Not a lot of hotels are using Twitter well, much less paying attention to Foursquare. Those that do, tend to use it to push out specials and not much else. On a recent family vacation to Chicago, I discovered one hotel that was doing a pretty good job of using these social media tools.
We were staying at the Comfort Suites right in the heart of downtown Chicago. Being the self-avowed foursquare addict I am, I got up in the morning and checked in to the hotel on foursquare. Much to my surprise a short while later I got a tweet from the hotel (@CSChicagoHotel) which said, "Mike, thank you for staying with us! I'm Natalie, here until 5pm – let me know if you need anything."
First off, the fact that they were paying attention to their Foursquare checkins and using it as an opportunity to connect with guests while they are still there was a great step. Then, that they gave me a real human person's name, how long they'd be there and asked if she could help in any way – that's using the tools to turn a customer into a fan. I tweeted back that I loved my suite, we had found it on a discount hotel site and I was very happy with the great value we'd gotten. Natalie tweeted back, "Yay! Happy you found us. Isn't the weather fabulous today?"
Again, they didn't try and sell me anything. Didn't try to get me to sign up for their frequent guest program or anything sales-ish. Instead, she just continued to have a conversation and connect with me further. I hadn't been following them, so I followed back at that point. Then, having seen that I was now a follower, she sent me a DM (direct message) saying, "Mike, so glad you're enjoying the hotel, need anything, feel free to email me" and then gave her email address. I didn't need anything at the time, but it was nice to know I had someone there who cared and would help me out if I needed something.
Later that day, I stopped by the front desk and asked for Natile. She was there working the desk and we had a nice conversation. I told her I was impressed with their grasp of how to use social media tools. She said, yeah most of the hotels around there didn't get it. If they were using it at all, the were sending tweets to guests about their room specials. Which if you're already a guest a room special really isn't helpful.
When I was looking for a good place near the hotel to take the family for dinner on our last evening there, I contacted her and got a good recommendation for someplace good two blocks from the hotel that wasn't expensive but had an interesting menu. It was nice to see a company doing it right.
How about you? Has any company pinged you back after you checked in on Foursquare, Gowalla or Facebook Places? Who has impressed you by engaging you while you were still there?
Mike McClure, New Fan of Comfort Suites Chicago (and no, they didn't give me anything – other than a little attention – to say that)
Hi! very good hotel and interesting idea of union. I believe that the hotel will bring business owners only major profits!