The InTervIew : Tina Edmundson
Renaissance Paris Hippodrome de St . Cloud Hotel opened this summer and features modern and sophisticated décor inspired by the feng shui philosophy and designed by Jean-Philippe Nuel . vibe , even programming from an entertainment perspective to drive traffic . It ’ s really about this totally immersive experience . So , those things are interesting and feed into your thought process on how you ’ re going to go to market .
H : What are your thoughts on the way room service is evolving ?
TE : We ’ re offering more options , and that is never a bad thing . It is about giving people more options and giving them reasonable or better options , not making it so polarizing .
Traditional room service belongs in certain brands with certain guest expectations . Where customers want that as an option , it will never go away . H : Where does luxury go from here ? TE : From a service perspective it is about personalization , and it is about enriching people ’ s lives because I ’ m able to deliver this really bespoke personal experience . And it is about getting these experiences that not everybody has the opportunity to have , and then having it be so personal that it fits the guest completely .
H : What do you make of the casualization of luxury ?
TE : That it is really about finding what ’ s authentic , and it ’ s not all about the show anymore . It ’ s not about the badge , if you will , but it ’ s really about
coming away from an experience feeling like you ’ ve had this really meaningful sort of authentic experience and having it less stuffy . Friendly but not familiar is really where this next generation is going , frankly . The data we see when we do research around it really talks about that . What resonates with this generation is honesty and integrity .
H : “ Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen ” gets lampooned as old school by the industry . But it seems Ritz- Carlton ’ s holding on to the credo . What ’ s your take ?
TE : At the end of the day , they still deliver the best , and that , I don ’ t think , ever goes out of style . The culture Ritz- Carlton has is wonderful , and it ’ s really hard to create . So , it is our jobs to protect what ’ s special and to protect the magic with Ritz-Carlton .
H : How else is Marriott paying attention to service delivery ?
TE : What ’ s changing is the role of technology as part of the service . With Moxy , for example , it ’ s much about a self-service , do-it-yourself environment . We ’ ve really done our homework to understand what the target guest is looking for and designed the spaces and experience to actually show that . The most important thing is Wi-Fi and free , so we want to make sure we ’ re delivering on that . Then it ’ s being tech-enabled to make sure all of their devices can connect and they are not searching for plugs . And these things sound small until you don ’ t have them , and then it ’ s the biggest deal ever .
Each brand has its own laser-like focus in the area of service because that is ultimately the driver of the entire experience . H : With all the emerging middle classes , how are your brands managing the changing makeup of guests ?
TE : The first thing is to make sure what we ’ re doing resonates worldwide . So , again , an example would be with a brand like Renaissance , which is about discovery . What discovery means in the U . S . is different from what discovery means in China . So , in China , they want to discover things that are much more about luxury . In the U . S ., they want to discover things that are much more indigenous . So we are really making sure we understand the nuances .
H : Can you talk about your social media strategy ?
TE : Looking across the industry , I don ’ t think anyone ’ s really cracked it . Increasingly the consumer is relying on social media channels for validation or for confidence in purchase decisions . They don ’ t believe what companies are saying about themselves . So , how do we promote this ease of
52 HOTELS September 2014 www . hotelsmag . com