PHOENIX—From stargazing to bonfires to on-site concerts, the latest hotel trend is to offer travelers special promotions to enhance the guest experience. On the cutting edge of this practice is Pyramid Hotel Group, who was instrumental in introducing a series of events and guest amenities at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel to capitalize on the value of their properties.
“We view the importance of programming both in season and off season as essential,” says Gary Sims, SVP of Pyramid Hotel Group.
Pyramid—along with hotel manager Hilton—created several successful events at the Biltmore. In-season, it added Hollywood and Wine—a food and wine festival—and Holidays in the Desert—a holiday-themed events throughout the resort—to its regular offerings. Off-season, the hotel started a Concert Series, which uses available meeting space as a concert venue.
Pyramid's philosophy of programming was initially focused on its resort portfolio. Over time, it has expanded specialty programming to include many of its urban and commercial properties where appropriate. Pyramid has always viewed programming as an essential part of the guest experience and not necessarily as standalone profit generators.
“Programming in season is focused on enhancing the guest experience and in some cases, a value-add to give us the ability to achieve rate premiums,” says Sims. “Off-season programming is used to maintain the consistency of the guest experience and also create a draw for incremental occupancy.” Other successful Pyramid programming includes a wine and food festival and skating rink at Boston Harbor Hotel.
Sims notes that it's important for the programming to be individualized for each property and be relevant to the core customer. It should also be integrated into the normal operation of the hotel or resort. If not executed properly, in terms of simplicity and consistent execution, programming events can be a negative instead of a positive experience.
From a marketing standpoint, Sims underlines that the programming must be communicated to the target customers via website, activities calendars, emails, blogs and public relations efforts to promote programming upfront as a draw rather than once a guest has checked in. On property, the communications should be highly visible and displayed with fun and excitement.
Some examples of Pyramid's resort programming include:
- “Dive In” movies by the pool
- Scavenger hunts
- Character breakfast
- Scotch and cigar dinners
- Telescopes for star-gazing parties
- Bonfires
- S'mores night
- Face painting
- Beach yoga
- Ice Bars
Some examples of Pyramid's commercial hotel programming include:
- Skating rink
- Wine and food festival
- DJ pool parties
- Lounge entertainment
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
