2. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................
4 TO 5 STAR HOTEL INDUSTRY - SWISSÔTEL THE STAMFORD AND THE QUINCY HOTEL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Travel Accommodation in Singapore.....................................................................................3
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
..........................................................................................................3
TRENDS
.................................................................................................................................3
Improving Economy
...........................................................................................................3
Highest Value Sales Growth in Chain Hotels .....................................................................3
Online Bookings .................................................................................................................3
Rise of Boutique Hotels .....................................................................................................3
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
..................................................................................................4
Attractive Special Promotions ............................................................................................4
Luxury Hotels Holding the Lead .........................................................................................4
PROSPECTS .........................................................................................................................4
Setting the context ..................................................................................................................4
SWISSÔTEL THE STAMFORD vs THE QUINCY HOTEL
.......................................................4
Business Models .....................................................................................................................4
BUSINESS MODEL: THE QUINCY HOTEL ...........................................................................4
Independent Hotels Definition ............................................................................................4
Boutique Hotel ...................................................................................................................4
Unique Selling Proposition .................................................................................................4
Guest Composition ............................................................................................................4
BUSINESS MODEL: SWISSÔTEL THE STAMFORD
..............................................................4
Hotel Chain Definition ........................................................................................................4
Branded Chain Hotel
..........................................................................................................4
Unique Selling Proposition .................................................................................................5
Guest Composition ............................................................................................................5
Key Differences between The Quincy Hotel and Swissôtel The Stamford
........................5
THE SERVICE PRODUCT
..........................................................................................................5
The Flower of Service ............................................................................................................5
(1) Hospitality .................................................................................................................6
(2) Order Taking ..............................................................................................................8
(3) Exceptions ................................................................................................................8
PLACE, PROMOTIONS, PEOPLE & PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
.......................................10
Recommendations ................................................................................................................13
Upgrade of amenities
...........................................................................................................13
Improve traffic flow in lobby ................................................................................................14
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) .......................................................................14
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................14
References .............................................................................................................................15
1
3. TRAVEL ACCOMMODATION IN SINGAPORE
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
Since the launch of two integrated resorts in
2010, the outlook of the hotel landscape in
Singapore has been positive. Current value sales
increased by 48% in 2010, reaching S$4.1 billion.
On average, the average sales per outlet
increased in 2010. The sales figure is expected to
grow by a 6% constant value CAGR over the
forecasted period (Euromonitor, Travel and
Tourism - Singapore, 2011).
TRENDS
Improving Economy
The economic recovery in 2010 made consumers
more willing to spend on holidays. With higher
disposable incomes, more consumers are
agreeable to allocate bigger portions of their
spending on travel accommodations, so as to
fully enjoy their vacation. As such, luxury hotels
saw an 11% increase in market share for travel
accommodation, while budget hotels recorded a
retail value share of negative two percentage
points in 2010. Average occupancy rate remains
above 70% throughout 2011 (Euromonitor, Travel
Accommodation - Singapore, 2011).
Highest Value Growth in Chain Hotels
Chain hotels experienced the highest current
value sales growth in 2010 with the opening of
the two integrated resorts. There was an increase
in bookings for hotels near the Marina Bay belt as
special events, such as the fireworks display
marking Singapore’s National Day and Formula 1
race, were situated in that area. This in turn
boosted the performance of chain hotels. Average
sales per outlet increased by 43% in current value
terms in 2010 as hotels near the Marina Bay belt
launched several packages. Consumers had to
pay a premium if they chose to stay in these
areas to watch the special event (Euromonitor,
Travel Accommodation - Singapore, 2011).
3
Online Bookings
Online sales of travel accommodation grew by
33% in retail value terms in 2010, as consumers
continued to use the Internet for convenience and
24/7 access to room reservations. Special
promotions offered for online bookings such as the
weekend packages offered by Pan Pacific Hotel
encouraged consumers to book travel
accommodation online (Euromonitor, Travel
Accommodation - Singapore, 2011). In 2011,
online travel booking formed almost half of the
hotels’ accommodation book and this is expected
to increase by 8%.
Rise of Boutique Hotels
Recently, there have been a growing number of
boutique hotels springing up around the city-state.
News reports confirm that close to seven boutique
hotels were setup in Singapore over the period of
2008 to 2010 (Roberts, 2011).
Weekend occupancy rates are currently 80% and
room rates will continue to rise 30% year-on-year.
At present, there are only around 40,000 hotel
rooms available in Singapore (Singapore Tourism
Board, 2011). Going by the 2015 visitor arrival
projections, it certainly isn’t enough for the 46,000
visitors expected each day. Seizing this business
opportunity, hoteliers are setting up boutique
hotels in Singapore (SingaporeStartup, 2010).
Not only do these boutique hotels offer more
reasonable prices, they are becoming known as
hip, off-beat alternatives to the generic, global
hotel brands that populate the Singapore skyline.
These new boutique hotels are smart, in the fact
that they have identified a niche in the market, not
only in terms of price, but also in terms of location,
so that they can serve both the business and the
PAGE
leisure markets.
2
4. TRAVEL ACCOMMODATION IN SINGAPORE
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Attractive Special Promotions
Although the economy has been doing well,
hotels still offer special weekend packages to
sustain consumer interest in a highly competitive
environment. Hotels are also making use of
tourism opportunities such as the annual Formula
1race and the fireworks display at Esplanade on
Singapore’s National Day. Hence, offering special
packages for locals and tourists to stay over and
watch these events (Euromonitor, Travel
Accommodation - Singapore, 2011).
Luxury Hotels Holding the Lead
Luxury hotels will continue to sustain the interests
of consumers. These establishments pride
themselves on providing excellent service and
offering guests the opportunity to enjoy a
wholesome lifestyle experience. On the other
hand, budget hotels attracted consumers through
low-priced, no-frills accommodation. Budget
hotels, including Fragrance Hotel, have started
eyeing locations close to key tourist areas in
order to offer a convenient alternative to luxury
hotels. Thus, Fragrance Hotel’s Viva branch is
located near to Vivocity and Sentosa. This makes
it convenient for budget travelers to explore
Sentosa and one of the major shopping centres
in Singapore.
Price
Raffles Hotel
Conrad Centennial
Mandarin Oriental
InterContinental Singapore
Hilton Singapore
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
Swissotel The Stamford
Quincy Hotel
Rating of
service
quality*
New Majestic Hotel
The Club Hotel
Wanderlust Hotel
Studio M Hotel
M Hotel
The Scarlet Hotel
Hotel Re!
Figure 1: Perceptual Map of Luxury Hotels
landscape in Singapore, service quality are based
on ratings on travel forums Tripadvisor.com and
Agoda.com
4
Boutique hotels are slowly making themselves a
close competitor to the hotel chains (Figure 1).
Focusing on improving quality of services at
affordable prices, boutique hotels strive to create
valuable genuine word-of-mouth from customers
to build their reputation.
PROSPECTS
Travel accommodation sales are projected to grow
by a 6% constant value CAGR over the forecasted
period. In addition to the lure of integrated resorts
and other attractions, promotions offered by
budget airlines will appeal to travelers from
neighboring countries, thereby increasing the
demand for travel accommodation (Euromonitor,
Travel and Tourism - Singapore, 2011).
Average sales per outlet are also expected to rise
in constant value terms over the forecasted period.
The rising affluence of consumers will increase
their willingness to spend on mid-priced or luxury
hotels. However, the overall increase in sales per
outlet is likely to be restricted by hotels offering
special weekend packages due to the intense
competitive environment.
SETTING THE CONTEXT
SWISSÔTEL THE STAMFORD vs THE
QUINCY HOTEL
With the rising presence of boutique hotels in
Singapore, our group is very much interested in
understanding how this trend affects the cognitive
decision-making process in choosing a hotel.
As such, we decided to narrow our evaluation
based on two types of luxury hotels – a boutique
hotel and a branded chain hotel. In order to ensure
our evaluations will be relevant in the comparison,
hotels are chosen from the same cluster in the
perceptual map, where both hotels have similar
price points and quality of service (Figure 1). In this
case, the subjects for evaluation are; Swissôtel The
Stamford as a representative for the branded chain
hotel and The Quincy Hotel as that for boutique
PAGE
hotels.
3
5. BUSINESS MODELS
BUSINESS MODEL: THE QUINCY
HOTEL
Independent Hotel Definition
Independent hotels refer to hotel operators that
own and operate one or more (but fewer than 10)
outlets. They are not affiliated to any other
business. These are mainly related to family
businesses or partnerships (Euromonitor, Travel
and Tourism - Singapore, 2011).
Boutique Hotel
The Quincy Hotel is a boutique hotel owned by
Far East Hospitality. For the past 59 years, the
latter has a reputation for building innovative and
functional spaces, and providing high quality
experiences and value for its customers.
Far East Organization owns and operates the
largest corporate leasing and hospitality portfolio
in Singapore, including six hotels and 11 serviced
residences with over 1200 apartments. The
Organization has a network of regional offices
with presence in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Jakarta,
and Seoul.
Unique Selling Proposition
The Quincy hotel runs on a model where it has an
all-in-one pricing system. This means that for one
price, hotel guests enjoy complementary benefits
such as a one-way limousine transfer service
from the airport, three meals a day, evening
cocktails, Wi-Fi and free access to a well-stocked
mini-bar. On top of the 400-threadcount sheets,
feather-topped beds, 42-inch TV and Molton
Brown toiletries that are standard in every room.
Guest Composition
The Quincy Hotel prides itself for locating in the
charming enclave of the prime Orchard district in
Singapore. The Quincy Hotel provides urbane
business and leisure travelers the utmost privacy
and exclusivity. Leisure travelers usually opt for a
stay-cation at Quincy Hotel.
