Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's Sheraton brand this month built on recent improvement efforts to stabilize the franchised brand by promising to compensate guests—monetarily, with loyalty points or bonus services—for any problems they find with the chain's hotel rooms or service.
No one at Starwood is shy about admitting the Sheraton brand needed improvement. "For many years, travelers felt they could not count on a consistent Sheraton product from one city to the next, which was a huge frustration," said Starwood chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht.
Analysts said no recent customer guarantee by a hotel has been so specific in its reimbursements. Best Western last year hired special customer relations agents for its properties and introduced a new customer feedback section to its Web site. However, the recessed and competitive market creates an environment ripe for bolder marketing claims, said Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services at San Francisco-based PKF Consulting, a hotel consulting firm. The program targets two audiences: franchise operators and customers, Mandelbaum said.
"The hotels are on notice that they'll be penalized if they don't meet the standards, and it'll be the customer calling you to task," he added.
Sheraton franchises 150 properties out of the 379 that it has globally; there are 200 total within the United States and Canada. Starwood has invested $450 million in Sheraton and refined the brand since buying it four years ago, including a campaign started this spring to upgrade properties and make them more consistent. The company invested $80 million in new, Sheraton- branded beds being installed in North American properties.
Still, that effort has seen mixed customer survey results. The chain has not scored above average for two straight years in J.D. Power and Associates' annual hotel customer satisfaction survey, released earlier this month.
However, Sheraton improved year over year in Business Travel News' 2002 top U.S. hotel chain survey, based on responses from corporate travel buyers
(BTN, Feb. 11). The chain jumped from seventh place in 2001 to third place this year among 15 upscale hotels, as property improvements in 2001 emphasized room comfort. Sheraton's own Guest Satisfaction Index also rose from 7.9 to 8.3.
The new program would award $15 or 500 points in Starwood's Preferred Guest loyalty program for such minor inconveniences as slow checkin, billing problems or missing bath amenities. Travelers would get between $25 and $75, depending on the hotel's daily rate, for bigger problems, such as an unclean room, heating problems or excess noise. Guests who experience uncontrollable noise, poor food or bed quality, slow room service or no wake-up call when requested get a free room night or meal, a gift certificate for one free night at another Sheraton or Preferred Guest points.