Best Practice - Case Study: The Scarlet Hotel

Case Study: The Scarlet Hotel The Scarlet Hotel has overcome its doubters to forge a successful and unique product which places sustainability, people and the community at its very heart.

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The Scarlet Hotel The Scarlet Hotel has overcome its doubters to forge a successful and unique product which places sustainability, people and the community at its very heart.

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Case Study: The Scarlet Hotel

Setting the scene The Scarlet Hotel is a multiaward winning, luxury, adultsonly, eco-hotel and spa on the north coast of Cornwall with sea view bedrooms, cliff top hot tubs and beautiful food. Achieving consistent growth since its opening in September 2009, the hotel now employs up to 90 members of staff (including some with shared roles at their sister hotel - Bedruthan Hotel and Spa), boasts low staff turnover, outstanding occupancy - maintaining year-round levels of over 82% - with a significant number of returning guests and a reduced carbon footprint.

The Scarlet is the brain child of three sisters who, starting with a blank sheet of paper partly drew up a hotel that they themselves would like to stay at - a combination of really good food, tranquil environment and a place that engaged with wellbeing - something that is very important to them. Strongly committed to sustainability, the sisters set about redefining what the hotel industry regards as luxury, positioning people at the centre of the hotel’s offering, rather than material excess.

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Faced by challenges associated with a ground-breaking ecobuild at a time when such techniques were relatively untried and untested, together with a bureaucratic system that was equally unfamiliar with such practices, The Scarlet Hotel has overcome its doubters to forge a successful and unique product which places sustainability, people and the community at its very heart.

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Approach REDEFINING INDUSTRY STANDARDS At the beginning, the more the sisters looked at the luxury hotel market the more they felt that it was bloated in its success. They concluded that the only scale that was recognised as good by the industry was five-star lavish luxury that, in their view, bordered on obscene.

It was defined by huge meals, chocolates on the pillow, more alcohol, more towels - changed more often, more toiletries and bigger beds - all of which they saw as a bit excessive.

In comparison, the sisters identified luxury as actually simplifying experiences and wanted to deliver unobtrusive and laid back hospitality, but that was very caring. To achieve this, they needed to redefine what the hotel industry should be valuing and create an establishment that put people at its heart and not just the idea of giving ‘stuff’. So that’s what they set about doing with The Scarlet.

UNDERSTANDING THE KEY TO HOSPITALITY For the sisters, the core of hospitality was epitomised by when they stayed with their grandmother as children; she always knew what they liked best - she would cook their favourite meal and had their favourite sweets in her sweet tin. It was this level of caring that they wanted to achieve at The Scarlet and as a result, the hotel recognises the importance of relationships and giving people time to reconnect with each other.

“We set about redefining what the luxury hotel market should be valuing and tried to create a hotel that really puts people at its heart.”

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Case Study: The Scarlet Hotel

INVESTING IN ITS STAFF As a company, The Scarlet Hotel has a very strong ethical philosophy which extends to its team. By incorporating these core values at the centre of the recruitment process, the hotel identifies individuals that are interested to learn about ethics and sustainability and are caring people. The Scarlet appreciates that it can always teach its staff to understand how a business works or how to serve a table, whereas a deeply caring nature is not something that can be achieved via a two-day training course. The result is what the hotel guests say; many do not particularly choose The Scarlet for its sustainability, although some very much do, they just think of it as a great hotel and they can’t quite put their finger on why. The Scarlet recognises that so much of what it does is and rightly so, invisible to its guests and that feel-good factor the guests describe is created by its teams.

“Sometimes you are so busy doing stuff or buying stuff that you can actually forget to spend time just important about each other, whether that’s couples, friends, parents and children. We felt this was something that was important for The Scarlet to address.”

ATTRACTING THE RIGHT GUESTS

Staff members are happy, there is low turnover, individuals stay and grow with the business and there is a lot of internal promotion. The company puts much time and effort into trying to develop its team in ways that are unrelated to their work, for example staff can apply for grants for things they have always wanted to do, whether 5

that is beekeeping or sailing. It is very much a business ethos not to just develop people in one facet of their life, their working life, because they will not be a well-rounded individual. Instead, The Scarlet looks to do something more radical and develop a whole person, giving them opportunities in lots of different ways, making them happier and feeling more rewarded. The business as a whole is benefitting as it is growing lots of interesting people who have things to talk about and as a result the whole level of conversation around the building has changed.