BUSINESS MODEL: SWISSÔTEL THE
STAMFORD
Hotel Chain Definition
Hotel chain refers to hotel operators that run a
number of outlets, usually with a degree of
specialisation in service or product positioning. The
number of branches required to be termed a chain
varies from country to country but is usually 10 or
more. The chain usually trades with the same
fascia, format and identity. If a hotel forms part of a
regional or international chain network and has less
than ten outlets in a particular country, it is still
counted as a chain (Euromonitor, Travel and
Tourism - Singapore, 2011).
Branded Chain Hotel
Owned by the Fairmont Raffles Hotels
International, Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts manages
the Swissôtel The Stamford. The organization is a
distinctive group of deluxe hotels for today's
discerning modern business and leisure travelers,
combining the renowned Swiss touch with a fresh,
modern and contemporary design. 30 years into
the accommodation industry, the Swissôtel brand
has blossomed into a distinguished and
internationally renowned hotel chain with deluxe
hotels in 17 countries across 5 continents.
5
4
6. The company works on a business model through which
the investment is made by a local partner, whereas
Swissotel provides its brand, expertise and experience.
Each Swissôtel offers personalised service with charm
and efficiency. Located in main gateway destinations
and city centres, Swissôtel hotels have convenient
access to business and shopping districts, and local
attractions. In addition, Swissôtel The Stamford prides
itself in providing the finest Swiss genuine hospitality
with excellent quality which is intuitively reliable.
Guest Composition
Swissôtel The Stamford hotel guest composition
comprises of 3 segments:
(1) Corporate business travelers who seek the
convenience which the hotel offers in terms of location.
(2) Tourists with mid to high disposable income and are
looking for an exceptional standard of accommodation.
(3) Seasonal guests who stay in the hotel during certain
period of the year, usually for special events such as F1
Grand Prix and National Day.
Unique Selling Proposition
As compared to The Quincy Hotel, the amenities as well
Modern and Contemporary
Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts is a distinctive group of as promotions which Swissôtel The Stamford offers is
deluxe hotels for today's discerning modern business more family centric.
and leisure travellers, combining the renowned Swiss
touch with a fresh, modern and contemporary design.
Strategic location
THE SERVICE PRODUCT
The Flower of Service
KEY DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN BOTH HOTELS
The core product is based on the core set of benefits
and solutions delivered to customers by the service
provider. At Quincy and Swissôtel The Stamford, both
hotels aim to provide guests with a pampering 4-5 star
experience, safe and comfortable accommodation
throughout their stay.
Strategically located in the heart of Singapore’s
shopping, business and entertainment districts and with
the City Hall MRT train station and other major
transportation nodes at its doorstep, this five-star
deluxe hotel is the gateway to explore Singapore’s
landscape at hotel guests’ convenience.
Surrounding the core product is a variety of servicerelated activities that augments the core product by
enhancing its value and appeal. According to the Flower
of Service concept, supplementary services can be
categorized into 8 groups, each represented as a petal
surrounding the core. For the purpose of our report, we
will emphasize only three petals with distinct
Paranomic view of Singapore City Skyline
The unique cylindrical structure is not only an iconic differences, mainly (1) Hospitality, (2) Order taking,
building in Singapore’s city landscape, it offers a and (3) Exceptions. Through our research, the other
splendid panoramic views over the Singapore harbor, petals are typically less differentiated across the 4-5 star
Indonesia and parts of Malaysia.
hotel industry landscape.
6
5
7. Lastly, all items in the in-room mini-bar are
complimentary and replenished daily. That is to say,
everything in the room can be eaten and drank
without additional charge, compared to mainstream
hotels where such services are usually chargeable
upon checkout.
Swissôtel
1) Hospitality
Food and Beverages
Quincy
Food and Beverages in Quincy is available in-house,
and inclusive in the room rates that each guest pays.
As seen on the left, breakfast is served in buffet
style. Though complimentary, the hotel remains
generous with the variety made available, and its
standards comparable to international breakfast
from bigger chain hotels. Lunch and dinner serviced
are Western and Italian fanfare, where guests can
freely choose from the menu listings.
With 11 exquisite restaurants and 5 bars, hotel
guests of Swissôtel can pamper themselves with
world-class epicurean and lifestyle offerings.
From authentic Singaporean fare at KopiTiam, Swiss
delights at Café Swiss, innovative crêpes at Out of
The Pan to the cosy Lobby Court or Introbar, the
indulgences are endless.
Amenities
Quincy
Amenities offered at Quincy include complimentary
high-speed Internet access available throughout the
hotel, via Wi-Fi and LAN, supporting the multiple
devices that potential guests would be using. There
are also two sets of iMac computer systems sleekly
positioned at the front lobby for customers’ to freely
explore and surf at their own convenience.
On level 12, the dedicated recreational level, guests
can find hotel amenities such as an infinity swimming
pool with a magnificent view of Orchard road, a
gymnasium, steam room, and sauna room – all fully
furnished and equipped. Besides, thoughtful selfservice facilities are conveniently located around the
Apart from regular 3 mains, guests are also entitled
level to provide guests with drinks, snacks, and fresh
for complimentary wine, beer and cocktails during
towels after their recreational swim or fitness7
work
the happy hour, by the relaxing pool deck, from 6 to
out.
8pm daily.
6
8. In addition, guests also enjoy 2 complimentary pieces Unlike other 4 or 5 stars hotels in Singapore, Quincy’s
of laundry services per day, per room.
in-house entertainment for guests is one of a kind.
Quincy offers Qool activities for all its guests to keep
Swissôtel
them entertained during their stay. Activities include a
Yoga session at 8am every Saturday morning,
The recreational facilities at Swissotel The Stamford
conducted at its alfresco area surrounded by lush
encompass a Willow Stream Spa, 2 outdoor swimming
greenery, and baking sessions on Saturday afternoons
pools, 6 tennis courts and a well-equipped fitness
where guests are taught to bake their own cupcakes
club.
by experienced trainers.
It also has a full-fledged Business Centre, a 6,503
square metres Raffles City Convention Centre, where
Swissôtel formed strategic ties with Raffles City
convention to offer business facilities such as
ballrooms and business centres conference halls.
Apart from the facilities, Swissôtel provides services
such as broadband internet, rental of mobile phones or
hosting international conferences upon request. These
services help to facilitate the hotel to meet the needs
of their hotel guests. There are also experienced
Conventions Specialists to support the needs of
business hotel guests.
However, one interesting thing to note about Swissôtel
is that although the hotel positioned itself as a
business hotel, WI-FI was actually not made
complimentary for guests. In fact, high speed internet More recently, Quincy hotel added a daily ‘Movie
is only available in the lobby, and in-room usage are Night’ activity on their list of Qool activities, which
involves inviting guests to show up at the pool deck
actually chargeable.
for a public screening of a movie. There, guests can
enjoy free flow of drinks and popcorns prepared by
Entertainment
their service staff.
Quincy
All guests are notified and invited to these Qool
Activities via a personalized in-room memo, with clear
details of program highlights and timings.
8
7
9. Transport
Quincy
Unique to Quincy Hotel is its complimentary
one-way airport shuttle service provided by the
hotel’s in-house limousine function. Quincy
hotel has a fleet of Mercedes E class limousines
that ferry international guests from the airport to
the hotel, as long as guests provide their flight
information upon their online booking. This
concept is currently exclusive to Quincy hotel,
as other 4-5 star chain hotels and competing
boutique hotels, do not currently offer such a
service.
While this service is complimentary, Quincy
remains committed to delivering exceptional
value and quality to all its guests. As noted from
guests’ feedback on Tripadvisor, service
chauffeurs often go beyond their core duty of
ferrying tourists, but typically spends the ride
introducing Singapore to incoming tourists.
Once, a guest even commented that the hotel
insisted to reimburse her taxi fare after missing
the pre-arranged complimentary limo service
due to an unforeseen flight delay.
2) Order Taking
Reservation
Quincy & Swissôtel
Like most hotels, reservation for both Quincy
and Swissôtel The Stamford hotels are made via
online channels, as well as their corporate
websites. These channels sometimes include
early bird specials, special promotions, and
monthly specials of up to 15%.
Interestingly, Swissôtel The Stamford also takes
in reservation through third party agencies, and
direct corporate bookings via their corporate
membership and partnership with the hotel
chain. Similar to Quincy, Swissôtel offers special
promotions via third party websites like hotel
club, booking.com and agoda.com.
3) Exceptions
3)
Special Requests
Quincy
Located a stone throw away from Mount
Elizabeth Hospital and Paragon Medical Centre,
Quincy hotel have been attracting medical
tourists and their family who visits the nearby
Clearly, Quincy Hotel takes no chances in hospitals for treatments, or even staying to
compromising any aspect of its service quality; recuperate after an out-patient surgery.
even to the smallest details.
9
8
10. At Quincy, a ‘Pink of Health’ package is
specially designed for medical tourists to benefit
from added convenience, greater value and
extra care. Medical guests are given priority
check-in upon arrival, and bookings made 24
hours before arrival is also guaranteed.
Understanding that the recuperation period
required for every medical patient is not
absolute, Quincy Hotel ensures all its medical
guests are guaranteed an extension of stay
regardless of their initial booking. This
demonstrates Quincy’s flexibility in awarding
buffer time for their medical guests to stay on
for full recuperation should they need to extend
their departure date.
customer-centric efforts show that Quincy views
each service failure as a means to delight the
customer again, thereby expounding the
company’s desire to deliver great service
through a strong spirit of excellence. Evidently,
Quincy’s effort to utilize public domains to forge
strong relationships with its customers is
commendable.
In additional, extra care and assist-on-call
service is also provided round the clock for
guests with medical needs. Kitchen chefs can
also accommodate special dietary requests and
health needs as long as the medical guest
inform the hotel prior to his/her arrival.
Handling Special communications
Quincy
A quick search on traveler’s portal such as
Tripadvisors and Agoda.com would reveal that
Quincy Hotel values every feedback given to Correspondence on compliments
them – both compliments and complaints.
