Site Planning with the Heart of an Innkeeper

BY TODD WYNNE-PARRY

One true absolute in the world of outdoor hospitality is there is zero consistency from site to site. The variables are many and these idiosyncrasies have a major impact on overall site planning. Therefore, each new development’s site planning requires a “re-invention of the wheel”. To make this re-invention process a little less daunting, we advise clients to focus on three major areas of concern: revenue generation, guest experience and service provision. In a nutshell, we want to make sure we are maximizing the revenue generation of the site, providing the best possible guest experience all while setting up the operator with a design to successfully deliver the services required. This approach comes from the heart of an innkeeper which is applicable whether you are setting up your house for an AirBnB rental or developing a five-star wellness resort.

Each site has the potential to generate some level of revenue. The task for the site planner, as Michelangelo would say, is to release this revenue potential from the site. Going through the traditional revenue lines of a hospitality enterprise (rooms, food & beverage, minor operating departments, etc.) provides an initial guide this task. Obviously, you need to have a strong understanding of who your guest will be. Knowing the percentage of couples, families, corporate and social groups should be the foundation for these design decisions. In the case of rooms, the site should be designed with areas for romantic couples, active families, and social groups. Ideally the site would have opposite ends or areas oriented towards those specific demand segments. Perhaps a more serene area for couples, a more interactive area for families, or contained cul-de-sacs for groups. If there is an area of the site that has water frontage or vistas, these rooms will fill first and command a higher room rate. The amount of accommodation units here should be maximized. In zones that perhaps have fewer aesthetic qualities, guest will pay more for generous private space, such as suites, two-bedrooms, or a larger outdoor gathering space. Given the rooms department provides most of your profit, it makes sense to start with this area first.

Once the rooms configuration of the site has been determined, then we move to public space. Here it makes sense to focus on areas that can generate revenue. For instance, a pool is expensive to build and takes up lots of real estate, so adding food & beverage service will offset this cost. Front desks are purely utilitarian and do not generate revenue. Therefore, an adjacent wine or coffee bar can both generate revenue and share employees. Your glamping venue will have two crush times, early morning before guest go do their activity and, in the evening when they return. This is when you have an opportunity to create space that will help your revenue generation. An activity desk with merchandise gives people purchasing options while waiting for pick-up or when planning adventures. Grab and go food & beverage options could also be incorporated into this space. If there is demand for all day food & beverage or spa facilities on site, space should be designated accordingly. It is equally important to make these venues accessible for outside patrons to bolster revenue during lower occupancy periods.

Depending on the size of the site and your market, providing well designed outdoor and maybe even indoor event space can make the difference between profitable and unprofitable years. This space should be designed also to allow for outside patrons to come and partake in the event as easily as in-house guests. It should also take into consideration the ease by which caterers and other service providers can access the site.

The guest experience will be mostly formed by the destination, the experiences it provides, the accommodation and the public space on site. However, the guest experience can be significantly enhanced by approaching the site planning through the eyes of the guest. This starts at the arrival experience. While not all properties can have the “wow” moment that world class resorts achieve, stepping in the shoes of the guest can help identify potential areas for improvement. Role play as a typical guest driving into or walking around the property. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Feel? Planning so the answers to these questions are positive should be a goal in the site planning.

When working with clients on this issue, we like to provide options for experience enhancing facilities that range from very inexpensive, moderately expensive, and more expensive. At the lower end of the cost range providing walking or biking trails, bocce courts, fire pits, and day use picnic areas can add greatly to the guest experiences while requiring little or no labor. In the middle range installing a BMX/ MTB pump track on otherwise unusable land or yoga platforms in serene settings can add great value. At the higher end, as discussed above, spas, restaurants, rooftop bars and pools can be expensive but should generate revenue while providing both in-house guests and outside patrons alike a range of experiences. A key to continuously enhancing the guest experience is to listen to your guests through guest comment cards and casual on property interviews. Many times, how you anticipate or perceive guests will use your site and facilities is different to how they actually use them. The last part of enhancing guest experience is the inconspicuous insertion of service areas and service delivery.

Equally important to the revenue generation and guest experience approaches is the incorporation of an effective but discreet service area and service delivery plan. In modern luxury hotels and resorts this has been perfected to a near Disneyland level of perfection. However, for a glamping development hiding employee entrances, service vehicle access, and delivery of operating supplies and equipment to guest service areas can be much more difficult. Remote locations, site size, detached accommodation units, open space, and infrastructure issues tend lift the challenge.

The goal for the service plan should be to allow the operator to effectively provide service to the guests at a level commensurate with the brand promise. At the same time, the aim should be to keep the interaction between guests and service areas and vehicles to a bare minimum. Simple things like having a designated service entrance and corridor for vehicles and placing service areas behind landscaped berms, bushes or walls can go a long way to minimizing the guests ever seeing or hearing the service provision. In addition, coordinating delivery times to when guests are off property will help reduce guest/ service experience. For events, catering service areas adjacent to service delivery routes will help event and in-house guests avoid seeing or hearing kitchen and set up sounds.

As you can see, these three site planning considerations work in conjunction with one another. While this is not an easy approach to take, the result will pay off in guest satisfaction, employee engagement and ultimately enhanced profitability. Clever and intuitive site planning in a glamping facility may seem like genius to some guests, but you will know it to be just how the heart of an innkeeper works.

A seasoned leader in the hospitality industry, Todd has over 30 years of hotel development experience, having held senior leadership positions at several major hotel brands and most recently AutoCamp and Two Roads Hospitality. A dual-citizen of the US and Australia, Wynne-Parry has lived and worked in the U.S., Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom. He was instrumental in the development efforts for IHG, Starwood and Marriott in the Asia Pacific region and for Two Roads Hospitality globally. He began his career as a hotel consultant in the San Diego office of Laventhol & Horwath, the predecessor to Horwath HTL. He is now Managing Director of Horwath HTL and leads the Outdoor Hospitality practice for North America. Horwath HTL is the largest independent hospitality consultancy with 52 offices worldwide.

Todd earned an MBA from Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management and sits on the advisory council of the American Glamping Association. In his spare time, Todd enjoys fly fishing and exploring the western US in his 1953 Airstream.