Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience

This assignment explores the evolution of lifestyle hotels and their focus on providing an extreme customer experience. It analyzes three international chain hotels that have launched their lifestyle hotels and their unique features. It also discusses how lifestyle hotels cater to the needs of millennials and senior citizens.

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 0
Title: Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience
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Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 1
Executive Summary
The evolution in the travel and tourism industry have brought changes in the hospitality
industry too. The evolution of Lifestyle Hotels is due to the increase in the millennials
population that have the habit of taking vacation three to four times in a year and due to their
economical approached, the bog hospitality brands have to introduce lifestyle hotels. A
lifestyle hotel is an economical hotel that provides the facilities of a high-end exquisite hotel.
The main approach of the lifestyle hotel is to find the best alternative to the luxuries hotels, so
that the people who are looking for economical accommodations can also attain the feeling of
luxury hotels. In this assignment, the three luxury hotels will be analyzed to gain a deeper
knowledge about the various factors of lifestyle hotels.

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 2
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
The Various Elements of New Lifestyle Hotels........................................................................4
Accor Group...........................................................................................................................5
Charlotte’s Marriott M-Beta City Center...............................................................................7
W Singapore - Sentosa Cove & Resort..................................................................................9
Critical Analysis of Lifestyle Hotels with Traditional Hotels.................................................11
Lifestyle Hotels Fulfilling the Needs of Digital, Social & Mobile Customers........................13
Lifestyles Hotel Providing Distinctive Customer Service According to the Evolving Travelers
..................................................................................................................................................15
Recommendations....................................................................................................................17
Conclusion................................................................................................................................20
References................................................................................................................................21

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 3
Introduction
The travel and tourism industry has undergone a massive transformation, especially in
the last two decades. The new addition to this is the “Lifestyle Hotels”. With the increasing
globalization and the advancement in the technology, the pressure on the hotels has increased
as the competition has intensified. Customer service which is the most crucial aspect of the
service industry has changed and evolved immensely and the customers want high-quality
experience. The internet has made the availability of information very convenient for the
customers, so they can compare the services, prices and extra facilities of different hotels that
help in differentiating between each hotel, to select the best available option. The major hotel
brands were struggling to fulfill the needs of the millennials, the age group from 22 to 34,
which is also the generation Y. A generation which is very active on the internet and social
media have the habit of comparing the various services and discounts offered by different
hotels and then making the best purchase. This increased the pressure and responsibility of
the hotel industry to facilitate the customers with the best possible services. This change in
the customer needs was fulfilled by the economical hotels that provided the customers with
great discounts and numerous services, which created a turbulence among the bigger brands.
As this demographic group who frequently take vacations and tours slipped from their hand
and this was a great loss for them. In this attempt, the huge brands in the hospitality industry
introduced new hotels that provided exquisite services and were catering to the needs of the
people looking for economical accommodations. According to certain researches and studies,
this has been formulated that millennials around the world prefer going on to a vacation,
rather than paying a debt or even buying a house. Now, the latest statistics of the tourism
industry displayed that in the overall tourism population in a year that is around 200 million
people, 20 percent of this is made up of millennials. And according to the sources, this
percentage is going to increase in the coming years. This change in the demography was

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 4
identified by the big hospitality organizations that pushed them to bring a change in their
approaches towards this age group and forced them to brainstorm creative ideas for attracting
the millennials by providing them better customer experience. The other change that came in
the demography which affected the travel and tourism industry was the increase in the senior
citizens and the baby boomers generation, who were going on vacations twice or thrice in a
year. Though the lifestyle hotels were opened with the focus to attract people looking for high
customer experience at less prices, the senior citizens are the people who have the wealth
which they have earned in their entire lifetime and now they have the time to effectively use
it in doing things they missed out while working hard to earn money. The senior citizens are a
market section that is very wise and believes in sensible purchases. The hotel organizations
started positioning their products which is the lifestyle hotel in front of the millennials and
the senior citizen, by exhibiting the various services that they promised to deliver by
providing extreme customer experience. Now, almost a decade ago, lifestyle hotels which are
also famous with the name boutique hotels were considered as a flash in the pan, which
meant that they were fruitless promises and they will fall massively due to the promises they
made to the customers. But seeing the current scenario of the travel and tourism industry, this
can be stated that they have created a strong stir between the hotel organizations in providing
the best customer experience. Also, in the future, lifestyle hotels are going to create a stronger
foundation in the current market.
The Various Elements of New Lifestyle Hotels
The evolution of lifestyle hotels has taken place mainly due to the demographic changes
in the travel and tourism industry. The generation Y and Z, both are responsible for this
change and also to a large extent due to the senior citizens (Emami, 2018). These hotels are
also known as boutique hotels, as they are built on three main elements of boutique which are
small, modern, and intimate. The hotel organizations have laid their full focus on these three

