Dear guest,
Greetings from Sweden!
The gist of the hospitality industry is arguably guest experience, that is, the journey the guest takes when they decide to book a stay at a given hotel.
This journey starts way before the guest sets foot on the property. It’s the sum of all the touch points they ever come in contact with, including the digital ones.
This week I stayed at a hotel that has won the title of best guest experience in Sweden, and I approached the stay like a researcher on the field (for what else am I?).
What I learnt was that a truly exceptional guest experience is deceivingly simple, and that perhaps its something akin to the x factor - you either got it or you don’t.
I hope you enjoy.
Welcome to Turndown Service, where we immerse ourselves in an experiential detail or sentiment.
In this letter: the building blocks of a world-class guest experience, and a return to the basics.
Welcome home
“More at home than at home” – a guest review
It’s afternoon when my friend and I arrive at Hotell S:t Clemens in the medieval town of Visby on the island of Gotland in Sweden. We are greeted at the front desk by Helene who is standing in front of a hanging array of room keys.
“Welcome!”, she exclaims, with such sincerity that it’s hard not to feel like our arrival was awaited. She asks about our journey there, if we’ve been to the island before, if we have plans for the day.
And allow me to get woo-woo for a second: the good energy of the property was palpable. It’s made up from a few conjoint buildings from different eras, and a courtyard that’s attached to both the 13th century ruins of the church of St Clemens and the town’s botanical garden.
Moreover, everyone seems at ease: guests, staff, passers-by, and yours truly.
All I can think of is how is this atmosphere created?
I decide to chat to Agneta, another staff member, about what it is that guests love so much about the hotel, and what makes them return again and again (a significant portion of the hotel’s guests are returning customers, which is the best stamp of approval you could get).
“Many guests feel like they’re coming home. We have 30 rooms, so we’re small enough to recognize our guests. We have a very personal relationship with them. So, if we know that you’re going to Fårö [an destination in Gotland) today, we can remember that you’ve been to Fårö and pick up on that later. A large hotel can’t maintain that level of personal connection, but we can.
We have a significant number of returning guests and…”
Our chat is interrupted (and rightly so) by a guest who comes up to Agneta and asks if it’s possible to get a beer. ”Absolutely,” she says, and makes the guest feel just as attended to as she made me feel just now.
”Emma,” she says endearingly while ringing up the guest’s drink. ”I’ll meet you in the garden in a bit, ok?”
Hospitality is a reciprocal act
There is no direct translation for the word hospitality in Swedish, which is also the case in the Finnish language (read my thoughts on Finnish hospitality in this edition of S.P.A), but that hasn’t stopped Hotell S:t Clemens from embodying its essence fully.
We are now sat in the garden. Agneta is visibly cold (late-summer evenings in Sweden are no joke), but at no points does she make me feel like we are in a hurry to end our chat.
She points out that the ruins used to have bees in them, and that a couple of centuries ago there was a lady who lived in the vicinity and sold cigars, which is why today the hotel has its own locally produced hand-rolled cigar (hotel merch done well).
She takes her time, making me feel like we’re old friends and that I belong here.
“I often think that I wish everyone could experience what I experience during a working day, because I get such a boost from the guests,” Agneta explains. “It’s the interaction with guests that makes the job, and when you’ve built a great connection with a guest and then they check out, you get so much appreciation in return. You just walk around feeling happy—it’s such a wonderful job.”
“My colleagues who work in housekeeping and other back-of-house functions, they don’t always get to hear all of this, so it’s up to us, the front-of-house staff, to pass on the joy and gratitude we receive from our guests.”
The mutual respect between colleagues is apparent from the way she speaks. “We are like a big family. We really enjoy working together, and I think that is, then, mirrored to the guests, as they can see that we truly enjoy being around each other”.
Two sides of the same coin, indeed. You can just hear the devotion for the task at hand.
Great guest experience is deceptively simple
Our stay had nothing to do with the extravaganza that is luxury hotel guest experience today, but it felt far more impactful. It is astonishing what the emotional presence of the hotel staff does for one’s nervous system.
At no point did I feel I was anything but a pleasure to the property. I saw the unhurriedness of other guests, sitting in the locally-crafted garden chairs sipping on locally-crafted beverages, enjoying the last slivers of summer sun, and felt an exhale of bliss escape my lungs.
This is it, I thought. This is what (ultra-)luxury is trying so hard to replicate.
Presence, time, attention, personalized interactions, but all coming from the soul rather than a checklist. Standard operating procedures can absolutely help, and I would even go as far as saying that they are necessary for consistency and good service, but nothing will ever beat the genuine care from another human being.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s quite different edition of tPH. I want to clarify that this post is absolutely not sponsored content, and has sprung out of my own awe from coming in contact with what I feel is true hospitality.
I can’t but recommend visiting Visby on the island of Gotland in Sweden, and when you do, you know where to stay.
I would be so glad to hear where in the world you have felt most welcome or felt something similar to what I tried to describe above.
I’m working on a more analytical look at the hotels that are named to have the best guest experience in the world, so stay tuned for that.
Goodbye and see you again,
🔑 Emma