Swissôtel
Similar to Quincy, Swissôtel The Stamford takes
pride in handling with user-generated content on
its brands. Be it a compliments or complaints,
the front office of Swissôtel will try to customize
their replies to each comment.
The Front office manager typically attends to
guests’ feedbacks promptly, requiring only
about 3 to 5 days on average. Responses given
to guests are also highly personalized, with no
chance of two guests receiving the same reply
from the management.
When dealing with complaints, Quincy exhibits a
sincere disposition. Deliberate efforts are
administered to value each customer’s
experience, and to restore any service failure
relationships. For instance, the screenshot
below displays great effort taken by the
Manager at Quincy Hotel to go beyond replying
responses on the Tripadvisor portal alone, but
going the extra mile to drop a personal note to
the
dissatisfied customer with the optimism to
understand other service failures. Such
The largest difference between Swissôtel and
Quincy in handling special communication
channels would be the speed at which guests’
reviews are responded. On average, Swissôtel
takes around 2 weeks to respond to a guest’s
comment. However, the time lapse can range up
till 1.5 months (Refer to screenshot below).
Unlike Quincy, it is apparent that Swissôtel does
not provide a follow up or explanations for
dissatisfied customers with regards to service
failures. With no concrete service recovery set in
place when handling service recovery, it is highly
unlikely that Swissôtel will is able to maintain
customers who have undergone unpleasant
service experience. Swissôtel needs to improve
on its service recovery process in order to
maintain customer loyalty in this highly
competitive luxury hotel arena.
10
9
11. Swissôtel
Correspondence for complaint
KEY DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN BOTH HOTELS
1) Place
Quincy
As Quincy is located in the charming enclave at the
back of Mount Elizabeth hotel, it is at the perfect
location for guests seeking tranquility and yet
convenience to the shopping district as Orchard
shopping belt is just five minutes away. Also, with
Mount Elizabeth Hospital and the Paragon Medical
Centre being just a stone throw away from Quincy, its
location is also a great draw for the medical tourists
and their family members, as illustrated by the
Tripadvisor review below.
Located at the heart of Singapore, it is at the
crossroad of Singapore’s business, shopping and
cultural districts. Swissôtel is the perfect location for
guests seeking utmost convenience to business and
shopping district. Also, Swissôtel is located directly
above the Cityhall MRT Station, it provides the
utmost convenience to guests who need to
commute to the various parts of Singapore via the
train service.
2) Promotions
Quincy
As Quincy has a lower occupancy rate during the
weekends, they have a “Qool Weekend” promotion,
which gives a 10% discount to guests who checks in
on either Friday or Saturday. This promotion targets
mainly the locals who are seeking for a stay-cation
over the weekend.
Due to the close proximity to Mount Elizabeth Hotel,
Quincy offers a “Pink of Health” promotion package
for the medical tourists who seeks added
convenience, greater value and extra care. Medical
guests of Mount Elizabeth Hospital gets to enjoy a
15% discount for their stay at Quincy.
In order to better manage demand and supply,
Quincy offers a “Supersavers” promotion package,
which gives 15% discounts for booking made at
least 14 days prior to their stay.
11
10
12. Swissôtel
In order to boost weekend occupancy rate, Swissotel
offers promotion packages for local couples such as
“Gourmet Getaway” and “Endless Weekends”, but
without giving any price discounts. The “Gourmet
Getaway” promotion targets the local couples who
seek to escape from their busy schedule to indulge in
culinary experience at the 16 restaurants and bars
that Swissôtel has to offer. The “Endless Weekends”
promotion targets the locals that are yearning for a
quick and affordable getaway, which offers late
breakfast and an extended check-out until 2pm.
seek to have a bird’s eye view of the race from the
comfort of their circuit-facing guestroom.
Swissôtel also offers a “Business Deal” that aims to
target the businessmen, who wants to work in the
privacy and comfort of their hotel rooms. The
“Business Deal” offers accommodation in Swiss
E x e c u t i v e ro o m s , w h i c h i s e q u i p p e d w i t h
complimentary high speed wireless internet access,
and access to the private Swiss Executive Club
Lounge where breakfast, afternoon tea and evening
cocktails are served and complimentary laundry and
dry cleaning services.
In addition to only offering packages to couples,
Swissôtel offers the “Kids Room Special” that offers
overnight accommodation in two connecting
guestrooms. This targets parents who seek to spend
quality time with their kids and have loads of fun and
enjoyment in the specially designed Kids room,
which is equipped with child friendly amenities and
filled with adorably themed beddings, cuddly toys
and educational books that provides endless
entertainment.
Swissôtel also offers an “Advance Saver” package,
which offers a 10% discount for guests who
confirmed their reservation 21 days in advance.
As Swissôtel is strategically located beside the heart
of where the action blazes, the Turn 9 of the
Singapore Night Race circuit, it offers a “Singapore
Night Race Deal” promotion package for guests who
Swissôtel offers two different types of Loyalty
Programmes, “ResPlus” to reward reservation
makers from corporations and “Swissôtel Circle” to
reward individual travellers. The “ResPlus” is an
exclusive frequent booking programme designed to
reward reservation markers from corporations by
giving ResPlus points for every qualifying stay that
they book for their company’s travelers. The
“Swissôtel Circle” on the other hand, is a multi-tier
loyalty programme that rewards individual travelers,
with three categories of membership for Swissôtel
Circle – Inizia, Elevà and Zenit. By just staying for five
nights, guests can already qualify for the Swissôtel
Circle Inizia status for life, in which guests can get to
enjoy benefits such as personalized room
preferences, priority waitlist and check-in counter,
member only promotions etc. If guests stay with
Swissôtel for 20 nights within a 12-month, they will
automatically reach the Elevà tier, in which guests
12
11
13. can get to enjoy benefits such as complimentary
internet, local calls, 48-hour guaranteed room
availability, complimentary daily breakfast and club
lounge access etc. To reach the highest Zenit tier,
guests will have to spend 60 nights in two or more
Swissôtel & Resorts within one year, in which
guests can get to enjoy benefits such as free
upgrades, VIP member service, invitations to
Swissôtel Circle events etc.
Quincy Front Desk Reception
The front desk personnel were dressed in suits, and
very well groomed. From our observations, they
were friendly and enthusiastic when it comes to
greeting and welcoming the customers. The
reception area was relatively well-staffed with an
average of 3 employees at any point in time. The
check-in process was hassle-free, lasting typically
3 to 5 minutes. Tripadvisor reviews reaffirm this
finding.
3) People
Quincy
The employees of Quincy receive basic training in
terms of rendering customer service to its
customers. On top of that, they are trained to
handle special requests, which includes the 24/7
‘Assist-on-call’ service provided to the medical
tourists.
Mr Franck Hardy, Hotel Manager of Quincy, said,
“We want to surprise [every customer] upon checkin until [he/she] checks out.” This illustrates the
hotel service philosophy of striving to exceed
customer expectations and ensuring a pleasurable
service encounter for all customers.
Please refer to Annex B for the in-depth
documentation of our site visit to Quincy.
Swissôtel
Swissôtel has developed a structured training Swissôtel Front Desk Reception
programme that helps employees understand and
live its service philosophy from their first day with
Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts. Swissôtel Trajectories
is the Swissôtel talent management programme. It
is specially designed to provide a framework that
facilitates the training and development of all
employees, commencing right after their first year
with the Company. Swissôtel has also consistently
forged partnerships with top training centres and
international companies to work on creating
exciting training modules for its employees.
The front desk employees were immaculately
dressed and even had a differentiated dress code
according to their functions. For instance, the door
greeters donned eye-catching oriental cheongsums
while the rest of the service crew were clad in suits.
The front desk personnel were professional and
polite when they addressed the customer requests
at the reception counter. The reception area was
well-staffed with 4 employees present at any point
in time, and the check-in process was short too,
ranging from 2 to 4 minutes. A Tripadvisor review
reinforces the accuracy of our observation.
Additionally, Swissôtel recognises outstanding
employee performance by having the Ovation
Rewards corporate incentive scheme. Under this
programme, employees with exemplary
performance are allowed to redeem free hotel stays
at any hotel under the Swissôtel, Fairmont and
Raffles brand. The scheme has no expiration date
or black out period, and employees have the
flexibility of selecting the destination they wish to
travel to free-of-charge. This goes to show that the Please refer to Annex A for the in-depth
hotel is serious about acknowledging employees’ documentation of our site visit to Swissôtel.
performance knowing that Travel is a powerful
incentive and the one gift which people can carry
with them for a lifetime.
13
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14. 4) Physical Environment
Exterior Environment
RECOMMENDATIONS
Quincy
Having analysed the strengths of boutique
hotels, our group sees the potential for these
hotels to capture a substantial portion of the
business travellers market. Moreover, we have
also seen an influx of boutique hotels in the
recent years. There is a low switching costs for
consumers in this industry. Information
reporting that rising trends of business travellers
who have switched to boutique hotels are
Swissôtel
worrying chain hotels such as Swissôtel The
Swissôtel was designed by renowned architect Stamford.
Leoh Ming Pei who enjoys the reputation of Swissôtel The Stamford needs to cater its
‘Father of modern architecture’. With 73 storeys services to business travellers, their most
in total, Swissôtel claims the spot of being the profitable segment. This way, they can leverage
world’s sixth tallest hotel. Its impressive height on their brand positioning and remain on par or
is befitting of its status as the overall winner of surpass their competitors. As mentioned, their
the Luxury Business Hotel award at the annual competitors do not only include rival hotels in
World Luxury Awards 2011, in recognition of her the vicinity. Boutique hotels are possible threats
worldclass business facilities and unsurpassed too.
service standards.
Upgrade of amenities
Swissôtel boosts of a long legacy and history, Business travelers have higher expectations for
having been first built in 1986, and has last hotels due to the improvements in hotel
been renovated in 2006.
amenities offered by boutique hotels. The
benchmark for service has been raised and
Interior Environment
Swissôtel The Stamford needs to meet them.
