…

On a sunny Thursday morning in Holborn, we embarked on a mission. It was time to find out what really makes your guests book direct. Leaving an online survey on the boil, we also took to the London streets - reaching a total of about 280 consumers.

We all know that showing off extra benefits of booking direct is a powerful persuader, but this time we wanted to know: which extras do your guests really value?

Q1: When did you last stay in a hotel?

Q2: Which benefits would be most likely to make you book a stay? (drumroll, please...)
  1. Free Breakfast
  2. Free WiFi
  3. Late Checkout
  4. Free upgrade
  5. Best rate guaranteed
  6. Free welcome drink
The results

When you are thinking about hotel benefits your mind might immediately move to all sorts of things that hotels hand out when you stay. The reality is that customers are calling for simplicity. They want your hotel to be home from home. And for that they need the basics to be on-point.

Different is memorable, true (surely you've heard us tell our pineapple story by now?) - but only if remarkable, in the words of Seth Godin. Here's what our interviewees had to say about their least favourite benefits: 

  • Daily Newspaper -  “I read it all on my phone anyway”
  • 10% off the restaurant -  “I want to go out and explore my surroundings”
  • Free Parking - “I expect this when I stay”
  • Free Cookies - “This is a nice touch but I would rather have the necessities first”

Think you've mastered the basics AND have something remarkable to share? We'd love to hear about your benefits - why not tweet us @triptease?

Footnote for the curious:

We spoke to a huge range of consumers, of a well-balanced gender and age spilt as follows: