Hotellet: Gæstens hjem

(?)

Szilvia Gyimóthy Tourism Research Unit

Institut for Kultur og Globale Studier

Manipulative ”Servicescapes”

• Bitner (1992) researches the effects of the physical evidence on customers

• Psychological experiment: measuring customers reactions to environmental stimuli in a travel agency

• Looks at customer expectations and perceptions as objective, discrete and comparable along a number of ”atmosphere dimensions”

The trouble with the behaviourist model

• Naïvist focus on service encounters

• Service as a universal concept

• Regards personal interaction isolated from cultural and economic contexts

• Meliorist perspektiv

Postmodern consumption theory

• Postmodern consumer theory: The goal of consumption is to enhance self-images

• Social positioning and display of status

• Building a unique identity by purchasing ”accessories”: products, services, experiences, goodwill

Service through socialconstructivism

• Consumers are semioticians

• ”Physical evidence” and ”moments of truths” are socially constructed through cultural meanings, norms, values and interpretations

Relational space theory: Maps in Minds

• Places are cognitive ordering tools to categorise space into dichotomies (my place vs. others’ place, mental places)

• Places are an extensions of peoples’ identities (emotional attachment to certain places)

• Consumers are co-creators of meaning - interacting and in dialogue with the servicescape

Deconstructing the cultural context of hospitality

• Based on religious/moral imperatives on how to ”accommodate strangers”

• Private and social hospitality: sharing one’s home, meals and maybe bedroom – with implicit expectations of return

• Hospitality as ”social glue”

Commercial hospitality = No ordinary service encounter

• The social ritual of hospitality is performed as an economic exchange

• Assymetric: no reciprocity assumed, no ownership (?)

• BUT: Connotations of ”accommodating a stranger” appear in each welcome concept (e.g. complimentary gifts)

Deconstructing servicescapes as sociospaces

• ”Non-places” (transitory public spaces) are entirely functional in order to facilitate movement

• Existential need of the mobile class: to colonise and attach meaningful bonds to places

• Commercial places are commonplaces of societal ritualization

The hotel as ”sociospace”

• Commercial servicescapes have a social ”linking value”

• Interaction among ”strangers” facilitated or manipulated by a hotel’s public arenas

• A bar, lounge, elevator or hotel room encourage certain forms of social interaction instead of others (norms, rules, value systems integrated to these places)

Hotels as hyperhomes• Gestalting a residential feel on

commercial premises is based on few trite assumptions what ”home” is…

• Functionality and comfort• Familiarity and safety• Marker of identity• Privacy • Individual (freedom of) choice

• Commodification is ”fluid” – standards change as private homes change

• ”Home” turning from leisure sanctuary into an effective workplace

Modern hotels (60ies-80ies)

• A comfortable shelter for the emergent leisure class

• Reliable standards• Functionality and comfort

(hot and cold running water, ventilation etc.)

• ”Better than home”

”Som boligstandarden stiger må der tages hensyn til gæsternes

forventninger om et ”hjem” og hotellet kan ikke tillade sig at byde på et upersonligt, kedeligt og farveløst

kammer” (Hotel & Restaurant, 1971)

”Welcome home, wherever we are” (1973)

• ”And we're just about everywhere. With more than 400 Ramada Inns all over the

country...” • Residential non-

places• Emphasis on a

uniform product• Standardised

”props”

”When you’re in a strange place, it’s good to see a familiar face”

• Hotels as ”extensions of the home”

• Familiarity of (American) culture, standards and values

• ”The best surprise is no surprise”

Functionality and comfort

”There are 152 reasons why the best surprise is no surprise. If you travel a lot you know the kinds of surprises we talk about. Like lost reservations, lumpy beds and prices that inflate overnight” (Holiday Inn, 1976)

”The room was clean. The TV worked. Everything worked. Amazing”

• ”Hygiene” aspects are differentiators:

• "I think there is something beautiful in things doing what they are supposed to do..."

”Amenities Wars”

• Exclusivity defined through luxurious add-ons (slippers, complimentary chocolate or fruit baskets, free magazines and pay-channels)

• ”Home” gestalted as restitution sanctuary

Standardising the unique?• Positioning wars among mid-

range hotels (3-4***) • Price, facilities and loyalty

programs are not enough • Vicious circle of “amenities

wars”• Focus on designing unique

accommodation experiences • Similar “home-from-home”-

concepts:• “Your second home is First”• Dit hjem når du er kørt ud”• “Ett hem på vägen!”• “There is another place like

home”

Postmodern hotels (90ies): ”Ett hem på vägen”

• ”Ett hem på vägen”: Casual homey feeling for the frequent traveller

• Exclusivity defined through customisation and expressiveness

• Thirdspace: a home stripped from domestic chores and family

”Hotellet ger dig de ytor och mervärden som behövs for att

upskatta en semester eller arbetsvecka i ditt egen tempo,

i ditt egna hem – fast på en annan ort. (Choice Hotels,

2005)

A room that works

• “Before, I received bath slippers and candies. Now I have a broadband and a real workplace.[...] Here you are able to spend your time to work: absolutely unperturbed in an efficient and spacious workplace with broadband. ”Mer som hemma” (Accome Hotel Apartments 2004)

• Hotels as ”extensions of the office”

• Self-servicing guests (kitchen or galley facilities)

• Technical comfort• Extensive vertical

surfaces to spread out work

”Make it your home”

• More ecclectic and residential furnishings

• Mobile furnishings• Multifunctional

rooms • More storage place • Celebration of

individuality

Designhotel that makes you feel at home

“Our unique concept offers exciting Swedish architecture and interior design. The home-from-home feeling is heightened by the tasteful decor, and luxuirious Hästen beds.” (Hotel Odin, Gothenburg)

• Creative environments

• Trendy style – similar to private living spaces

”You are where you sleep.” (Hotel Skt. Petri)

Homey standards?

• Subtle, mass customised products

• Technical, rather than personal

• Symbolic poverty: similar forms and connotations

• Technical, rather than social hospitality

“Hotels in the future won’t look alike, nor will they function alike” (Jim Anhut, brand manager of Choice Hotels)

Or an inhospitable industry?

”Dear Ms. Roney. We wish you a pleasant stay. Please do not hesitate to contact any of the hotel staff for additional support.”