Success Stories Madison Hotel


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Success Stories

Madison Hotel Washington D.C. For most hotel General Managers, a renovation promises both headaches and opportunities. In the case of Washington DC’s Madison Hotel, a massive twenty-two million renovation provided the hotel with the opportunity to reposition the hotel and return it to its luxurious roots—The Madison hotel was one of the first luxury hotels in DC. When it opened in 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy cut the ribbon, and DC’s rich and famous flocked to the hotel. But decades later, the 356 room hotel was outdated and dominated by the likes of Four Seasons, Hay Adams, Ritz Carlton and newer hotels. But in January 2011, Destination Hotels and Resorts took over the property and paved the way for a whole new chapter in the hotel’s life. First, the management company instilled new processes around online reputation management using Revinate. Second, they paved the way for the full-blown renovation, which lasted for more than a year. While renovations can often be a nightmare for guests and staff, Hotel Manager, Gavin Philipp, is thankful that the hotel saw few complaints during the process. He says, “Through careful planning, we kept issues related to the renovation to a minimum. We had a statement on our website and ensured that the work was isolated to certain floors at a time, with additional floors left unoccupied to allow noise buffering. The staff was trained and provided with talking points about the work being done and every week I updated a letter in every guestroom

that described the work and any implications to guests, such as hours of operation of the restaurant, etc. I think transparency was key for us to keeping guests happy.” With the renovation complete the hotel was ready for a comeback. A Service Excellence Committee was formed, comprised of staff from every department and across all levels of management. As a group they set these goals for the hotel: • AAA 4-diamond rating • 90% overall satisfaction in guest satisfaction surveys • Top ten on TripAdvisor Popularity Index To date, the hotel has been awarded its 4-diamond rating and is well on its way to meeting its other goals. Gavin says, “Everything that gets measured gets done so having the ability, through Revinate, to easily report how we’re doing every week has been key to our success.” Destination Hotels and Resorts regularly sends

“Everything that gets measured gets done so having the ability, through Revinate, to easily report how we’re doing every week has been key to our success.” Gavin Philipp Hotel Manager, Madison Hotel

out Revinate’s GS2 Report so executives can see how the property is doing against management goals and against the other hotels in the portfolio. In addition, Gavin sends out the Sentiment Analysis report and the Rating Trend report for both the restaurant, the Federalist, as well as the hotel, so everyone on

For more information or to schedule a demo, email us at [email protected] or visit Revinate.com

Success Stories

“Responding to reviews is the best way we have to show customers that we are listening and that we take feedback seriously. It also allows us to show our guests that we are thankful for their business, which I think is very important.” Gavin Philipp Hotel Manager, Madison Hotel

staff, regardless of department, can track success. Gavin says, “It’s so important for our staff to see weekly reports and know that our progress is being tracked. It’s a great way to bring everyone together around common goals so we can celebrate our wins and rally to meet our objectives.”

Since the renovation, there has been much success. Given the renovation and new focus on service, the hotel has changed its comp set in Revinate to track success against the most luxurious properties in the area. The hotel now consistently comes out on top of the new competitive set in sentiment analysis and has gone from 107 on TripAdvisor Popularity Index to eleven. With its enhanced TripAdvisor standing, Gavin has witnessed a lot more interest from meeting planners. He says, “The days of impressing meeting planners with site visits and showrooms are over. Today, they go to TripAdvisor to see what real guests are saying. Guest engagement has also improved since the renovation. As a rule, Gavin and the hotel’s marketing manager respond to at least 20% of reviews, both positive and negative. Of the practice, Gavin says, “Responding to reviews is the best way we have to show customers that we are listening and that we

take feedback seriously. It also allows us to show our guests that we are thankful for their business, which I think is very important.” The team is also very proactive when it comes to social media. Using Revinate, the PR and marketing team stay on top of what people are saying and monitor who is checkingin on Twitter and foursquare, which provides great opportunities to welcome guests, both in person and on social media and to show guests that staff is always listening. Gavin says, “Many of our guests prefer to communicate with us on Twitter and our Facebook page so we need to be there and exceed their expectations.” As staff of The Madison prepares for the Thanksgiving holidays they have a lot to be thankful for. They have restored the hotel to its former glory and put processes in place to ensure continued success. At their current pace, they are on track to meet all the goals set by the Service Excellence Committee.

About Revinate Revinate helps hotels and restaurants compete with a user-friendly software solution for managing and tracking reviews and media mentions on OTAs, review sites, and social networks. Developed exclusively for the hospitality industry, Revinate allows hotels and restaurants to turn online guest feedback into actionable plans to quickly respond to competition and market demands, increase customer satisfaction and drive revenue. Revinate is based in San Francisco and has over 10,000 hotel and restaurant clients worldwide. To learn more, visit revinate.com.

For more information or to schedule a demo, email us at [email protected] or visit Revinate.com