The hotel experience begins long before check-in.
It starts the moment someone discovers a hotel, when an image sparks their curiosity or a phrase makes them stop for a few seconds.
From that point on, they begin to form an idea of what they will find.
Think of the elegance of the Ritz Paris, the spectacular nature of the Burj Al Arab or the world of associations surrounding The Plaza in New York. These hotels have stories of their own, but they have also developed narratives that have turned those stories into part of their value.
They are, of course, not the only luxury hotels in the world, yet they remain points of reference. What sets them apart lies partly in everything we have learned to imagine about them.
Their narratives are as recognisable as their service and as refined as the experiences they promise.
A Single Word Can Change Perception
Words are part of that experience.
There is a difference between talking about a room and describing a retreat, or between a terrace with a view and a place from which to watch the sunset.
This is not about using more sophisticated language. It is about choosing the words that best explain what makes each hotel special.
Choosing one word over another changes what we imagine. It can create desire or curiosity, or have precisely the opposite effect if it comes across as pretentious or overly forceful.
When we talk about hospitality, imagination plays an important role. Before booking, guests have not yet experienced the service, slept in the bed or stepped through the door of their room.
What they have is a promise. Communication gives that promise shape.
It Is Not All About Luxury. It Is About Personalisation.
A strong narrative does not need to appeal to everyone.
In fact, it probably should not.
We do not all look for the same experience when we travel. One person may want tranquillity; another, adventure. For some, luxury lies in the service. For others, it might be found in the food or simply in the opportunity to switch off.
The experience is where a hotel’s value lies, but that value does not mean the same thing to everyone.
That is why communicating effectively inevitably starts with knowing who we are talking to.
The choice of words, tone, and messages is key to ensuring that the people who can truly enjoy a property see themselves reflected in it.
The Rise of Destination Hotels: Can You Picture Yourself There?
The importance of narrative becomes even clearer when we look at destination hotels.
For a long time, a hotel was simply where we stayed while exploring a new city. Today, more and more properties are becoming reasons to travel in their own right.
The Icehotel in Sweden turns ice into architecture, accommodation and experience. Skylodge Adventure Suites in Peru offers the chance to sleep suspended above the Sacred Valley.
In cases like these, the hotel stops being just one part of the journey and becomes one of the main reasons for making it.
Guests do not simply want to know what they will find.
They want to picture themselves there.
They want to imagine what it would be like to wake up surrounded by ice, or to have tea in a place that Coco Chanel herself once called home.
Narrative does not replace the experience. It is the first encounter with it.
Not Everything Comes Down to a Single Word
Choosing well means knowing where, when and how to communicate.
Every channel has its own language, and every stage of the guest journey calls for a different conversation.
But they should all be part of the same story.
We should not forget that a brand is not built solely through a logo, a claim or a campaign.
It is built through every interaction, every word, every image and every decision.
Communication Is Translation
As specialists in hotel communication, we see every project as an exercise in translation.
We translate a hotel’s identity into words, its values into messages and its experiences into expectations.
But to translate well, we first need to listen. We listen to the hotel to understand what it wants to say, and to the guest to understand what they expect to find.
Only then can we choose the right word, tone, channel and message.
Not to say more, but to say exactly what needs to be said. It may seem obvious, yet this step is often underestimated or simply overlooked.
It is often said that a good translation should have exactly the same effect on its target audience as the original has on its own. The same principle applies here: every type of guest should be able to think, “This is the place for me.”
Communication should never be underestimated. After all, choosing the right words means choosing how we introduce ourselves to the world.