Yeoh Siew Hoon feels hotels are losing the edge when it comes to catering to new customers in their local communities.
I remember a time when hotels were the heart of local, social life.
Growing up in Penang, the name Eastern & Oriental Hotel was mentioned in hushed, revered tones. To attend a function at the hotel, even as rundown as it was, was considered the height of prestige.
I remember, as a teenager, going to a disco in the hotel ballroom and getting blindingly drunk – my first taste of the evils of alcohol – and feeling real proud of it.
It was like coming of age, five star style.
Then Rasa Sayang opened on Batu Ferringhi beach and attention changed direction. Weddings and prestigious social events were held there. The disco, Cinta, was the in place to be for the young and beautiful crowd – at least we thought we were.
It was an aspiration among locals to stay, dine or drink at the resort.
Throughout the late ‘70s and ‘80s, international branded hotels remained the centre of activity for local communities across the region. In cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Manila and Singapore, these hotels were considered places of prestige by local communities.
But as cities have developed, and societies have evolved in the region, I believe international hotels have lost their position in local societies.
True, in certain cities, they are still the place for weddings, banquets and high-brow social and political functions – but my feeling is they have lost their "common" touch.
A place where normal, everyday folks – young, urban professionals or friends just wanting to meet and have a good time – can feel comfortable in, and feel like it's their second or third home.
Perhaps it's not a market these hotels want anyway, but I feel it's a shame that hotels have lost their connection to the younger generation and that the first place that comes to mind as a meeting point is no longer a hotel but a café or bar somewhere else.
Anywhere but a hotel…
My feeling is, hotels have lost the edge in catering to the next generation of local customers to the standalone wining and dining places and coffee clubs that have opened up throughout our region.
My nieces and nephews, living in Malaysia and Singapore, for example, would not be caught dead sitting in a hotel lobby lounge in their city.
Even I, who have grown up with hotels, avoid them in my hometown, unless I have no choice. I find them generally stiff, formal and rigid. I hate it especially when they are hosting big, international functions and so much fuss is made over local VIPs and the foreign visitors that you feel like a second class citizen.
I find they are simply not customer-friendly to the new, empowered mobile worker of today.
In Singapore, if you go to most hotel lobby lounges to meet or do business, you have to jump through several hoops to get wireless access. You need a password and then you have to pay ridiculous charges set by the hour or by the day. (If you are not a hotel guest, how can you buy by the day?)
Yet you can go to any coffee place in town (Starbucks, Coffee Club, Coffee Bean, Spinelli's) and you get very comfortable seats, free wireless access, friendly staff, heaps of newspapers and magazines for you to read and you don't feel like you're being watched all the time by staff who are counting the cups of coffee you are having.
At a place called Book Café, there are management books and novels in addition to newspapers and magazines.
In some coffee bars, you get a free copy of International Herald Tribune with one cuppa.
Just last month, a business partner scheduled a meeting in a hotel lobby. I arrived earlier and ordered coffee and a glass of water. When my appointment arrived, he ordered a glass of water.
He was told, "We don't serve water."
I looked at my glass of water and asked, "What is this, then?"
The staff answered, "That's because you ordered coffee and you can then get water. You have to order something before we can serve coffee."
I gave my friend my glass of water.
Is it any wonder that mobile warriors prefer to meet and do their business elsewhere?
Most hoteliers I speak to stress the importance of the local market to their food and beverage revenues. They all say they want their hotels to be the heart of the local community – the place to see, be and be seen.
If that's the case, then I think some rethinking needs to be done and some processes need to be reviewed to make hotels more customer-friendly for the new generation of local customers who demand empowerment, are spoilt for choice and are discerning with their spending.
For me personally, I'd rather go to a place with less marble, less process and more sense, more heart.
The SHY Report
A regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry by one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, Yeoh Siew Hoon.
Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her company's mission is "Content, Communication, Connection". She is a writer, speaker, facilitator, trainer and events producer. She is also an author, having published "Around Asia In 1 Hr: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries". Her motto is ‘free to do, and be'. Contacts: Tel: 65-63424934, Mobile: 65-96801460Check out Siew Hoon's new website, www.shy-connection.com, which features a newly-launched e-zine with a difference. 