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 5
traits and have tried to add as many services that will fit in these three elements. The travelers
desire to continuously search for something different and new has led to the emergence of
lifestyle hotels. Thus, for the travelers, the lifestyle hotel trait of being idiosyncratic has
helped in attracting such customers (Kosar, 2014). The other reason why these hotels are
successful is due to the various personalized services which they provide to the customers
and which big hotels fail to do, even after charging way more than the lifestyle hotel. So, the
bottom line is that the lifestyle hotels are better at providing customer services, due to their
personalized approach. The three international chain hotels that have launched their lifestyle
hotels after recognizing the transformation and which will be discussed in depth are-
 Accor Group.
 Charlotte’s Marriott M-Beta City Center
 W Singapore - Sentosa Cove & Resort
Accor Group
The Accor Group Hotel is the largest hotel change in Europe and they have launched a
number of lifestyle hotels in the entire world. They have further divided their lifestyle hotels
into two categories that are MGallery, Jo & Joe Youth Hostel brand and Mama Shelter (Shen,
2016). The hotel group has the main focus on the millennials as they are considered to be the
largest single customer till the year 2020. The various features of this hotel group are-
 MGallery
The MGallery is a luxury boutique hotel that is inspired by different themes
that include heritage, signature, and serenity. These boutique hotels have the main
focus on providing customer experience by delivering personalized, rich experience
that helps the visitors to create a memorable experience for a lifetime. The Heritage
hotels deliver customer experience through personalized services that are inspired by

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 6
the heritage of that place where it is located (N. McCool, 2012). The customers are
served with a rich cultural heritage that has inspired the creation of the hotel and this
is delivered to the customer by the architecture of the hotel, the services of the hotel,
and the staff of the hotel who provides a great customer experience inspired by the
heritage. The Signature hotels of the MGallery deliver customer experience by
providing aesthetic services to the customers. The Serenity hotels are for people who
want to be far from the busy and noisy area, so the hotel provides accommodations
which are high in the mountain or also hidden in an urban location away from the
bustling and the crowd filled streets. So the main elements of this lifestyle hotel are
the luxurious property that displays captivating charm, charisma and the elements of
inspiration (Birkner, 2011). The customers are delivered with a great experience
through the stories associated with the place, through the natural beauty of that place,
due to the perfect location of the hotel, and the other extra services that are related to
food & drinks, the spas, and the living rooms. The main mission of these hotels is to
provide the customer with a memorable moment that they will cherish for the rest of
their lives and by delivering this they provide an extreme customer experience. All the
three approaches of this lifestyle hotel cater to three different sections of the
customers that helps in catering to the needs of a large volume of people (Yu Yeh,
2013).
 Mama Shelter
The other hotel of Accor group that is also a lifestyle hotel is the Mama
Shelter, fulfilling the demands and desires of a completely different section of the
market. In comparison which the MGallery these hotels are a bit cheaper. The
customers are provided with services like special dishes that are created by
professional chefs, a cocktail made by the barmaids, and a cozy room that facilitate