Quincy has a young at heart exterior design
whose distinctive facade enabled it to depart
from its norm. A bold color palette of anodized
steel and shimmering module windows set it
apart from its well-designed neighbours in the
vicinity. In total, it cost $24 million to develop
and furnish Quincy.
Quincy
Quincy has a modern and chic interior design,
with Apple iMac computers displayed at the
reception area to give it a cool and modern
touch. Warm and comfortable lighting pervades
the waiting and reception areas, making
customers feel at ease and welcome. Inviting
music is played to further soothe the emotions
of customers and fragrances permeate the air
to make customers feel refreshed and
invigorated as they spend their time at the
waiting or reception areas.
Swissôtel
Swissôtel possesses a timeless, classic and
slightly oriental interior design, utilizing a
tasteful color scheme of earthy tones such as
brown and red. The display panel at the
reception counter strives to inculcate a sense of
the unique Singapore touch, hinting at the fact
that the hotel is trying to tailor its service
standards and offerings to the local context.
The lobby and waiting area are spacious, and
the hotel interior is brightly lit, providing a
comfortable ambience to the hotel guests.
Swissôtel The Stamford has a long and rich
history. Unfortunately, its rooms and facilities
need to keep up with the times in order to live
up to the expectations of modern business
travellers. At present, Swissôtel The Stamford
has rooms with run-down amenities. Free Wi-Fi
services are also not available to all hotel
guests.
Renovating hotel rooms and upgrading its
facilities might not be the most feasible ideas
due to constraints. We recommend that the
hotel improves its service offerings to match up
with its competitors. In today’s modern fastpaced world, where the internet is easily
accessed through the many gadgets people
carry around, it has become essential for
businessmen to stay connected and updated.
Hence, Swissôtel can begin by first providing
free Wi-Fi services to all hotel guests,
regardless of the type of room they stay.
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15. Improve traffic flow in lobby
First impressions are very important. For
guests, their first encounter with the hotel will
take place in the hotel lobby. Currently, there are
ambiguous service function indicators present.
There are several different counters (normal
check-in counters, check-in counters for cabin
crews, Swisscircle and hotel services counter),
each catering to a different group of guests. The
array of counters leaves guests confused.
Swissôtel has positioned roaming staff to direct
guests to the correct counters. On the whole,
this has compromised the ambience of the
lobby, leaving it looking disorderly. On a side
note, research has shown that a disorderly
environment ncreases peoples’ stress levels.
We recommend that Swissôtel adopts the use
of clear signage in the hotel lobby. This way, the
lobby will look less cluttered and it will result in
a more relaxing environment for guests.
Furthermore, this frees up staff who can then be
stationed in other parts of the hotel to serve
guests in other ways.
CONCLUSION
Both Quincy and Swissôtel have come up with
sustainable and viable long-term service
offerings to cater to their various target
segments, and is well-positioned to thrive in the
fiercely competitive 4 to 5 star hotel industry in
Singapore. We generated a total of 5 client
profiles to simulate the service processes which
would be experienced by each distinct group of
target consumers. These client profiles are
attached in the next section of this report.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Finally, there is low brand resonance for
Swissôtel as customers do not feel involved in
the brand. Swissôtel also underutilizes social
network platforms to connect with their guests.
Customers are going onto social media
platforms such as Facebook and forums to
share their experiences. However, it is observed
that Swissôtel does not attempt to engage their
customers and address to their complaints and
complements. To add on, Swissôtel’s Facebook
page is relatively unknown as they do not
openly publish its existence on any of their
advertising platforms.
Swissôtel can improve their customer
relationship management by proactively seeking
and engaging their customers. They can do so
by consistently addressing customers concerns
on platforms such as forums, Facebook and
Tripadvisor. This enables them to builds up trust
with their customers. Customers who feel
valued tend to be more forgiving towards
service failures and in turn spread positive
word-of-mouth if there is an excellent service
recovery.
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16. CLIENT PROFILES
#1 Business Traveller for
Quincy
Pre-Purchase Stage
“Thank you for the opportunity Mr
Morgan. I’ll see you in Singapore 2
weeks from now.” Mr Big had just
ended the call with Mr Morgan, a
chief sales manager for a retail
store situated in Singapore. Placing
his iPhone 4S on the table, he
looked out of the window and
smiled.
At the age of 31, Mr Big is an
enterprising entrepreneur living in
New York City. He has plans to
expand his current business in
Singapore. Fortunately for him, he
had just secured a deal with a
leading retail store in the heart of
Singapore’s shopping district
(Orchard Road). He will be meeting
a few clients in Singapore in order
to discuss the details of bringing
his product into the Singapore
market. He knew that finalising the
details will take a total of four days.
Thus, he needed to make plans for
his business trip.
that he spends less time travelling spend precious time seeking for
in an unfamiliar country.
places to have his meals.
Information Search
With his preferences in mind, he
opened his MacBook Air to
conduct a generic internet search
using a reliable and well-known
website (www.tripadvisor.com). On
the webpage, he clicked the tab
labelled “Trendy” as one of the
criterion for his information search.
In view of the location/convenience
of hotels from his search results, he
now had three hotels in his
consideration set. The three hotels
with their respective ratings shown
from the search were:
1) Quincy Hotel (4.5/5 stars)
2) New Majestic Hotel (4/5 stars)
3) Naumi Hotel (4.5/5 stars)
Evaluation of Alternatives
High speed internet was essential
for Mr Big to check his email and
work on his business proposal
slides. With internet access, he
could easily keep in contact with
his fiancée via Skype.
Lastly, great value was a huge plus
point since he was funding his own
business trip.
Perceived Risks
Mr Big also had a few concerns. He
was aware that despite the ratings
and information advertised, certain
aspects of service were harder to
assess until he experienced it for
himself.
•
Functional- Unsatisfactory
performance outcomes (e.g.
“Will the hotel service staff be
as hospitable as expected?”)
Mr Big was price conscious • F i n a n c i a l - M o n e t a r y l o s s ,
because he was funding his own
unexpected extra costs (e.g.
business trip; hence, he set a
“Will there be hidden charges
maximum budget of $400/night for
incurred during my stay?”)
accommodation. With this criterion
in mind, he eliminated Naumi Hotel • Temporal- Wasted time, delays
Need Awareness
and focused on Quincy and New
leading to problems (e.g. “Will
Mr Big decided to start with the Majestic hotel as they were both
the limousine transport from
problem of accommodation. Where within his stipulated budget.
airport to hotel be prompt? I
should he stay? He knew that he S e a rc h a t t r i b u t e s t h a t w e re
have a lot of meetings
definitely needed to work in a important to Mr Big included hotel
scheduled for the first day.”)
c o n d u c i v e e n v i ro n m e n t w i t h location, reliable amenities to aid
Internet access. The place of him in his work, convenient access • Sensory- Unwanted impact on
accommodation must be able to to food and meeting locations and
any of five senses (e.g. “Will the
provide him with a good night of value for money.
room be entirely soundproof
rest to recharge after a hard day’s
and conducive as a work
w o r k . H e r e c a l l e d h i s p a s t Mr Big needed to meet his clients
environment?”)
experiences with 5-star hotels. in the central part of Singapore.
Even though he had pleasant Being unfamiliar to Singapore, he
Service Expectations
experiences there, he craved for preferred his hotel to be located
greater intimacy and comfort. On close to his meeting places in order After reading the highly positive
one hand, Mr Big was aware of his to minimise the time wasted on r e v i e w s o n t r i p a d v i s o r s ,
desire to travel in style. However, travelling. Moreover, Mr Big knew
advertisements (see Exhibit 1 and
being an entrepreneur, he was also that being located in a central area
price/value conscious. As such, he gave him greater access to more Exhibit 2) and hotel’s awards and
decided to minimise his stay in transport networks, for him to get credentials, Mr Big developed a
Singapore. Furthermore, this was to his meetings on time. He also positive pre-purchase expectation
h i s fi r s t t i m e t r a v e l l i n g t o hoped to have convenient access and zone of tolerance of what to
Singapore. Mr Big decided that it to food places, so that he had more encounter upon arrival and during
was necessary for the hotel to be time to work on his business his stay at the hotel.
situated in a convenient location so proposals instead of having to
16
15
17. assured that he would receive three
meals a day, free access to a wellstocked mini-bar, usage of all
amenities within the hotel and even
complementary alcoholic cocktails
in the evenings. This provided him
Exhibit 1
with a peace of mind knowing that
he had his meals and
accommodation covered at a
stated price. It also saved him
precious time of travelling out in
search for eating places. In
comparison, New Majestic Hotel
does not offer such a package.
They merely provide complimentary
breakfast. Bearing all this in mind,
Exhibit 2
Mr Big realised that although the
room rates for Quincy are much
Purchase Decision
higher than New Majestic Hotel, the
Mr Big decided on Quincy after an all-inclusive pricing package by
evaluation of the key attributes that Quincy gave him greater value.
Furthermore, Quincy’s strategic
were important to him.
location in central Orchard enabled
Firstly, Quincy is located in the him to save on transport costs.
charming enclave of Mount
Elizabeth and of a convenient 15 Upon making his decision, Mr Big
minutes walking distance to proceeded to Quincy Hotel’s
Orchard Road, where he will be w e b s i t e t o m a k e h i s r o o m
meeting his clients. Moreover, it is reservations. He was feeling
easily accessible as compared to confident of his choice, as Quincy
New Majestic Hotel, which is appeared at the top of the list on
located near Chinatown. A bonus tripadvisor with the highest rating of
point was given to Quincy for 4.5/5 stars and had a display of
p r o v i d i n g a c o m p l e m e n t a r y positive reviews (Exhibit 3). In
limousine service, fetching guests addition, Quincy Hotel is the winner
directly from the airport to the of the Travellers’ Choice Award
2012 by tripadvisor.
hotel.
