H&C News recently reviewed The Vineyard, 5 star hotel and ‘restaurant with rooms’, and recently announced winner of the coveted Decanter and Laurent-Perrier Award for Restaurant of the Year 2013. Which makes it the perfect time to talk with Anthony Cox, the man running the ship, to learn more about his team’s successful formula…
H&C News – The experience of guests whilst staying at a hotel has many touch points, how do you ensure that the overall guest experience at every touch point is of the standard your guests expect and is consistent?
Anthony Cox – We focus on making excellence a habit throughout the team; we are always looking at each step of the guest’s stay and, as a team, we challenge each other on how to improve. Feedback is so important within the team that we openly share the good and the not so good, focussing on continuous improvement. You can have the newest, most up to date and highly rated property, but when it comes down to it great people make great hotels and restaurants.
H&C News – What do you believe constitutes ‘excellent’ guest experience in a hotel?
Anthony Cox – As a guest, everything happens for you without prompting, and interspersed with some genuine moments of delight. From a hotelier’s point of view, it’s about anticipating the needs of every individual.
H&C News – Are guest expectations changing in your hotel?
Anthony Cox – Yes, I think they are. Expectations continue to grow and it’s all about experiences now and increasingly a genuine interest in the “soul” of the business. And we are also discovering that many of our guests have a real thirst for learning. Knowledge is cool at the moment: guests want to know where ingredients are from, when to decant wine, and to take a good look at our cellars. Food and drink has probably the highest of profiles now in the UK, which for us is great as we love to tell our wine story from where we started – with the Michael family owning the Peter Michael Winery in California – to the number of different wines we have in our cellars – 3,000 and 30,000 bottles at last count!
H&C News – Is your hotel experience in keeping with the home, business and lifestyle experience of your guests?
Anthony Cox – Technology is moving at such a fast pace, which means that a majority of hotels are having to play catch up. There was once a time when guests staying in hotels were ‘wowed’ by a large TV. Whereas now, because most of us have the latest technology in our homes and offices, we expect hotels to have the same, if not better. This is a challenge for the hotel industry as having the most current technology in all rooms is a costly business across multiple rooms and also with unpredictable demand, but it’s something that we cannot ignore if we are to meet guests’ expectations.
Also, with the changes in people’s lifestyles, we have seen a real shift in the need for all day and informal dining; something we have responded to with the opening of our California Bar this year. It’s open all day with 100 wines by the glass, and we also have a daily blind tasting for all of our guests to get involved in. Our restaurant menu has been designed so that individuals can create their own tasting menus, with as many dishes as they like in any combination.
H&C News – How important is personal service, booking, checking in, room service, restaurant, concierge?
Anthony Cox – All of the above are critical at our level and it’s all about detail. The first interaction that a guest has with us is so important, whether that be viewing our website, talking to one of our reservations team, seeing an advert in a newspaper, or even engaging with us over social media. Now, when our guests physically get here, that first 20 to 30 minutes of the experience has to be perfect. So, from the moment they enter the driveway, to the warmth of welcome, to being whisked to the comfort of their room with a glass of wine served just right (the ‘amuse bouche’ from the cellar as we call it), we want them to feel completely comfortable and looking forward to the next night or two at The Vineyard.
H&C News – What is the most important element of your hotel’s delivery of guest experience?
Anthony Cox – A focus on the individual.
H&C News – Do you measure guest experience and if so how?
Anthony Cox – We love to receive feedback, measure this in a number of ways and take it very seriously. We keep a close eye on all of the review sites and get in touch personally. We, of course, will always receive immediate feedback from guests staying in the hotel! If there are any issues, we will address them in a positive way, communicate it to the team, and update our guests’ history to ensure any small nuance is captured to enrich future visits to the hotel. The great thing about our business is you can see, feel and hear a great restaurant service, a special afternoon tea or a brilliant wine dinner, and measure it instantly.
H&C News – Do you anticipate guest expectations changing in the next 1-2 years?
Anthony Cox –There is huge transparency of information out there for customers now. Guests have had plenty of time now to perfect their skills in researching where to eat, sleep (and drink wine!) and this is levelling the playing field for independent hotels and restaurants competing with the big corporate brands.
There is a real trend towards guests engaging with the story of a business and it’s becoming more about the credibility of what you do in your location as opposed to big brand loyalty. It’s great that the platforms are there now to get your message out quickly and innovatively to both current and potential guests who are genuinely expecting a more personal and bespoke interaction every step of the way.
Anthony Cox – With over 20 years experience in the hospitality industry, Anthony has spent the last five years working for The Vineyard Group, firstly as the General Manager of four star Donnington Valley Hotel and Spa and more recently as Hotel Director for Donnington Valley and The Vineyard, a five star Relais and Chateaux hotel known for its unique food and wine experience.
With over 30,000 bottles in their cellars, 3,000 different wines and over 100 wines by the glass, The Vineyard has wines to suit all food, moods and palates.
A St Julian Scholar, Anthony is also a mentor for The Savoy Society Mentoring Scheme and supports students throughout their undergraduate hospitality degrees.
We would like to thank Anthony for his time and insight into the award winning guest experience management culture at The Vineyard.
Rowan Crowley, Editor & Publisher, H&C News
More on The Vineyard’s awards – The Vineyard named Restaurant of the Year
Our own verdict – Ten out of ten awarded for guest experience
A great wine story – A gem of a story about wine, and it goes like this…