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 7
with extra services (Nasir, 2018). The Mama Shelter also facilitates the customers
with a seminar room so that customers can have freedom for being creative. Also, the
hotel provides with free Wi-Fi and free access to the movies. The Mama Shelter
though is an urban refuge, but the services that it offers to the customers are
something which completely caters to the needs of the millennials (Sangwichien and
Jaroenwisan, 2017). Through, these services the customers are provided with an
extreme customer experience that is modern and intimate, fulfilling the two key
aspects of a boutique hotel. The main mission of the Mama Shelter is to provide the
customers with an experience that is way above than simpler that is also filled with
fun and friendly attitude. Thus, the workers at the Mama Shelter look after the
customers with a polite and friendly approach, enhancing their customer experience
(Pol and Patil, 2015).
Charlotte’s Marriott M-Beta City Center
The Charlotte’s Marriott M-Beta City Center is a lifestyle hotel by the Marriott group
that has created an ambiance that is to the needs, desires, and the lifestyle of the millennials.
The services that are provided at this hotel include spacious accommodations with the facility
of on-site dining. The customers are provided with an open lobby, which is a tech-enabled
space, providing the customers to connect and socialize. The customers are provided with
rooms that have been creatively designed providing the city view through the floor to ceiling
windows and a comfortable bed. The hotel also provides the customers with high-speed Wi-
Fi and the facility to enjoy rain showers (Bowden and Dagger, 2011). The customers are
provided with a unique dining experience through the Chef’s Kitchen-style. There is a
ballroom that hosts special events and also there is a meeting room too, for people to host a
quick meeting. The hotel fulfills all the needs of the customers related to social and corporate
events. There is also a fitness center in the hotel, providing the customers with the

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 8
opportunity to exercise and do not miss their workout regime. The customer is also treated by
the friendly staff who helps the customers for their each and every need. The hotel has
created an ambiance that is inspired by the social media trend of liking and disliking a thing.
So there are these red buttons that are for the customers to press if they have like a service of
the hotel. This display of liking a service is associated with all the services provided by the
hotel like rooms, restaurant, gym, meeting rooms, and many others. In case, the customer has
not liked any service or have disliked anything than the hotel prefers that the customer should
inform the staff or they should post a complaint on the hotel’s Twitter account which also
serves as the feedback station (Crosby and Johnson, 2007).
So, the customer is provided with numerous facilities that the millennials of today
look for, so the hotel is fulfilling the needs of the customer. The hotel approach for knowing
the feedback from the customers is very creative and this is very close the generation X and
Y. Thus, this makes the customer feel special as they are being provided with personalized
services which help in delivering an extreme customer experience (Han, Back and Barrett,
2010). The hotel’s approach to facilitating the customers with a kitchen style restaurant is
providing them with unique gastronomy experience, where the customers will see the chef’s
cooking. This will increase the credibility of the hotel in the opinion of the customers. As the
customers of today seek for a modern, intimate and unique experience the hotel is completely
providing that and more. The ballroom facility is available only in luxury hotels, which are
very expensive, but the Charlotte’s Marriott City Center is providing this facility too, along
with a meeting room that the customers can use anytime (Lee, Back and Kim, 2009). This
lifestyle hotel provides services and customer experience through innovative plans that
combine with the technology that helps in enhancing the experience of the customers. The
other factor that is responsible for delivering great customer experience as the hotel values
the decisions of the customers which they give through the like button or through their

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 9
feedback on their twitter account (Butcher, Sparks and McColl-Kennedy, 2009). Everything
in this Marriott lifestyle hotel has been designed with the main focus on the changing,
transformation in the travel and tourism industry catering to the needs of the millennials and
also the senior citizens. The main vision of the Charlotte’s Marriott M-Beta was to create a
hotel model that brings a revolution in the hospitality industry, keeping the technology at the
forefront and the customers are treated as the co-pilot. So, being a service organization the
hotel follows this path and through their innovative and creative approaches to services they
provide the customers with a fabulous customer experience in economical prices (Lin, Huang
and Chiang, 2008).
W Singapore - Sentosa Cove & Resort
The W Singapore – Sentosa Cove & Resort is part of the W Group. The W Group
introduced the lifestyle hotel with an objective of catering to the needs of the different
customers who wish to get the experience of a 5-star hotel at economical prices. So, the hotel
is catering to the needs of customers, especially for hip young families. All the services at this
hotel have been designed with the focus on finding the best alternative to the 5-star hotels.
The customers are provided with services like the rooms are designed with an impressive
approach of adding more convenience to the customers stay (Miller, 2011). The rooms have a
special AWAY path that is directly connected to the spa, so instead of going to a particular
floor or a place for the spa, every customer has a personalized path for the spa. This is a very
unique service that the hotel is offering to the customers. The hotel also provides the
customers with a rollaway bed which is for an extra guest. The other personalized service that
is offered by the hotel is a personal plunge pool that is attached to every room. All the rooms
are equipped with high-technology and the hotel also gives a huge importance to the
environment. The customers are provided with plush and relaxing armchairs, the rooms have
specially designed lighting facilities which can be adjusted according to the mood of the

