Will they come?
Hotels bet on building creative marketing ploys to bring guests back
The Lafayette Hotel in San Diego’s trendy North Park district wants you, and it isn’t afraid to appeal to your sense of nostalgia. It is one of many new hotel projects vying for your booking this summer.
Pay no heed to the swimming pool designed by Olympic medalist and Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller. And ignore the pictures of the hotel’s founder hobnobbing with Hollywood stars such as Ava Gardner and Bob Hope.
On a recent afternoon, the hotel’s general manager, Dieter Hissin, led me downstairs, past the hotel’s signature attractions, and into an aging ballroom. “This is where they filmed the scene in the movie ‘Top Gun,’ ” he explains. “You know, where Tom Cruise sings ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’ to Kelly McGillis.”
The Lafayette, which is in the middle of a top-to-bottom renovation, is restoring the bar just in time for the release of a “Top Gun” sequel in May. Hissin says the timing is right to bring ’80s-loving tourists back to the Lafayette.
He’s not the only hotel general manager wondering how to get travelers back.
“Hotels are getting creative,” says Jennifer Dohm, a spokesperson for Hotels. com. As resorts look to the summer travel season, they are adding new room experiences, introducing promotional rates and waiving fees.
There’s a reason for the creativity: The past two years have been difficult for hotels, with many travelers opting for staycations and vacation rentals over more traditional accommodations. Hotels that cater to corporate travelers have suffered the
most and are looking to 2022 as a way to fast-track their recovery.
“For hotels, marketing promotions are a tried-and-true way of attracting guests,” says Amanda Belarmino, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. “Many hotels used the closures as an opportunity to renovate their properties, and many of these properties are seeing benefits from these changes.”
The folks in marketing know they can’t turn you into a guest without first getting your attention. If a new look, attraction or amenity will do it, then they’re willing to try.
The Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles last year unveiled recent renovations, which cost $2.5 billion. Everything at the Fairmont, except maybe the modernist facade, is new. It cut the number of rooms roughly in half, to 400, added a new spa, and opened Lumière Brasserie, a French restaurant. The hotel’s owners hope to turn it into the hottest property in L.A. as the pandemic wanes, and they’re looking at this summer as an opportunity to recapture its glory days. That’s a tall order, but a few billion dollars definitely puts