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Do you remember all the various bars of soap provided in your hotel rooms during your travels? Probably not.
Unless you stayed at Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, WI.
With a focus on the arts infused thoughtfully and creatively throughout the hotel, it’s fitting that their in-room soap resembles a classic eraser. And if that weren’t enough to etch the hotel into your memory, there are also ukeleles, record players, and vinyl albums in every room.
Saint Kate gets it: small touches make a BIG impact in hospitality.
Now, Saint Kate brands itself as “The Arts Hotel,” so it makes sense that they’d be willing to invest money in these kinds of unusual amenities. It makes their branding come alive.
But you don’t need a deep branding proposition to light a memory spark for guests. Any hospitality company can add small, simple, and unexpected touches to its guest experience…often with only a small, or one-time cost.
We recently asked some travel industry friends to tell us what kinds of small touches surprised them at hotels and restaurants around the world. Here are some of our faves.
DELISH LIP BALM
At the Koa Kea in Kauai, HI, the in-room amenities included Sugar Lip Balm, by the brand Fresh. Lip balm isn’t exactly a standard amenity by any means, and this sweetly infused one made such an impression on the guest who told us about it. Apparently, it’s the only kind she has ever used since, and she thinks of the hotel whenever she does.
FISHING RODS
At the Seaside Suites in Woody Point, NL, every room has a pair of fishing rods – and binoculars – to help guests enjoy their jaw-dropping surroundings nestled within Gros Morne National Park. In fact, two of their suites are actually built out over the water, and those guests can fish right off their patio.
LAST CALL COOKIES
Just before last call every night at the Portland, OR, cocktail bar Too Soon, freshly baked salted chocolate chip cookies are brought out on trays and offered to guests, free of charge. Owner Nick Flower started this tradition as way to simultaneously thank patrons who have stayed until closing time…and graciously signal that it’s almost time for them to leave. It’s like a warm gentle goodbye hug, compared to other bars’ ejection strategies, like turning on lights and turning off music.
MANGA READING ROOM
We LOVE this idea. At the Henn na Hotel Kyoto Hachijoguchiekimae in Kyoto, Japan, guests can enjoy any of the 700 issues available in the hotel’s specially created Manga Reading Room. Of course, they may be distracted by the two dinosaur robots manning the front desk at check-in, but hey…it’s Japan.
TREASURE HUNT
Leave it to Lego®. When you check into the Legoland® New York Resort, you find a locked treasure chest in your room. You need to go on a treasure hunt, finding clues and solving puzzles scattered throughout the hotel. Completing the treasure hunt gives you the code needed to unlock that chest…and inside is a cool Lego set for you to keep. It’s a memorable way to combine an activity, hotel exploration, and a parting gift.
LEGENDARY GRANOLA
When leaving the dinner table at NYC’s Eleven Madison Park, each guest is gifted a jar of their homemade granola and repeat diners eagerly anticipate this parting pleasure. (Psst – you can buy it here if you’re not planning to be in NYC any time soon.)
A REALLY – REALLY – GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP
At The Maker hotel in Hudson, NY, nightly turndown service includes hot tea and CBD gummies. It’s edgy…but we’re here for it.
Any hospitality company can use examples like this for inspiration. You don’t need to be Lego to offer a treasure hunt with a locked chest that holds a prize. And you can create any type of themed reading room that fits with the spirit of your business/brand/location (tip for hoteliers: that tiny, dark room that’s always hard for you to sell? Evaluate the marketing value of turning it into a stand-out reading nook…and – second tip – get good photos of it.)
The point is that it’s important to have SOME things that break through the clutter and etch themselves into people’s memories. And since small touches clearly make a big impact in hospitality, you don’t even need to spend a lot of money to do it.
Want more inspo for making a memorable impression on guests?
Hotel amenities can have marketing value.