Both hotels in his consideration set
offered complementary and highspeed Wi-Fi services within the
hotel premises. Mr Big noted that
Quincy offered an additional
supplementary service to
differentiate itself; complementary
high-speed Wi-Fi service during its
limousine airport transfer. Mr Big
who was running on a tight
schedule, found this notably useful.
He will be able to carry out web
searches for the latest information
if he needed to make any last
minute adjustments to his
presentations.
Quincy offers an all-inclusive
pricing system which matched Mr
Big’s need for convenience. By
paying a fixed price, he was
Exhibit 3
Service Encounter Stage
name and the Quincy logo. He was
greeted politely and led to a shiny
black Mercedes minibus. On the
way to the hotel, Mr Big used the
free Wi-Fi service to check his
email for any updates with regards
to his client meetings.
After a 25 minute journey, Mr Big
arrived at Quincy Hotel at 2.15pm.
His luggage was carried to the
check-in counter by the chauffeur.
The check-in process was prompt
as Mr Big only needed to produce
his passport for verification of his
room booking. Upon confirmation,
a bellboy took his luggage and
politely led Mr Big towards the lift.
On his way towards the lift, Mr Big
was greeted warmly by every single
hotel staff he encountered. This
greatly lifted his spirits after the
exhausting long-haul flight.
Mr Big was warmly ushered into his
room on the sixth floor. He was
pleasantly surprised as a room
beautifully decorated with chic
furniture greeted him. The wise use
of mirrors and see- through glass
made the room feel very spacious.
He spotted many power sockets
near the LCD TV which will be
useful for charging his laptop and
his other electronic gadgets. In
addition, there was also an iPod
dock! Upon exploring further, he
found that the closet had bath
robes, bathroom slippers, an iron,
shoe polish and a safe. As
promised, there was also a fullystocked mini-bar. Mr Big also noted
that the bathroom had a modern
design and the taps had good
water pressure.
Mr Big had a pleasant stay at
Quincy Hotel. He managed to work
efficient in a peaceful and
conducive environment where he
was not disturbed. He particularly
enjoyed lounging in the café where
there was free supply of coffee and
tea, as he typed out his reports.
Upon touchdown, Mr Big headed There were two particular events
seamlessly through Singapore which greatly impressed him and
customs and reached the arrival made his stay memorable.
area of Changi Airport. Mr Big
s p o t t e d a w e l l - d re s s e d m a n
1) M r B i g e n c o u n t e r e d
holding a signboard bearing his
problems trying to connect
Four days
departure to
received an
Hotel asking
flight number
Singapore.
b e f o r e M r B i g ’s
Singapore, Mr Big
email from Quincy
him to confirm his
and arrival date in
17
16
18. to the internet during his first try.
He called the front-desk and help
was sent within 5 minutes. The
person accurately identified that
the problem was due to Mr Big’s
laptop configurations. The problem
was solved within 5 minutes and
Mr Big was able to proceed with
his work. Quincy Hotel’s prompt
and professional response to the
problem Mr Big encountered
delighted him.
On day 3 of his stay, Mr Big was
heading out for his meeting when it
suddenly started raining heavily. A
staff noticed the situation and
immediately reached behind the
counter and offered Mr Big the
hotel’s umbrella. Mr Big was
extremely thankful as he was able
to be punctual for his meeting. He
was also impressed that the staff
from Quincy was quick to respond
to unforeseen circumstances.
Post Encounter Stage
Four days went by quickly and it
was time for Mr Big to head back
to New York. He packed his
luggage and proceeded to the front
desk. After checking his bill, Mr Big
presented his credit card for
payment. Throughout the process
of checking out, the staff at the
front desk maintained friendly
conversation and also enquired
whether Mr Big enjoyed his stay.
After that, a bell boy wheeled out
Mr Big’s luggage and hailed a taxi
for him.
#2 Business Traveller for
Swissôtel
Pre-Purchase Stage
Need Awareness
Mr. Morgan was scheduled to visit
the Singapore office for a weeks’
long of regular Quarterly discussion
to strategize the regional packaging
and chemicals procurement
activities for the upcoming financial
year. As the regional head of
procurement in the ASEAN region,
his leadership and involvement was
critical to ensure that project Search attributes that are critical to
savings and value are optimized.
a business traveller like Mr. Morgan
includes a Prime and convenient
This overseas assignment meant location, Professional amenities
that Mr. Morgan had to be away and supplementary services, and of
from home and his family for a course, Exclusivity.
week. With this impending trip, Mr.
Morgan informed his secretary to Travelling for work, Mr. Morgan
make all travel arrangements needs to report to his local office at
necessary including his stay at One Raffles Link every morning.
Swissôtel The Stamford, where the Hence, the location of his hotel had
company enjoy a corporate tie-up to be accessible and close in
u n d e r t h e S w i s s ô t e l C i r c l e proximity to the business district to
Membership club.
reduce unnecessary travelling time.
Besides, the hotel had to be close
to a City centre with the convenient
Information Search
reach of a variety of retail and food
Evidently, Swissôtel The Stamford outlets to maximize his leisure
had managed to be the preferred activities after a hard day at work.
choice among business executives
like Mr. Morgan, and successfully M r . M o r g a n a l s o e x p e c t s
live up to its accreditation of professional amenities in the hotel
winning the Luxury Business Hotel of choice, as it is fundamental to
award at the Annual World Luxury support after-work hours for any
Awards last year. This prestigious business traveller. In addition,
award is only conferred to the hotel
chain with the most number of Hospitality-related and Safekeeping
votes worldwide, where 1,000 enhancing supplementary service
luxury properties amongst 87 such as hygiene level, comfort level
countries enrolled in the judging of bed, laundry services to take
process. In addition to the World care of his suits for the whole
Travel Awards, Swissôtel The week’s stay, and types of toiletries
Stamford, Singapore, was recently offered must be comprehensive
named as the winner of the TTG
Asia Award for best business hotel. and reliable. Lastly, exclusivity of
room and common area (e.g.
In his travel accommodation Check-in counter, Lounge) was
d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g p r o c e s s , something Mr. Morgan valued as he
Swissôtel The Stamford was one of needed a professional setting to
the hotels in Mr. Morgan’s evoked live and work in which complement
set because it had been the
his market status.
arranged hotel for all his past trips
to Singapore. Clearly, price was not
a determining factor as business
travel expenses had always been Perceived Risk
charged under the corporate S i n c e s e r v i c e s h a v e m o r e
expense. While Mr. Morgan had the e x p e r i e n c e a n d c r e d e n c e
liberty to select an alternative 5 star attributes, they are harder to
hotel of his choice within the scope evaluate before purchase, even for
of his company travel policies, he
saw no need to go through the a returning customer. While Mr.
entire decision making process. He M o r g a n h a d e x p e r i e n c e d a
was greatly delighted by the past pleasant stay at Swissôtel The
service experiences on his previous Stamford previously, there may still
visits, and the pleasant stays and be some perceived risks lingering
encounter with the service staff at the back of his mind as he
made it all worthwhile to return.
makes this purchase decision. This
may take the form of a Functional,
(Re)Evaluation of Alternative
18
17
19. Temporal, Social or Sensory minutes taxi ride. Locating right
perceived risks with the following above Raffles City shopping
questions complex brings superb
convenience for the business man
to reach different retail or food
● Functional – “Is the laundry outlets from a variety of cuisines,
services provided reliable; will they and even a supermarket for
stain my expensive suit?”
necessities.
● Temporal – “Will the taxi queue at
the hotel lobby in this prime To meet Mr. Morgan’s need for
location be too long that will cause professional amenities after work
me to miss my meeting?”
hours, Swissôtel Circle Club
● Social – “What will my business Members is entitled access to the
colleagues/co-customers in the exclusive Swiss Executive Club
hotel think of me if they learnt I am l o u n g e , w i t h c o n t e m p o r a r y
staying here again?”
furnishing and mood lighting
● Sensory – “Will the hotel bed be perfect for private meetings or to
simply enjoy a cup of coffee.
comfortable?”
Guests could also enjoy
complimentary breakfast as well as
Service Expectations
alcoholic beverages, soft drinks
Building on top of Mr. Morgan’s and finger food during Happy Hour,
pleasing stays in the past, reading which makes it an ideal place to
about the hotel’s accreditation and wind down after work. On top of
praises on magazine features and exclusive access to the lounge, Mr.
assessing the risks involved builds M o rg a n a p p re c i a t e s t h a t a l l
a p o s i t i v e p r e - p u r c h a s e executive club members have the
expectation and establishes a zone benefit of a check-in/out counter at
of tolerance of what he expects to Level 60, a dedicated floor for
experience during his upcoming executive rooms, suites and the
Swiss exclusive lounge. These
stay at the hotel.
preferential treatments allow all
Swiss executive guests to enjoy
Purchase Decision
utmost privacy and be engulfed in
Mr. Morgan seamlessly decided on a professional environment to
Swissôtel after a re-evaluation of complement their social identity
and have a superlative guest
the key search attributes that are
experience.
important to him.
Conveniently located in the heart of
Singapore, Swissôtel The Stamford
is a deluxe hotel that boasts a
prime Singapore location amid the
diversions of the Raffles City
shopping complex and just 20
minutes away from Singapore
Changi International Airport. This
also means that Mr. Morgan’s office
at One Raffles Link can be
effortlessly reached within 15
minutes walk from the hotel from
the Cityhall underpass, or a mere 5
Being away from home for one
week, Mr. Morgan was appeased
that hospitality and safekeeping
supplementary services such as
professional dry-cleaning services
and pressing services are available
in-house for his suits. Besides, the
executive bathrooms were stocked
with Bulgari’s full set range of
toiletries, which was important for
an affluent businessman like him.
Upon making up his mind, Mr.
Morgan did not have to go through
much procedure to get his booking
completed. He just had to inform
his office secretary to book via the
Swissôtel website using a special
corporate tie-up code unique to his
company.