While creating The Scarlet Hotel, the sisters spent much time thinking about what mattered to them and therefore what mattered to the type of guests they wanted to visit the hotel. As independent hoteliers, they appreciated that they must like their guests in order to make going into work enjoyable for themselves and their teams. From early on, the aim was to actively encourage people who were thoughtful and caring and quietly discourage those that didn’t treat people well and were quite thoughtless.

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“You have to like your guests, that’s really important, especially for independent hoteliers.”

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BUILDING PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STAFF AND GUESTS There are hotels that will record what paper guests have or whether they request water in their room, for example, and there are hotel systems that support this. The Scarlet in comparison aims to deliver a more personal level of service through interaction between its guests and members of staff. The hotel actually avoids recording too much as it wants to feel more spontaneous and instead looks to give its teams time to have conversations with guests so they share meaningful things and develop these relationships more naturally. People like talking to people who are interested in them and vice versa and The Scarlet promotes a positive atmosphere for both staff and guests by allowing time for them to converse.

“To operate sustainability, you can’t operate utterly inefficiently, but we try to build time into people’s working day for them to talk and engage, whilst still being efficient.”

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY The hotel’s guest gifting scheme supports a Community Fund which awards grants to community projects such as an automated external defibrillator for the Community First Responders. Locals are encouraged to use the Community Cinema at the Scarlet’s sister hotel, Bedruthan and neighbours, who are enjoying their twilight years, are regularly invited to a complimentary coffee morning.

“Sustainability is deeply important to us – we always wanted to have a business that was rooted in the heart of the community.”

SOURCING PRODUCTS LOCALLY Buying local produce not only supports its sustainable credentials, but makes sense for business too. The hotel questioned - why import vegetables, meat or fish thousands of miles when there is excellent produce grown locally, which is fresher and tastes nicer? Recognising that there is such a mass market out there in which big chain stores offer the same products throughout the country, The Scarlet understood that to be sustainable and develop loyal customers, it had to offer its guests something they could not get elsewhere. By sourcing its produce locally, the hotel delivers its promise of quality food and makes it stand out amongst the competition. It also means conversations between staff and guests are easier, as the team knows about local things and can talk confidently about them.

Taking this one step further, The Scarlet sources other hotel products from local suppliers, including soap which is made from local seaweed and lavender. Utilising its growing knowledge, learning from past experience and through research, The Scarlet now aims to lead by example and sets its ambitions on changing the world through sustainable practices.

“Put together something that your guests think is different, otherwise they will go and stay in a chain hotel which is more convenient for them.”

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Case Study: The Scarlet Hotel

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL The Scarlet Hotel remains committed to developing every detail of its product, regardless of how insignificant this first seems. The team considers extensively a decision that most people would not even think about, like what to serve for breakfast, sighting a huge debate around whether to serve orange juice as it did not feel sustainable (given the fruit is only imported). As a result the hotel switched to locally produced apple juice, by including all staff members in the decision-making process it meant they were passionate about the topic and could better explain the reasons to guests, who in turn understood and supported it.

KEEP EVOLVING By its own admission The Scarlet is not finished, in fact it will always be an unfinished project - partly because the owners are all perfectionists and partly because it is always evolving. Developments that are being worked on now will make the business different in a year’s time, but its core philosophy will remain the same.

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“Developing your product takes time and research, but it gives you the joy of believing in what you do.”

“We recycle paper so I am always drawing up ideas on the back of old envelopes.”

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Results CONGRATULATIONS!!

Multi-award winning eco hotel and spa

z z z 82% or

above occupancy rate!