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 10
customer, and the bathrooms are very spacious with the facility of a rain shower and also a
huge and deep bathtub. Also, the 240 rooms in this hotel have a Bose sound system that is
installed in each room to provide the customers with a better sound facility while watching
movies or to enjoy music. The hotels give special preference to the appetite of the kids and
adults and their buffet services also focus on this need of the customers. They also have live
cooking stations that cook customized food according to the needs of the customers. The
hotel provides the customer with some delicious Southeast Asian dishes. For the kids, the
hotel provides a special class of pizza making (Sharp and Phillips, 2009).
The main approach of the hotel is on offering the customers with personalized service
and for this, the hotel has designed all the facilities and activities with this as the main focus.
The customers are being delivered with a great customer experience as they are being
provided with a personal pathway, which is also unique and only expensive high-end hotels
provide such facilities. The other approach of the hotel of providing a personal pool is
another personalized service providing the customers with the privacy which a public pool
does not provide. This provides with higher customer experience (Solnet, Kandampully and
Kralj, 2010). The hotel is mostly catering to the needs of the millennials or for hip young
families. The hotel is proving a unique facility by giving special attention to the appetite of
the kids and the adults. The Kids are very fussy when it comes to food, but the hotel’s
approach to helping the parents in this difficult task, is very unique and hardly any hotel
provides such services. For the adults, the hotel also has the facility of golf. The hotel
approach of engaging the kids in a special learning activity is also a unique service provided
by the hotel. Thus, the main approach of the W Singapore – Santosa Cove & Resort is to
provide the customers with unique and personalized service (Walls et al., 2011).

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Critical Analysis of Lifestyle Hotels with Traditional Hotels
According to Lucas, customer service can be provided only through a knowledgeable,
enthusiastic, and capable employee that helps in delivering the services to the internal and
external customers of the organization and those products and services fulfills their identified
and unidentified needs, that ultimately helps in creating a positive mouth of marketing and a
loyal customer who returns, again and again, to provide the organization with return business
(Lucas, 2009). The travel and tourism industry along with the hospitality industry has
evolved immensely and the various changes that have been introduced according to the latest
trends in the market have helped in the growth and development of the lifestyle hotels. There
is a huge difference in the approaches and working of a lifestyle hotel in comparison to the
traditional hotels (Xuanwei and Chan, 2011).
The main approach of a lifestyle hotel is to provide the customers with unique
services and thus the theme of each lifestyle hotel is different from the other. The traditional
hotels, on the other hand, have the same background and approach like any other traditional
hotel. They do not possess a distinctive quality and the services provide to the customers are
also the same. The customer of today seeks services that are unique and he is able to
differentiate between the two hotel’s services so he could make a decision that is based on
which hotel provided better services. The customer experience has gained a lot of prominence
in the last decade and thus, it has become a vital aspect of the service industry (Conze et al.,
2010). The traditional hotels have still not incorporated these crucial elements in their
strategies for attracting the customers or for providing the customers with a good customer
experience. This is also due to the less competition that has been and is still between the
traditional hotels. The lifestyle hotels or in that case the hotels of the 21st century has a strong
focus on delivering a great customer experience as this is the only way through which the
organizations will be able to fight the competition.

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 12
The other approach of the lifestyle hotels is their attempt to provide personalized
service. In all the hotels that have been discussed above, there are unique and personalized
services that are offered by each hotel. Be it a personal pool, or a personal Bose sound
system, or a person master class, or a personalized feedback approach. The lifestyle hotels
run on personalization and whoever offers the best services stays ahead. The traditional hotel
on the other hand offer services that are equivalent to all the customers. There is no such
thing that is known as personalized services (Demirçiftçi and Kızılırmak, 2016). The
customers are provided with the same style of accommodation, with the same food and drinks
services and they do not offer any special services. In a traditional hotel, people are provided
with services according to the prices that are being charged by the customers and everything
depends on the prices. In the current time, the approach which used to be followed years back
that “the more you pay, the more you will receive”, has been completely modified and the
newly redesigned version of this approach is that “Pay less prices, but still get more
services”.
The third attribute of the lifestyle hotel is newness. Now, the approach of the lifestyle
hotel continuously has to change and modify as the customers of today want new
experiences. For this, it is crucial for the lifestyle hotel to include innovation in their working
practices and brainstorm innovative ideas that are new and will help in providing customer
experience. The traditional hotel has approaches that forbid from innovations and newness.
They do not even think about innovations or adding a new approach to their working
environment. It is due to this reason that the traditional hotels have restrained themselves
from a lot of new inventions that have helped many industries to grow and develop in a short
time span (Gazzoli, Hancer and Park, 2009).
The traditional hotels are just providing accommodation with few services that they
have always provided. Be it the new trends, or the newest technology, the traditional hotels

