How Hotels Can Help Travelers Eat Like Locals
Hospitality is mass personalization...and Josh Sapienza’s favorite form of hospitality - authentic hospitality, begins with seeing each guest as an individual with individual needs and preferences. Sapienza says “The desire to be recognized as unique...treated as something special…acknowledged and appreciated is so hard wired into us and so important on both a conscious AND subconscious level - that a feeling of belonging - or feeling recognized and accepted... can not only impact one’s sense of comfort in a particular place...but positively impact their impression of an entire neighborhood.”
If you recognize this basic human need ...then you may be a fan of American psychologist Abraham Maslow & his Hierarchy of Needs Theory (or at least would be) and it should come as no surprise to learn that a guest’s level of satisfaction with the restaurant(s) they visit during their stay has a direct impact on their overall impression of the hotel where they stay.
*Survey conducted with multiple online private and public groups including: TripAdvisor & Expedia Discussions, Marriot Bonvoy Elite Members, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite, Food & Travel, Mastermind Rental Group, Marriot Bonvoy Insiders, , Nomadbase, The Digital Nomad Community, Airbnb, VRBO / Home Away, Short Term Renter University, SPC Philly Foodies Community, Vacation Rentals by Owner, Digital Nomad Job Community, Foodies of The World, Lehigh Valley Restaurants, New Jersey Foodies, Alternatives to VRBO, Home Away, Flip Key, VRBO renters, Delco Happy Hour, AirBnb Marketplace, Main Line & Beyond, Food, Travel & Lifestyle, Restaurant Owners & Operators, Restaurant & Bar Owners, Operators & Managers, Remote Job Opportunities, Lets Work Remotely: Digital Nomad Jobs.
In fact, in a 2022 survey of more than 200,000 hotel, resort and STR guests, 94.5% of respondents agreed (and 81% of respondents strongly agreed) that, although they know landlords and hotel owners have little to no control over the local dining scene, the level satisfaction with their dining experiences had a direct impact on their overall impression of the hotel where they stayed. and ultimately with the area in general.
Considering the fact that an off-property dining experience can create a positive…or negative association with the property where the guest stays - one might think a great amount of importance would be placed on lodging operators offering highly personalized restaurant recommendations that suit the individual tastes of each guest. And yet the reality is - restaurant recommendations at most hotels and STRs consist of a photo-copied list of local favorites with a brief description of the cuisine type like…”steakhouse”, one to four dollar signs and - if you’re lucky - a generic description of the atmosphere that ranges from “romantic” to “lively” or “family friendly”.
As a hospitality industry veteran with over three decades of experience opening, managing and replicating restaurants for some of the most celebrated restaurateurs in the country, Josh Sapienza knows, first hand, just how much guests appreciate a great recommendation and that “making one depends a great deal on knowing (among other things) what that person likes, dislikes and might be willing to try. In short - it gets a lot easier to make someone happy if you spend a little time getting to know them”. That’s where Paire comes in. That was a large part of the impetus to build Paire, an app that automates the “getting to know you part”.
This restaurant concierge-style app not only organizes your lists of local favorites into an interactive shareable experience but shows each guest their own level of individual compatibility with each of the outlets on any given list. Sapienza says his team is now working on a social version that enables members to see their own taste compatibility with each other and connect in interesting new ways around food.
When you download Paire, you take a series of Personal Taste quizzes and privately rate restaurants to generate your own PersonalTaste Profile. Proprietary taste-matching technology then calculates which restaurants & bars around you best complement your own personal taste profile…it really is, as the website claims, a lot like a dating app for your taste buds.
Paire Appetit, parent company of Paire, is increasing the odds that you’ll be very happy with the next restaurants you try…and in-turn facilitating more personally rewarding experiences for more guests.
At the end of the day...the same way owners and operators understand how scent and memory are so deeply connected, Sapienza says the dining experiences a guest has while staying at a particular property is similarly inexorably linked to their overall traveliong experience and stay.
If you own or manage a lodging property and are still married to that tired old “List of Local Restaurants" to guests - you may just be tempted to take that list into the 21st century by turning it into an interactive digital list and cater to a wider (and younger) demographic of food-loving lifestyle travelers.
3 out of 4 Americans identify as “foodies” So…whether you’re traveling for work, taking a family vacation, or attending a conference out-of-town — we all have that deep desire to belong - to live - even if just for a moment like a local there. Which means, for 3 out of every 4 hotel guests, a big part of living like a local - is eating like a local.
Kunal Kerai | Staff Writer UbiquityAdvisors.com