Size does matter, and for sister chains Pan Pacific and Parkroyal, being small means agility and flexibility in service innovation. The Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG) has only 27 properties in Asia and North America, including its newest, Pan Pacific Suzhou.
According to PPHG president and CEO Patrick Imbardelli service consistency and personalisation will continue to be two outstanding factors that customers will demand of their accommodation provider in 2010 and beyond. “People may not know exactly what they want, but they do want to know that we (in the hotel industry) are there for them. And fulfilling this need is what we should always strive to satisfy.
“Unlike other chains, we don’t have 3,000 hotels. Being small in number helps us test things very quickly, and if they don’t succeed, we can change things very quickly as well.”
Both brands have been working on a series of unique guest touchpoints, from check in to room service to laundry and including other aspects, targeted at creating a comfortable and memorable stay. Imbardelli says: "Pan Pacific and Parkroyal have their own USPs (unique selling propositions), but the thread that binds them is that they offer straightforward solutions to the way we serve our guests."
PPHG took over last year the former Sheraton Suzhou Hotel and Towers, an architectural landmark in the city. The Pan Pacific Suzhou is the group's second China hotel after the Pan Pacific Xiamen. A brand new 342-room hotel in Tianjin, scheduled to open in 2011, is next in the pipeline for PPHG.
For more about the company, visit www.pphg.com
Margie T Logarta