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will be unaffected by these changes and they will continue to function the way they have
always been and this is the only positive thing about this hotel, that is, their simplicity be it a
traditional luxury hotel or a traditional mediocre hotel, they have the same working style. But
with the changing times and the huge prominence to the customer experience this can be
formulated that to survive in the current market of today and to stay at the top, it is important
for the organization to provide a customer experience that is unique, personalized, and new,
that directly or indirectly fulfills the three elements of the lifestyle hotel which are small,
intimate, and modern (Huang and Hsu, 2010).
Lifestyle Hotels Fulfilling the Needs of Digital, Social & Mobile Customers
The lifestyle hotel caters to the needs of the millennial. These are the customers who
belong to the generation Y and Z. These target audiences are also known as digital, social and
mobile customers. The millennials are the people who have the habits of using digital
technology for the purpose of making purchases or to formulate a decision to purchase they
use the digital technology. They are also very active on social media platforms for knowing
the latest updates related to different aspects. Now, with the change in the times and the
evolution of the technology, the millennials can be divided into categories like digital, social,
and mobile customers (Jackson and Naipaul, 2008).
The Lifestyle hotels were created with the approach of fulfilling the needs and desires
of the millennials in economical prices. The millennials are the people who have vast
availability of information that is available to them through their different gadgets and also
through the social media and other internet sites that have information about the new trends
in the travel and tourism industry and also in the hospitality industry. The lifestyle hotels are
all fully equipped with the latest technology, providing high-speed internet facility, and many
other technologies are used for adding convenience in the lives of the customers. The lifestyle

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 14
hotel is fulfilling the needs of the customers who want high-speed internet and also the other
technologies are used for better customer experience (Keith and Simmers, 2011).
The approach of the lifestyle hotel to take further steps towards providing customer
experience has been very fruitful for the customers as it helps in fulfilling the needs of the
millennials. In the above discussed hotels, all the hotels provided high-speed internet facility.
This helped the people to stay connected to the internet and have continuous access to a wide
variety of information (Lin and Mattila, 2010). Thus, the lifestyle hotels fulfill the digital and
mobile needs of the customers. In the current working style of the lifestyle hotels, the
customers are provided with the facility of easy check-ins and checkouts facility. This has
been very beneficial for the people who have traveled a long way through bus, taxi, train or
flight, to directly check-in a hotel that has been pre-booked through the internet and saves a
lot of time. All the hotels that have been discussed above offer this attribute too. The major
approaches of the lifestyle hotel are directed with the help of technology and this is the main
driving force that further helps in the success of the organization. In the current scenarios, the
digital hotels, help the digital and mobile customer to make payments with the help of net
banking that is an internet transaction in which money is transmitted directly into another
person’s account, which again makes the customers’ payment policies easy and thus helping
them to enjoy their holidays with no stress (Min and Min, 2011).
In the hotel Charlotte’s Marriott M-Beta, the social needs of the customer were
fulfilled by the innovative approach of the organization to get feedback from the customers.
The social media has gained huge prominence in the last two decades and especially in the
last decade, it has become a part of the lifestyle of people (Mohsin and Kumar, 2010). People
activities are governed and directed by social media. They wait for updates on social media
display their trust in social media that is very high. The Charlotte’s Marriott M-Beta has
designed a unique way of asking the customers about their customer experience, they have

