Newlyweds Shinya and Miki Ito looked like kids building a sand castle as they painstakingly piled treats in a bag during a shopping spree at GIFT, Sheraton Waikiki’s new store where guests can chose their own amenities.
The couple had filled the bag with American candy, gourmet popcorn and Spam, when on the way out, Miki spotted a stuffed green turtle. Her husband could stuff only a portion of it in the bag.
"It’s all right?" Shinya sheepishly asked the store manager, as he indicated that despite his best effort the bag wasn’t going to close.
"Of course," said Leo Rogers, assistant manager of the amenities store. "Enjoy."
Personalization is revolutionizing the guest experience in today’s hotel industry, much as Burger King’s "have it your way" campaign did in the 1970s for customers of the formerly rigid food service industry.
The Sheraton Waikiki has been transformed by something called GPS, short for Global Personalization at Starwood.
Traditional amenity programs are usually a loss leader but GIFT allows the hotel to recoup some of its expenses. While Sheraton gives GIFT bags to VIPs, including most return guests and honeymooners, the hotel also sells bags. They range in price from $25 to $75, and can be personalized with company logos and notes, a hit with meeting planners.
"As a company, we started talking about what is the next definer for the hospitality industry. Hospitality and travel over the years had become a commodity, not an experience," said Sheraton Waikiki General Manager Kelly Sanders, who serves on the company’s GPS Council. "We want to create something that can’t be replicated. We’re looking for ways to warmly welcome our guests by personalizing their vacation experience right away."
Since opening in April, the amenity store, which Sanders touts as the first of its kind in the industry, has been a hit. "We average about 100 shoppers a day and our high has been 227," he said. "And, we’ve already pre-sold 21,000 bags through the end of the year."
Brian Hunnings, director of food and beverage for the Sheraton Waikiki, said he’s even caught senior managers from other hotels checking out the concept, which was born after he and Sanders witnessed all the amenities that were being wasted during a conference they attended.
"We didn’t like our amenities, so we left them in the room," Hunnings said.
A one-week test showed that about 35 percent of the Sheraton’s traditional amenities were going unused.
"You could have fed a family of four on the stuff," Hunnings said.
The $140,000 cost to build GIFT has more than paid off from conservation and customer satisfaction perspectives, Sanders said. And it really hasn’t cost the company more to run than when it was delivering bottles of wine and cheese or fruit plates to the room.
"It’s less costly than we thought it would be," Hunnings said. "It balances out. Some people go in and all they take is a bottle of water. Others treat it like Tetris and try to squeeze as much as they can into the bag."
While the assortment of amenities includes local snacks, beers, juices, sodas, wines, fresh fruits, candies and Hawaii collectibles, an inexpensive can of Spam is one of the bigger hits.
"We put Spam in as a funny (ha, ha) kind of thing," Hunnings said. "Imagine our surprise when we went through 42 cans of it the first day. The purchasing department couldn’t get the stuff in quick enough to restock so they had to go to Sam’s and Costco."
Sheraton Waikiki’s personalization experience extends beyond GIFT. While many hotels have cut back on room service, Sheraton Waikiki has expanded it.
Traditional white-tablecloth service features food from the Sheraton’s RumFire and Kai Market restaurants, Hunnings said. "Our guests also can phone in a pickup order or order delivery food in biodegradable containers. We’ll even deliver a Sheraton Waikiki-branded lunch box with food and sunscreen, and a note from Mom to remember to use it."
Contrary to industry trends, the number of room service items being ordered has grown by 35 percent.
"It’s all about the personalization, which extends to all facets of our hotel," Sanders said.
In November, the hotel launched an in-room glossy magazine, Kupa‘a, which features a cover personalized with guest names. The magazine includes a poker chip labeled Starwood Preferred Associate, to be given to the hotel employee who made the most difference in the guest’s stay. Employees can trade them for 100 hotel loyalty points, good for everything from a trip to an iPad.
Melvin Milton, a server, restaurant supervisor and social media marketer for food and beverage at RumFire restaurant, has earned more than 55,000 points since August.
"I traded some of them in for an iPad and now I’m saving for a trip," Milton said. "This program is an added incentive for employees to go above and beyond. It’s really humbling when a guest recognizes you for great work."
When a guest has a bad experience, Sanders said, other personalization tools help Sheraton Waikiki make it right. Guests can use the Starwood Preferred Guest app or scan a QR code to pass along concerns instantly. Connective systems technology also lets hotel personnel track problems so that they can keep problems from snowballing.
"All of our systems speak as one," Sanders said. "Everything is connected so we’ll know immediately if Mrs. Smith in 2012 had a problem in the bathroom or at the front office. We can make a call quickly."
Employees have access to other personalization tools, everything from birthday, anniversary and thank-you cards to kids’ toys, body sprays, sunscreen and lip balm.
"I love sending cards to guests," Milton said. "I’ll write stuff like, ‘Thanks for coming to dinner. I hope you enjoyed our Mai Tai.’ Guests are really, really shocked. They come back and tell me it was a great surprise."
Sanders said the personalization efforts are paying off in terms of guest satisfaction.
"In a climate where the industry is cheering when they can move satisfaction up half a percent, we’ve seen ours go up 25 percent since 2011," he said.
