Hotellet:
Gæstens hjem (?)
Szilvia Gyimóthy
Tourism Research Unit
Institut for Kultur og Globale Studier
Manipulative ”Servicescapes”
• Bitner (1992) researches the
effects of the physical
evidence on customers
• Psychological experiment:
measuring customers
reactions to environmental
stimuli in a travel agency
• Looks at customer
expectations and
perceptions as objective,
discrete and comparable
along a number of
”atmosphere dimensions”
The trouble with the behaviourist model
• Naïvist focus on service
encounters
• Service as a universal concept
• Regards personal interaction
isolated from cultural and
economic contexts
• Meliorist perspektiv
Postmodern consumption theory
• Postmodern consumer
theory: The goal of
consumption is to
enhance self-images
• Social positioning and
display of status
• Building a unique identity
by purchasing
”accessories”: products,
services, experiences,
goodwill
Service through socialconstructivism
• Consumers are
semioticians
• ”Physical evidence”
and ”moments of
truths” are socially
constructed through
cultural meanings,
norms, values and
interpretations
Relational space theory:
Maps in Minds
• Places are cognitive ordering
tools to categorise space
into dichotomies (my place
vs. others’ place, mental
places)
• Places are an extensions of
peoples’ identities
(emotional attachment to
certain places)
• Consumers are co-creators of
meaning - interacting and in
dialogue with the servicescape
Deconstructing the cultural context of hospitality
• Based on religious/moral
imperatives on how to
”accommodate strangers”
• Private and social hospitality:
sharing one’s home, meals
and maybe bedroom – with
implicit expectations of
return
• Hospitality as ”social glue”
Commercial hospitality =
No ordinary service encounter
• The social ritual of hospitality is performed as an
economic exchange
• Assymetric: no reciprocity assumed, no ownership
(?)
• BUT: Connotations of
”accommodating a
stranger” appear in each
welcome concept
(e.g. complimentary gifts)
Deconstructing servicescapes as sociospaces
• ”Non-places” (transitory
public spaces) are entirely
functional in order to facilitate
movement
• Existential need of the mobile
class: to colonise and attach
meaningful bonds to places
• Commercial places are
commonplaces of societal
ritualization
The hotel as ”sociospace”
• Commercial servicescapes have a
social ”linking value”
• Interaction among ”strangers”
facilitated or manipulated by a
hotel’s public arenas
• A bar, lounge, elevator or hotel
room encourage certain forms of
social interaction instead of
others (norms, rules, value
systems integrated to these
places)
Hotels as hyperhomes
• Gestalting a residential feel on commercial
premises is based on few trite assumptions what
”home” is…
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Functionality and comfort
Familiarity and safety
Marker of identity
Privacy
Individual (freedom of) choice
• Commodification is ”fluid” – standards change
as private homes change
• ”Home” turning from leisure sanctuary into an
effective workplace
Modern hotels (60ies-80ies)
• A comfortable shelter for the
emergent leisure class
• Reliable standards
• Functionality and comfort (hot
and cold running water, ventilation
etc.)
• ”Better than home”
”Som boligstandarden stiger må der tages hensyn
til gæsternes forventninger om et ”hjem” og
hotellet kan ikke tillade sig at byde på et
upersonligt, kedeligt og farveløst kammer” (Hotel
& Restaurant, 1971)
”Welcome home, wherever we are” (1973)
•
”And we're just about everywhere.
With more than 400 Ramada Inns all
over the country...”
• Residential non-places
• Emphasis on a uniform
product
• Standardised ”props”
”When you’re in a strange place, it’s good to see a familiar face”
• Hotels as ”extensions of
the home”
• Familiarity of (American)
culture, standards and
values
• ”The best surprise is no
surprise”
Functionality and comfort
”There are 152 reasons
why the best surprise is
no surprise. If you travel
a lot you know the kinds
of surprises we talk
about. Like lost
reservations, lumpy
beds and prices that
inflate overnight”
(Holiday Inn, 1976)
”The room was clean. The TV worked. Everything worked. Amazing”
• ”Hygiene” aspects are
differentiators:
• "I think there is
something beautiful in
things doing what they
are supposed to do..."
”Amenities Wars”
• Exclusivity defined
through luxurious addons (slippers,
complimentary chocolate or
fruit baskets, free magazines
and pay-channels)
• ”Home” gestalted as
restitution sanctuary
Standardising the unique?
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Positioning wars among midrange hotels (3-4***)
Price, facilities and loyalty
programs are not enough
Vicious circle of “amenities wars”
Focus on designing unique
accommodation experiences
Similar “home-from-home”concepts:
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“Your second home is First”
Dit hjem når du er kørt ud”
“Ett hem på vägen!”
“There is another place like home”
Postmodern hotels (90ies): ”Ett hem på vägen”
”Hotellet ger dig de ytor och mervärden
som behövs for att upskatta en semester
eller arbetsvecka i ditt egen tempo, i ditt
egna hem – fast på en annan ort. (Choice
Hotels, 2005)
• ”Ett hem på vägen”:
Casual homey feeling for
the frequent traveller
• Exclusivity defined
through customisation
and expressiveness
• Thirdspace: a home
stripped from domestic
chores and family
A room that works
• “Before, I received bath slippers and
candies. Now I have a broadband and a
real workplace.[...] Here you are able
to spend your time to work: absolutely
unperturbed in an efficient and
spacious workplace with broadband.
”Mer som hemma” (Accome Hotel
Apartments 2004)
• Hotels as ”extensions of
the office”
• Self-servicing guests
(kitchen or galley
facilities)
• Technical comfort
• Extensive vertical
surfaces to spread out
work
”Make it your home”
• More ecclectic and
residential furnishings
• Mobile furnishings
• Multifunctional rooms
• More storage place
• Celebration of
individuality
Designhotel that makes you feel at home
“Our unique concept offers
exciting Swedish architecture
and interior design. The homefrom-home feeling is
heightened by the tasteful
decor, and luxuirious Hästen
beds.” (Hotel Odin,
Gothenburg)
”You are where you sleep.”
(Hotel Skt. Petri)
• Creative environments
• Trendy style – similar to
private living spaces
Homey standards?
“Hotels in the future won’t look
alike, nor will they function
alike” (Jim Anhut, brand
manager of Choice Hotels)
• Subtle, mass customised
products
• Technical, rather than
personal
• Symbolic poverty:
similar forms and
connotations
• Technical, rather than
social hospitality
Or an inhospitable industry?
”Dear Ms. Roney. We wish you a pleasant stay. Please do not
hesitate to contact any of the hotel staff for additional support.”