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 15
installed red buttons in their hotel and if the customer liked a service he will hit the like
button. The trend of like button was started by Facebook, in which people like a post then
they will hit like and now there is a dislike button too (Moncarz, Zhao and Kay, 2009). So,
the hotel’s approach of connecting the customers with a certain aspect with which they are so
strongly connected is another way of fulfilling the needs of the customers by entertaining
them with such an approach, also the feedback provided by the customer displayed that the
organization cares about the customer (Ro and Chen, 2011). The Charlotte’s other approach
was that if a customer does not like any service, then he can post a comment on their social
media account, this displayed the utilization of the social media in the organization that
directly fulfills the needs of the social, digital, and mobile customers. In the hotel W
Singapore – Sentosa Cove & Resort, the lighting facilities were creatively designed that
would change according to the mood of the customers, this approach helped in fulfilling the
social, digital, and mobile customer’s needs.
Thus, from the various technology usage in the lifestyle hotels, and the usage of the
social media for providing customer experience, clearly defines that the lifestyle hotels
fulfills the needs of the millennials and provides excellent customer experience through the
use of technology (Sen and Kaushik, 2016).
Lifestyles Hotel Providing Distinctive Customer Service According to the
Evolving Travelers
The lifestyle hotels were built on three main elements small, modern, and intimate. If
this is further elaborated, then it can also be summed into three other elements which are
unique, personalized, and new. These three traits of the lifestyle hotel will cater to the needs
of the evolving travelers as they are not dominated by any particular trend. The approaches
that will be finalized by the organizations will be based on these trends that will help in

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 16
accomplishing the new needs of the customers with new techniques, new technologies, and
new working environment (Wang, 2009).
The lifestyle hotel is built with the approach of catering to the needs of the
millennials, but on a general base, the three traits utilized by the hotel industry if followed by
any organization will fulfill the needs of some customers. The current and future customers
have the main needs, that they want something new. The lifestyle hotels are utilizing social
media, according to the current trends, in the future if the technology will be used for face,
eye, and hand scanning that will serve as the key for checking into a hotel or to open the
room, then with the changing times the organizations will adapt to such changes. The will
help in fulfilling the needs of lifestyle hotels, which is to use modern and intimate methods.
The lifestyle hotels run on distinctive qualities. In the current times too, no two
lifestyle hotels are the same. So, in the future, even if the customers will evolve the lifestyle
hotels will still provide them with distinctive services. It is also due to the connection
between the lifestyle hotels and continuous evolution. The continuous evolution is part of the
lifestyle hotel because they have to continuously think and discover new and innovative
approaches to provide customer experience, have to use the modern inventions for delivering
the customer experience, and have to use unique services. So, every aspect of the lifestyle
hotels is connected with a newness that will help in fulfilling the evolving needs of the
customers (Mandabach, 2014).
According to Levy, Hudson & Getz, the interaction between customer to customer
help in enhancing customer enjoyment and satisfaction. The positive interactions between the
customers help in sharing the positive customer experience which they have received from
the organization, thus the approach of the lifestyle hotels by providing an area that increases
the socializing of the different customers of the same organization helps in providing the

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 17
customers with more customer experience (Levy, Getz and Hudson, 2011). This is due to the
reason that if two customers share positive information about their experience with an
organization, then the customer’s feels that the organization is trustworthy and they made a
correct decision. The lifestyle hotels are currently utilizing the social media platform to
interact with the customers. In the same way, the customers will also be interacting with the
other customers of the same organization and this helps in providing customers with more
satisfaction. In the coming years, the role of the social media is going to increase and the
organizational approaches on the social media are going to intensify, all this will be focused
on the customers. Hence, providing the customers with an ultimate customer experience that
will increase and will cater to the evolving travelers.
So, in the future also, the lifestyle hotels will continue to serve the evolving
customers. The lifestyle hotels will provide the services that will be new and modern, and
through this attribute of the lifestyle hotels, they will provide the customers of today and
tomorrow with a great customer experience (Arbelo-Pérez, Arbelo and Pérez-Gómez, 2017).
Recommendations
Some of the recommendations for the hotels Accor Group, Charlotte’s Marriott M-Beta,
W Singapore – Santosa Cove & Resort, and also many other lifestyles hotels that will help
the hotels cater to the needs of the evolving travelers and to survive in the competition of
today, they should maintain and improve the following aspects-
 The size of the rooms.
The lifestyle hotels provide the customers with the rooms that mainly are of
small or medium size. With the evolution of new travelers, it is recommended that the
lifestyle hotels should improve this aspect. The lifestyle hotels are small, mostly
catering to the needs of customers that need rooms from 10 to 100. The lifestyle