Service Encounter Stage
Upon touching down in Singapore
at 12:30pm, Mr. Morgan hopped
onto a taxi within minutes, and
instructed the taxi driver to head
straight to Swissôtel The Stamford.
As it was a renowned landmark in
Singapore, the driver had no issues
navigating his way to the hotel. Mr.
Morgan arrived at the hotel within
20 minutes and was greeted
promptly at the main entrance by
two male service staff dressed
neatly in black formal suits, and a
bowler hat.
Even with only one suitcase, one of
the doormen gladly helped to
unload Mr. Morgan’s luggage, and
thoroughly ensured that all his
belongings were retrieved from the
taxi upon arrival.
At the hotel lobby, a female guest
service officer donned in an oriental
red and black ‘Cheong-Sam’
uniform attended to Mr. Morgan
and guided him to towards the
Swissôtel Circle Executive check-in
counter. While Mr. Morgan was
entitled to the exclusive check-in
counter on Level 60, his check-in
was processed immediately at the
lobby since it had free capacity.
The team of service staff at the
reception was seen dressed neatly
in grey suits with salmon-colored
tie (gentlemen) or scarf (ladies),
with neatly combed back hair.
Aligned with Mr. Morgan’s service
expectation, the check-in process
w a s h a s s l e - f re e , w h i c h o n l y
required Mr. Morgan to produce his
booking confirmation email for
19
18
20. verification. The smooth
administrative process and
allocation of room by the service
receptionist took an average of 4
minutes, whereby he maintained
respectful eye contact and a smiley
disposition throughout the service
interaction. However, because Mr.
Morgan was slightly ahead of the
check-in time at 2pm, he was
invited to visit the exclusive Swiss
Executive Lounge on Level 60 for
some light refreshments and drinks.
Consequently, a bellboy dressed in
a neatly pressed white shirt and
black vest from the guest service
counter approached Mr. Morgan to
offer a bag handling service, further
explaining that delivery will be
made to his room after he checks
into his room at 2pm.
Without much delay, Mr. Morgan
p ro c e e d e d u p t o t h e S w i s s
Executive Lounge at Level 60
without the burden of his heavy
luggage. There, he was greeted by
a panoramic view of the Singapore
City and was impressed by the
variety of refreshments available in
the quaint setting. This combination
was perfect for a restful moment
after a long flight.
Upon checking into the room
promptly at 2pm, Mr. Morgan was
welcomed to a clean and spacious
executive room, fully furnished with
a 32” television, study desk, coffee
and tea making facilities,
complimentary newspapers and a
w e l l s t o c k e d u p m i n i b a r.
Interestingly, Mr. Morgan was
delighted to spot Bulgari’s set of
toiletries in the bathroom. Since his
previous stay at Swissotel, he had
been attracted to the scent and
effectiveness of this range of
toiletries, but realized it was not
made available for sale anywhere in conveniently located on Level 60,
the commercial market.
dedicated to executive travellers.
The whole process took no more
Being away from home, Mr. Morgan than 5 minutes, requiring guests to
also utilized the laundry services in simply surrender their room keys.
the hotel for his work suits As Mr. Morgan was travelling under
throughout the week, and was c o r p o r a t e e x p e n s e , h e w a s
a w e d b y t h e l e v e l o f responsible to check the details of
professionalism carried out by the the bill, while final payment was to
laundry department. As a business be made directly by his head office.
professional, he owned suits and As per his previous visits, the bill
dress shirts from various designer presented to him reflected a list of
boutiques, with some materials consumed services accurately with
r e q u i r i n g s p e c i a l c a r e . O n e the corresponding rates. After
instance, he sent a dress shirt for validation, Mr. Morgan was given a
washing but the laundry service copy of the final bill; slot neatly in a
coordinator realized cleaning Swissôtel corporate envelop for his
instruction for that piece of reference.
garment required dry-cleaning
treatment instead to preserve its As Mr. Morgan proceeded out from
unique texture and shine. The the hotel, the guest service officer
laundry service coordinator quickly on duty escorted him while the
left a voicemail in Mr. Morgan’s doormen promptly asked for his
voicemail and returned the garment destination, in this case, Changi
to his room accompanied with a Airport, to catch his return flight.
letter of explanation and consent Given the prime and high traffic
for cleaning. The team’s attention location of the hotel, it was not long
to details and delicate care towards before the doormen effortlessly
Mr. Morgan’s priced possession flagged a taxi.
demonstrated a high degree of
professionalism
a n d As per Mr. Morgan’s usual visit, the
personalization, and this left an doormen would help to inform the
indelible impression in his mind.
taxi driver on his destination, and
would initiate to load all baggage
Throughout the whole trip, Mr. into the taxi quickly. The send off
Morgan enjoyed the convenience of was quick, seamless, and very
living in the heart of the city centre pleasant.
that is within reach of both
business and shopping districts. #3 Couple for Quincy
The proximity to his work place and
accessibility to food outlets in Pre-Purchase Stage
Raffles City and four other malls
linked up by City Link reaffirmed his Mr Lovey and Ms Dovey are
expectation, which was shaped by undergraduates in Singapore
Management University. Having
his earlier stays.
endured 4 months of hectic school
life, they wanted a staycation to
Post Encounter Stage
relax and unwind. Coincidentally,
On the morning of his last day of t h e i r 4 t h a n n i v e r s a r y w a s
stay, Mr. Morgan proceeded to the approaching and Mr Lovey had
e x c l u s i v e c h e c k o u t c o u n t e r plans to schedule their anniversary
20
19
21. day 1 night staycation. Hence, with Ms Dovey came across blog
the help of Ms Dovey, Mr Lovey set posting by a popular blogger
out to plan for the special day.
named Holly Jean (http://
www.hollyjean.sg/2011/08/myNeed Awareness
quincy-hotel-staycationexperience.html). The post was
Mr Lovey felt that they needed a
about Holly’s experience at Quincy
change from their usual anniversary
Hotel, with her boyfriend. The hotel
celebration. He wanted Ms Dovey
was portrayed as a perfect place
to have a special and memorable
for couples. Unconvinced, Ms
experience this year. The place has
Dovey decided to seek out
to be without disturbances or
postings from other bloggers, in
distractions from daily life. In other
relation to their experiences of
words, it must allow them to
staying at Quincy Hotel. Ultimately,
distress from their hectic lifestyle.
the pictures and descriptions from
Ms Dovey pointed out that she all the blog postings made Ms
wanted to have the luxury of time Dovey feel that Quincy Hotel was
during their stay. She disliked the indeed an ideal choice.
notion of being rushed. At the same
time, she wanted to engage in fun,
and romantic activities, so that they
would not be bored and thus
maximising time spent together.
She also hoped to take many
pictures during their stay so as to
document their memories. Thus,
insisting on nicely decorated and
classy surroundings. Most
importantly, there should be high
comfort levels in the hotel
surroundings since they plan to
spend their entire stay in the hotel.
Information Search
Over the next few days, the happy
couple continued their information
search, bearing in mind the needs
which they had discussed. They
decided to focus on boutique
hotels as they were perceived to
offer nicer ambiance, tranquillity
and a novel experience. They were
also aware that the co-audience of
such hotels are mainly couples or
individuals. There was a lower
probability of having instances of
nuisance and disturbance created
by the presence of families with
kids running around the hotel’s
premises.
Meanwhile, Mr Lovey decided to
consult his friends. Knowing that
Mr Lovey had preference for
elegance, his friends recommended
two hotels: Studio M and Quincy
Hotel. Mr Lovey’s best friend, who
shares similar lifestyle and
preferences as him, gave positive
feedback with regards to the level
of personalised service Quincy
offered. He added that the staffs
were willing to accommodate to
special requests when it comes to
giving pleasant surprises for special
occasions.
Mr Lovey felt that the positive
word-of-mouth given by his friends
for the two hotels, made them
worthy of an internet search. The
internet search led to him finding
the Facebook pages for both
hotels. He realised that they were
both well updated and boasted
many positive reviews. For Quincy
Hotel, there were even links to
other websites such as
tripadvisor.com.
not wish to compromise their
experience.
Evaluation of Alternatives
The couple did not have to spend
much time evaluating the
alternatives since their search
resulted in only 2 boutique hotels
which had activities catering
towards couples.
Search attributes which were
important to them were convenient
location, modern amenities and
supplementary services which
could facilitate in maximising their
time spent together.
The all-inclusive package offered
by Quincy caught their eye. They
were surprised that such an
offering was being provided by a
hotel. They were thrilled that their
meals and activities were fully
covered by one single price.
M o r e o v e r, t h e r e w a s e v e n
complementary parking for the
duration of their stay. In contrast,
Studio M does not offer an allinclusive package but it was
situated near many restaurants and
bars. Clarke quay was also within
walking distance of Studio M. They
also found that the amenities of
both hotels were comparable. Both
hotels had a nice swimming pool
and a gym. However, Studio M
boasted of rooms which were
designed by renowned Italian
designer Piero Lissoni. To top it off,
the rooms which were of duplex
design were more spacious.
Ms Dovey pointed out that Studio
M included a complementary river
cruise and tickets to the Toy
Museum in their couple package.
Quincy’s Qool Weekend promotion
Mr Lovey also made a mental note
offers free activities like a cupcake
that price was not an issue. He was
baking workshop and late-night
willing to pay a premium as his 4th
movie screenings by the pool.
anniversary was special and he did
21
20
22. Perceived Risks
Being business students, they were
both worried that the information
they found were not as reflective of
the actual experience they might
get.
Temporal- Wasted time,
delays leading to problems
(e.g. “Will the meals take
too long to be served? I
want to maximise private
time spent together instead
of waiting.”)
•
•
Sensory- Unwanted impact
on any of five senses (e.g.
“Will the complimentary
meals be satisfactory?”)
•
Psychological- Personal
fears and emotions (e.g.