90

Year round, since opening

Members of staff, with a very low staff turnover

% High percentage of returning guests

100%

UK renewable energy for electricity

Consistent growth since opening

proving to be a really successful business model 8

Case Study: The Scarlet Hotel

Challenges and lessons learnt

“There was a huge worry when we first opened that we had designed a hotel that we wanted to stay in, but we might have been the only three people that liked it.�

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BREAKING NEW BOUNDARIES One of the biggest challenges for The Scarlet Hotel from the outset was that it aimed to push the boundaries of what was possible in terms of an eco-build at that time. No British building firms could achieve the eco standards they demanded, so The Scarlet engaged a German eco-builder and assembled a team of architects and specialist consultants. Many of the experts involved were very sceptical or worried, probably quite rightly so, because the project hoped to achieve something that was not tried and tested and there was no guarantee that it would work. The hotel for example has one of the first natural coastal pools. The planting for these pools had been tested in land, so it was understood which reeds and plants would work as filtration, but on an extreme coast where trees do not grow, the team had no idea if the chosen species would survive the salt winds.

“A lot of the consultants that were involved were very sceptical or worried, probably quite rightly so, because what we wanted to do was not tried and tested.”

OVERCOMING BUREAUCRACY The hotel ran into a lot of bureaucratic difficulties. A week after opening, The Scarlet was full and everyone was around the pool and the Environmental Health Officer arrived and demanded that the hotel closed its pools or it would be shut down altogether because its water standards were not up to those of a chlorinated pool. Faced with having to do away with one of the key selling points of the hotel, its environmental pools, The Scarlet got in touch with natural pools in Germany who sent bacterial reports in support. This evidence proved unsuccessful however, as German standards were not recognised by the British authorities. In the end the Serpentine Swimming Club in London proved to be the hotel’s saviour as it had kept historical bacterial records and was able to step in and convince environmental health that natural pools are safe and are excellent for health and wellbeing because they do not contain chemicals.

The Scarlet had to be prepared to take a stand and risk closure in order to remain true to its business ethos. This continues to a certain extent today as, like all businesses, The Scarlet is faced with a health and safety culture, so much of which is good, but on the other hand is mostly driven by insurance and therefore errs on the side of caution to protect against litigation and can as a result stifle guests in terms of experiences. In response the hotel often looks at how it can free people up to do things such as wild swimming with an individual life guard. The Scarlet is currently developing a walking programme which will be launched in the autumn to encourage visitors to see the less well known features of Cornwall at dawn, dusk and at night. Challenging office workers’ 9 to 5 culture, the hotel wants to remind people that there are different times of the day that are fun to explore.

“At the time it was incredibly difficult we had just opened, we were full, everyone was around the pool and we were told that if we didn’t close the pool they would close the hotel down.”

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Case Study: The Scarlet Hotel

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Your people are your most important asset when it comes to running a sustainable business - ensure they understand the ethos and can communicate it to guests and local people.

Engage your local community - regardless of the size of your business, or how long it has been established, community engagement is vital. Not only does it open up new lines of business, such as local functions, it develops pride amongst your staff, making them feel differently about the way they work and it encourages goodwill and positive word-of-mouth, which in the age of social media is vital.

Maintain your integrity throughout - customers see through ‘green wash’ even if they are not particularly interested in sustainable thinking. They will notice if you are trying to cut costs by not washing towels as often under the pretences of being environmentally friendly, but then do not offer recycling facilities or leave heaters on all night. The key at the heart of a truly sustainable business is brand integrity, this is how you develop loyalty and customers that understand your values, they will approach you in a different way as a result.

Buying locally makes you different, stand out amongst the competition and develop a sustainable approach by sourcing your produce from local suppliers.

A sustainable building can help cut energy output - a big outlay for any tourism business. The Scarlet Hotel costs less than half the energy bill of a similar sized non-sustainable hotel - a huge saving.

When considering sustainability, thinking small will make a big difference - don’t get overwhelmed by change, instead focus on one little thing at a time. For example look at your breakfast table, next at the bathroom and then how your staff travel to work. Start with the small things and this is what your guests will notice.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE SCARLET HOTEL Contact: Emma Stratton Email: emma.stratton@scarlethotel.co.uk Website: www.scarlethotel.co.uk

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