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 18
hotels are intimate in scale. They are specially designed in this way as they have to
provide personalized service to each customer. But with the evolution of the
customers, the different lifestyle hotels have to expand their scale and this has to be
done along with maintaining the high-quality standards (Mazilu et al., 2018).
 Higher Personalization
The lifestyle hotel groups have to think of ways to increase the personalization
in delivering the services to the customers. It is important for the organization to
brainstorm ideas that will help in connecting more with the customers by offering
them better services. The hotel groups should focus on each and every detail that is
associated with the customers and their needs and desires. If the hotel industry will
look after each and every small aspect then they will be able to increase the level of
personalization with the customers.
 Changing Design
Though the architecture in the lifestyle hotel is inspired by a certain thing, like
in the Accor MGallery Hotel Group, the hotels are inspired by the heritage, or the
design was inspired by some aesthetic aspect and the Serenity Hotel were inspired by
the bustling of the city life. So, the main task of the lifestyle hotels in the future with
the evolving customers will be to change their designs and gain new inspirations from
different things, living or non-living. The lifestyle hotels are created with a theme that
is incorporated into each and every aspect of the hotel, at the same time everything
has to be unique (Monaco, 2018).
 Adding more to the character of the hotels.
The other attribute of the lifestyle hotels is their eccentric personality. These
hotels are built with the scope of fun, funky, offbeat and trendy. The approach of the
lifestyle hotel in the future should be that they should try and elaborate the character

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 19
of the hotels that has the main aim of providing higher customer experience but the
hotel should also help in inspiring people. This will help be making more loyal
customers. For example, if a customer in your hotel is missing their pet dog, then try
to provide him with a puppy for a few hours, so he could feel better. In the current
times, this has been tried in a Washington D.C’s Hotel Monaco, where if a customer
misses their pet, then they are provided with a goldfish in their room. The lifestyle
hotel should, thus, add more to its character that provides a great customer experience,
which can be attained only through creative approaches.
 Establishing the hotel in the best locations
For all organizations belonging to any industry continuous improvement is the
only key that will help in enhancing the customer experience. In the same way for the
lifestyle hotels provide the customer with a great customer experience, it is important
to improve on the smallest thing associated with the hotel. The location of the hotel
matters a lot, as they help with an instant rejuvenation of the customers. Major of the
lifestyle hotels are situated in the urban city areas, for such hotels it would be better to
establish themselves in areas that provide the customer with a peaceful surrounding
and a beautiful scenic view. The location of the hotel should be around an area that is
near to all the major attractions of that place and should also provide the customers
with a picture-perfect view. If an organization provides a customer with instant
rejuvenation then they provide the customer with an excellent customer experience at
the beginning itself (Sparks and Browning, 2011).
 Better food services.
In the hotel industry, food services matter a lot and they play a vital role in
delivering customer experiences. According to the researches and studies, this has
been formulated that even if the hotels provide the best services in different

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 20
departments, but it provides average food services, then the customer will not be
happy with the organization there will be a customer gap that will emerge. Thus, the
organization should try and improve their food services. Like the W Singapore –
Santosa Cove & Resort, who gave a lot of preference to the appetite of the kids and
thus, through this trait the organization will be able to provide the customer with a
great gastronomical experience. So, for the evolving customers, it is important for the
organizations to improve their food standards and include the latest trend that is
associated with the food or food industry.
Conclusion
With the help of the complete analysis on the lifestyle hotels and their different
attributes, elements, and trends, this can be formulated that the lifestyle hotels have
approaches and strategies that have high potential that should be acquired by the traditional
hotels too. The lifestyle hotel is the perfect example of evolution with the changing times and
the way through which the travel and tourism industry and also the hospitality industry has
evolved using the new technology, new trends, and the new changes in the demography of
the customers, displays a lot of potential in the future too. The travel and tourism industry is
going to witness another demographic change that has been identified by major organizations
of the travel and tourism industry, which is the evolution of the senior citizen as the biggest
travelers in the coming years. This trend has been identified but in the upcoming years, it will
become more prominent and the approaches of the lifestyle hotels and the entire hospitality
industry and the travel and tourism industry will be focused on fulfilling the needs and
desires of this demographic group. The lifestyle hotels have to plan their approaches that will
have the main focus on the particular section of the population, which is the center of
attraction at that point in time in the market.

Lifestyle Hotels & Customer Experience 21
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