“Will the rooms fall short of
the expectation of being
novel?”)
•
Social- How others think
and react (e.g. “What will
my friends think of me if
they know I am staying
here?” How will they react
to the staycation pictures
which I am going to post on
Facebook?)
Service Expectations
compared to what they will pay for surprise. The staff on the line for
Studio M.
Quincy sounded very enthusiastic
and even asked Mr Lovey to send
Purchase Decision
them an email containing the
details of the surprise, once he
It was now time for Mr Lovey and
completed his online reservation.
Ms Dovey to make a decision. They
On the other hand, the staff from
decided to compare both hotels
Studio M sounded hesitant and
based on the attributes important
unsure.
to them.
Eventually, based on the merits that
Quincy hotel displayed and trusting
the positive reviews given by
friends, Quincy Hotel was chosen.
Upon making the decision, Mr
L o v e y u s e d Q u i n c y ’s o n l i n e
booking function to make a
reservation. Following that, Mr
Lovey sent an email to the
reservations department stating his
booking confirmation number as
well as instructions for Ms Dovey’s
surprise. In the same email, Mr
The rooms for Studio M are much Lovey also indicated that they were
bigger but the cosy design of interested to be part of the cupcake
Quincy’s rooms were not too bad baking class.
either. Furthermore, the peace and
Service Encounter Stage
tranquillity as promised by Quincy’s
a d v e r t i s e m e n t w a s e n t i c i n g . The couple’s car pulled up at
Generally, both hotels were on par Quincy hotel. Although they were
for the aspect of amenities. Thus, directly in front of the building, they
other determinant attributes had to had trouble locating the carpark.
be used.
Ms Dovey gave the hotel a call. She
F i r s t l y, Q u i n c y p ro v i d e s t h e
convenience of having everything in
a single venue. This is a huge plus
point for the couple since they had
no plans to travel out of the hotel’s
premises. This frees up time and
effort needed to plan for meals and
activities. They could spend more
private time having each other’s
company too Unfortunately, Studio
M could not match up to Quincy on
this aspect.
Ms Dovey had always wanted to
bake with Mr Lovey. The cupcake
baking lesson was an excellent
opportunity to do that. Besides, Ms
Lovey loved that fact that they did
not have to clean up the mess after
that. Mr Lovey thought that the
movie screening by the pool would
be a unique experience.
Unanimously, they agreed that the
activities at Quincy were better.
Most importantly, they did not need
to leave the hotel’s premises.
Mr Lovey and Ms Dovey both had a
narrow zone of tolerance since this
was a special occasion for them.
They wanted the best for their
annual event. The positive word-ofmouth received for the hotels from
friends and online sources also
played a part in raising their service
expectations. In addition, the
awards and accreditations won by
both hotels were impressive. In
fact, they had higher service Secretly, Mr Lovey called up both
expectations for Quincy as they will hotels to enquire whether they were
pay a premium price (36% more) as willing to accommodate to a
special request to give Ms Dovey a
found out that the Quincy actually
shared their carpark with The
Elizabeth Hotel. Ms Dovey felt that
Quincy should have stated it on
their website to minimise
confusion. The carpark was narrow
and the turns were difficult to
navigate. Signboards were put up
to warn drivers of sharp turns so
that they avoided damaging their
car.
When they arrive at the front desk,
they were warmly greeted by
Ruben, a guest relations officer. He
checked the confirmation email
printout, took a glance at his
computer screen and gave them
22
21
23. their room security key cards. The
system had specified that there
was a special request for the room
to be on a high-floor and away from
the lift lobby. As such the couple
was assigned a room in
accordance to their requests.
females tend to prefer something
sweet, it did not cater her
preferences. Upon seeing Ms
Dovey’s disappointment, the
bartender offered to try his hand at
making a sweet concoction for her.
Although the drink turned out
awful, she thought that it was
Ruben then personally led the heartening to know that the staff
couple to their room. When they tried to remedy the situation.
arrived, Ruben gave them a brief
introduction to the features of the There were a few highlights for the
room and the benefits they could couple during their stay. Mr Lovey
enjoy during their stay. He also e n j o y e d t h e p o o l s i d e m o v i e
h a n d e d t h e m a n e n v e l o p e experience. He was elated that
containing the details which further there was free popcorn and cute
communicated what he had just floats provided for the movie-goers.
mentioned. All of a sudden, the Ms Dovey was delighted with the
doorbell rang. When Ms Dovey baking class. The instructor was
opened the door, there were five patient and helpful. There were also
Quincy staffs who broke into a three eagle-eyed service staffs onbirthday song. There was a lovely site to assist couples who needed
birthday cake with a bottle of red help. As a result, every single
wine on a plush-looking trolley. It p a r t i c i p a n t w e n t h o m e w i t h
was the surprise which Mr Lovey beautifully made cupcakes. Lastly,
had planned. He had decided to the couple also observed that the
have an early celebration of Ms service crew made effort to have
Dovey’s birthday.
short friendly conversations with
So far, the staycation has been
enjoyable for the couple. After their
swim, they spent their afternoon
relaxing at the poolside lounge,
where they enjoyed the city view.
Mr Lovey utilized Quincy’s high
speed internet to play online
games, while Ms Dovey read a
book. They also enjoyed watching
shows on the cable channels
provided on their television. When
the shows were uninteresting, Mr
Lovey simply used the cable
Quincy provided to connect his
laptop to the television. They could
now watch movies from Mr Lovey’s
laptop on a huge television screen.
dinner guests. On the whole, the
efforts put forth by the Quincy staff
were appreciated by the couple
and this made their staycation truly
memorable.
Post Encounter Stage
3pm the following day, the couple
headed down to the front desk to
check out. There was short queue
which cleared within a few minutes.
The bill was presented to Mr Lovey
who presented his credit card for
payment.Together with the receipt
summarizing the bill, a
complementary parking ticket was
issued to Mr Lovey. A bellboy
offered to carry the couple’s items
In the evening, after dinner, they to their car. However, Mr Lovey
headed down to the bar for a drink. politely refused help since they
Unfortunately, Ms Dovey was could manage their own bags.
disappointed that mainly hard
liquor was being served. As
As Mr Lovey drove towards the exit
barriers of the carpark, he noticed a
large sign reminding guests to
remove their cashcard from the
vehicle’s IU and to insert the
complementary ticket into the
machine. The large sign was put up
to prevent instances when guests
accidently paid for parking.
The moment Mr Lovey reached
home, he found that Quincy’s
reservations department had sent
him an email. In the email, they
thanked Mr Lovey for choosing
Quincy and hoped that he had
enjoyed his stay. The email also
encouraged him to post up any
feedback he had on their Facebook
wall.
#4 Medical Tourist for
Quincy
Pre-Purchase Stage
Need Awareness
His main need would be
convenience of service and
location of the hotel after being
discharged from the hospital. Need
for the hotel to be located at near
proximity to Mount Elizabeth, and
for added convenience such as
easy access to food, and of a
tranquil and comfortable
environment for his well-needed
rest after surgery.
Information Search
As Quincy has a tie up with Mount
Elizabeth hotel, Mr Suharto was
actually being recommended by
the hospital to take up the Quincy’s
“Pink of Health” package, a
package that is specially catered to
medical tourists.
He would be attracted to Quincy’s
“ P i n k o f H e a l t h ” p ro23 t i o n ,
mo
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24. catered to Mount Elizabeth’s
medical travellers offering added
convenience, greater value and
extra care. In addition, as Quincy
offers 24/7 “Assist-on-call” service,
so to ensure that care will be
always available when needed,
complimentary daily buffet
breakfast, set lunch and dinner and
complimentary laundry service as
well, all these attributes are critical
for a medical guest who seeks for
untroubled recuperation.
Hyatt before, he knows that he
would not be able to enjoy the
same amount of benefits and
convenience as we would get from
Quincy for the same amount of
price. Furthermore, with Quincy
being the only hotel that has tie up
with Mount, Mr Suharto was certain
on his decision for Quincy hotel.
Post Encounter Stage
As Mr Suharto flight back to
Indonesia was scheduled to depart
at 5pm, he enjoyed the privilege of
a late check-out service for the
“Pink of Health” guest package.
When Mr Suharto check-out at
3pm, the service guest officer had
Service Encounter Stage
arranged for a taxi for him upon
request from him, and had readily
Upon checking out from Mount informed the taxi driver on Mr
Elizabeth, even with just a mere five
Suharto’s destination.
minutes’ walk from Mount Elizabeth
to Quincy, Quincy had arranged a
complimentary limousine service # 5 L o c a l F a m i l y f o r
On top of these critical attributes, for Mr Suharto to be picked up and
Swissôtel The Stamford
Mr Suharto was also attracted to sent directly to the hotel.
the following supplementary
services of Quincy’s “Pink of Upon arrival, the doorman readily Pre-Purchase Stage
Health” package:
helped Mr Suharto to unload his
• G u a r a n t e e d r o o m s f o r luggage, and guided him to the Need Awareness
Mount Elizabeth hospital’s Quincy reception counter, where a
patients for booking made f e m a l e g u e s t s e r v i c e o f fi c e r
W i t h t h e F o r m u l a 1 S i n g Te l
24 hours before check-in
specially attended to him, so as to
S i n g a p o re G r a n d P r i x d a t e s
• Guaranteed extension of ensure that the check-in procedure
nearing, Mr. Tang and family intend
stay if guests still do not feel could be done in the shortest time
for the guest to rest in the room as to fully immerse themselves in the
well enough to check-out
soon as possible.
