CPG Summit: The Hotel
We’re staying at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. The exterior of the hotel is built in classic, grand Florida style and reminiscent of the Breakers. The interior of the hotel consists of a very large atrium and two smaller atriums. The main atrium is large enough to house a ballpark, while the two smaller atriums are still large enough to host a lake and a jungle. The quality of the hotel is very nice. It’s not the same level as the Wynn, but very few hotels are.
I was a bit surprised to learn there are 4-5 foot alligators in the atrium. I’m not fond of reptiles.
The conference facility is adjacent to the hotel, and connected by a walkway. The conference facility is immense. The main speaking hall was divided into an area for the showcase and the other for speakers. The speaking side was large enough to house 1,500 people and still seem half full.
I think the Gaylord must be using analytics throughout the entire organization. The telling sign to me was the shampoo in the room bathroom.
Most hotels offer you shampoo in bottles that are good for one, maybe two uses. The Gaylord offers 3 oz containers of shampoo, which is good for a several day stay.
I suspect the operations management people looked at the average length of stay, the cost of the shampoo (largely in packaging) and made the decision for bigger bottles.
Doesn’t seem like much, right? Let’s use these assumptions:
- Cost of .5 oz shampoo bottle = $.15
- Cost of 3 oz shampoo bottle = $.30
- Useful period of 3 oz shampoo = 4 days (reasonable based on my usage)
- Number of available rooms: 1,400
- Average occupancy rate: 70%
We’ll assume the cost of stocking and replacing the shampoo to be zero, that each person uses shampoo each morning, and a few other generalizations.
With this math, there are 357,700 overnight stays in one year. With the single unit shampoo, there would be a total cost of $53,655 per year (one unit per night). With the 3 oz. shampoo, the total cost would be $26,827 per year.
I realize these are approximations, but it illustrates a point. My initial response at seeing the shampoo was, “Wow, that’s nice. A whole bottle of shampoo.” My consumption pattern didn’t change, but my perception of the hotel did. It is possible to be both efficient and improve the perception of the brand.
Bookmark & Share
