Concorde La Fayette don’t seem to get the importance of a great brand experience

I spend quite a lot of time in hotels. Last week I had the misfortune of staying in Concorde La Fayette in Paris. They seemed to be more interested in short term revenues than delivering brand experiences that could help sustain business growth.

After checking-in (on a corporate deal) everything they did focused solely on trying to extract more money from me:

- Internet connection = €15 for 24 hours (most hotels offer this for free)
- Film package = €30 (usually c. €10)
- Fitness centre = €25 (separate building)
- Breakfast = €28 (poor food and environment)

It reminds me of the Ryanair model (they charge for all extra and are even planning to charge flyers for using the toilets!).

I do not think this is not how a hotel should operate.

The best hotels focus on delivering great brand experiences designed to drive repeat business and advocacy.

The worst, like this one, fail to understand the importance of delighting consumers. Not only that, they probably don’t know that due to the internet they run the risk of wide spread negative word-of-mouth.

I have posted my negative comments on TripAdvisor (mine are not the only negative comments). I do not expect to generate the kind of consumer backlash created by Jeff Jarvis with Dell but this posting is my way of letting off some steam.

Needless to say I will not be staying there again.