F1 fever by having an extended
• Complimentary late checkweekday stay at a trackside hotel
out till 3pm
In less than five minutes, Mr and getting tickets to catch some
• Complimentary minibar, Suharto was then being guided to
his room by the bellboy, whom also action at the race circuit. They
replenished daily
helped him with his luggage. Once expect the trackside hotel to be in
• Complimentary Wi-Fi to
in the room, the bellboy gave a close proximity to the race track,
allow him to keep in touch short comprehensive guide to Mr and the view from the hotel rooms
a n d u p d a t e h i s f a m i l y Suharto on available room facilities,
or dining places to be spectacular.
members on his health as well as demonstrating to him on
condition, and also to how to use the motorised black out In additional, the F1 promotional
attend to important work curtain and the 24/7 “Assist-On- package offered by the hotel must
be comprehensive, ensuring that
matters via internet and Call” service.
Skype
every aspect of their stay from
• The king-size mattresses Throughout the entire stay, Mr dining to entertainment is taken
d r a p e d w i t h f e a t h e r Suharto spent his entire time within care of. Given that most of the
beddings and feather pillow the hotel premise, as he did not trackside hotels have 4-5 stars
will allow guests have an have the need to leave the hotel at accreditation, the Tang family
absolutely comfortable rest all when all his meals and laundry expects the service standards
• The availability of motorised services are provided by the hotel. rendered to be top-notch.
He spent most of his time in his
full black-out curtain in
room resting or using the
every room will allow guests
complimentary Wi-Fi service to It would be a bonus for Mr. Tang
to have an uninterrupted
Skype with his family and reply and family if they could catch a
sleep even during the day.
work-related emails, and will glimpse of their faved international
sometimes just relax by the pool celebrities and F1 Ferrari drivers in
side during the day while reading
Purchase Decision
the hotel they choose to stay. Mr.
an e-book on his Kindle.
Tang had read that it is customary
As Mr Suharto had visited
Singapore and stayed in hotels
for the competing drivers and
such
as Martitus Mandarin and
distinguished guests to be housed
24
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25. in one of Singapore’s trackside
hotels throughout the entire
duration of the F1 race, though the
hotel these celebrities would stay in
is not publicly disclosed. Without
insider information, Mr. Tang has no
clue as to which hotel his faved
Ferrari team would be residing in,
therefore, he is unable to include
this factor into his decision making
process. It would be an incentive if
the hotel could provide an
immersive F1 experience by
displaying F1 decorations in the
lobby like race car displays or
giving away commemorative F1
collectibles which they could add
to their existing collection of F1
collaterals and race car models.
Information Search
head of the family. Mr. Tang
eliminates Grand Park City Hall
whose location is not as strategic
and whose package is less
luxurious and extensive in
comparison to that of other hotels
in his consideration set.
The search attributes that are of
importance to Mr. Tang would be
the location, exclusive or
personalized benefits for F1 hotel
guests and the cost factor. Ideally,
the hotel should be located in the
prime location where his family can
catch all the action. Mr. Tang does
not mind paying a premium for a
hotel with a strategic location for
F1-watching to make the
experience worthwhile. Mr. Tang is
looking out for exclusive or
personalized benefits which the
hotels would provide for the F1
hotel guests to ensure a unique and
memorable experience for his
family.
Mr Tang searched for F1 hotel
promotional packages at the
Singapore Grand Prix website and
actively read news articles and
customer reviews of trackside
hotels in the previous years.
Lastly, Mr. Tang is concerned about
how cost-competitive the F1 hotel
Having conducted his research, the package is. While he is mentally
hotels in Mr Tang’s consideration prepared to spend quite a hefty
set which meet the criteria of amount on the F1 hotel package,
having attractive F1 promotional he is aware that there are several
deals, close proximity to the race alternatives available, hence he
track, high service standards and wants to get the best deal with the
spectacular view of the F1 circuit money he’s spending and hopes to
from the hotel premises are as m a k e e a c h p e n n y c o u n t i n
follows:
exchange for the luxury.
1. Swissôtel The Stamford
2. Ritz Carlton
3. Marina Oriental
4. Fullerton
5. Grand Park City Hall
Evaluation of alternatives
The responsibility of making the
decision as to which trackside hotel
to stay in fell squarely on Mr. Tang’s
shoulders, given the Asian
patriarchal mentality that decision
making should be done by the male
A number of perceived risks came
to mind as he sought to finalize his
decision on which hotel to pick.
The risks include:
● Functional – Unsatisfactory
performance outcomes e.g. “Will
the hotel rooms offer a spectacular
view of the circuit as I have
expected?”
● Financial – Monetary loss,
unexpected extra costs e.g. “Will
there be additional charges not
stated in the package?”
● Sensory – Unwanted impact on
any of five senses e.g. “Will the
room be entirely soundproof and
conducive as a work environment?”
● Psychological – Personal fears
and emotions e.g. “Will the entire
experience be a positive and
memorable one?”
● Social – How other think and
react e.g. “Will my friends be
impressed by my selection of the
trackside hotel to stay in?”
Service Expectations
After reading the raving customer
reviews and news articles of the
receptivity of customers to the
trackside hotels’ F1 packages, Mr.
Tang develops a positive prepurchase expectation and zone of
tolerance of what to encounter
upon arrival and during his stay at
the hotel.
Purchase Decision
Mr. Tang selected Swissôtel The
Stamford after an evaluation of the
following key attributes that are
important to him.
In terms of location, Swissôtel The
Stamford is one of the best choices
as it is in the heart of the world’s
first night street circuit provided
guests with a myriad of superb
vantage points from its luxurious
guest rooms and food & beverage
outlets, boasting the most
extensive views of the Formula One
racetrack all round. The Fullerton is
also ideally placed for the action,
as the hotel is located trackside at
the extreme hairpin Turn 13 of the
closed-street circuit. Guests on the
Fullerton's rooftop lounge get an
incomparable view of the track,
together with multiple flat-screen
monitors showing close-ups of the
race. Marina Oriental lost out to
25
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26. Swissôtel and Fullerton in terms of
p ro x i m i t y t o t h e F 1 c i rc u i t .
Comparing the shortlisted hotels
Swissôtel and Fullerton, Swissôtel
proves to be the better of the two
in terms of proximity to the
racetrack because in 2011, it was
reputed to house sponsors and
teams from BMW Sauber, Ferrari
and Honda, and played host to
numerous VIPs and dignitaries
during the F1 season, so its
location should be more central to
where all the action would be. The
fact that it had staged numerous
stellar corporate events and
activities, which saw top
international celebrities and worldclass Formula One drivers such as
Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa,
Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel,
Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica,
walk through its doors, affirmed his
decision.
In terms of providing exclusive or
personalized benefits for the F1
hotel guests to ensure a unique and
memorable experience, Swissôtel
The Stamford proves to be a
superior option due to its excellent
track record. The BMW Sauber
F1.07 racecar displayed at its lobby
was a favourite photo-spot,
captivating both passers-by and
guests within the hotel in 2011.
Hotel guests enjoyed special
collectible F1 amenities which they
could take home as souvenirs after
the race. Earplug sets were placed
in every room, whilst guests at
track facing rooms and suites were
given a set of binoculars and
treated to racecar chocolates as
part of their turndown service.
More than 7,500 of these
commemorative F1 items were
given out during the F1 weekend,
leaving guests with a memorable
F1 experience at Swissôtel The
Stamford. The benefits offered by
Fullerton like exclusive racing
cocktails: The Fullerton Hairpin and
Monte Carlo Hairpin (see inset
image), both created by the head
bartender of The Fullerton’s Post
Bar, in 2011, paled in comparison.
Since Marina Oriental and Grand
Park City Hall did not offer
privileges not specific to the F1
context in 2011, Mr. Tang does not
expect them to do so in 2012, and
therefore eliminated these two
hotels from his consideration set.
The package cost for 3 nights’ stay
with F1 tickets at Swissôtel was S
$4,250++ for each F1 package in
2011. For Fullerton, it cost S
$2,000++ for a Courtyard Room
and S$3,500++ for a Quay Room
overlooking the circuit. For Marina
Oriental, it was S$9,999++ for each
F1 package in the Premier Suite.
Grand Park City Hall’s package
stood at S$580++ per night for
Superior Room and S$600++ per
night for Deluxe Room. Reviewing
these costs, Mr. Tang is delighted
that Swissôtel’s pricing falls within
the median, which matches his
willingness to pay.
from the taxi, a doorman promptly
opened the taxi door and greeted
t h e m c o u r t e o u s l y. M r. Ta n g
informed him that they were hotel
patrons who wanted to check into
the hotel, and the doorman swiftly
gestured to the bell boy to help Mr.
Tang unload their belongings and
transport the luggage to the lobby.
The four of them were ushered into
the warmly lit lobby. Mrs. Tang and
the children took a seat on the
couch while Mr. Tang proceeded to
the check-in counter with their
hotel booking confirmation slip.
There was no queue at the checkin counter, and Mr. Tang’s booking
details were verified and processed
within a matter of 2 minutes. He
was presented with the room key
by a smiling service personnel who
wished him an enjoyable stay at the
hotel and an exciting weekend
ahead.
Throughout the entire stay, Mr.
Tang and family spent most of their
time within the hotel premise,
except a few occasional visits to
Raffles City Shopping Centre.
Service Encounter Stage
Post Encounter Stage
On 21 September 2012, at 6pm
after work and school, Mr. Tang
and family arrived at Swissôtel in
high spirits. They chose to take a
taxi to the hotel because of driving
because they did not plan to spend
much time outside the hotel and
t h e F 1 c i rc u i t . F u r t h e r m o re ,
Swissôtel is conveniently located to
the F1 race track and to the Mass
Rapid Transit station Cityhall so
transport would not be an issue
even if they decide to
spontaneously decide to travel to
other parts of Singapore during
their hotel stay.
The check-out process was a
smooth and hassle-free one
because of the queue
configuration. The bill presented to
him accurately reflected the goods
and services the family had
consumed during the hotel stay.
The frontline staff asked if he would
like to fill up a feedback form, to
which he gladly obliged.
When the family left the lobby, the
doorman efficiently flagged a taxi.
The bellboy loaded their entire
luggage into the taxi swiftly and
thanked them for patronising
Swissôtel.
When the family of four alighted
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