From revenue to reviews, there's a lot to learn from the winners of the recently announced Gourmet Traveler Magazine 2017 Hotel Awards– namely the 2017 Best Hotel Minibar winner, COMO The Treasury hotel in Western Australia.

Here are our 3 key takeaways from the land down under to help you get up over your apprehension as you develop and perfect your in-room amenity program:

 

#1. Merchandise Your Minibar Mix

Presentation of your in-room amenity selection to guests is equal parts art and science, and the COMO hotel seems to have perfected this ratio with their artful in-room display of local beverages and snacks. Having a cool minibar with custom minibar products hidden away in a closet is unfortunately not going to entice (or impress) your hotel guests. An inventive and carefully arranged product display in a central location gives your guests the opportunity to immediately and repeatedly engage with your selection of in-room minibar products. This promotes indulgence, encourages in-room convenience purchases, and ultimately increases your revenue.

 

#2. Stand By Your Brand

In addition to the in-room gourmet Illy coffee and JING tea offered, COMO also seamlessly extends their hotel brand experience through their custom in-room minibar product offerings. Offering the same generic snacks available at the corner mini-mart can sell your hotel brand experience short, but custom designed products become an automatic extension of your hotel brand, ensuring that your guests receive a consistent and high-quality brand experience throughout every aspect of their stay. Offering an interesting and creative mix of custom minibar products is the optimal way to provide memorable brand experiences that connect with your guests and dramatically increase guest loyalty.

 

#3. Elevate Guest Experience

It's no accident that COMO The Treasury hotel has an overwhelming amount of 5-star Trip Advisor ratings, or that they were named #2 Best Hotel in the World by Condé Nast. A hotel’s in-room amenity program and minibar style can either delight or disappoint, and is often a factor when it comes to overall guest experiences. COMO’s creative selection of local and regional gourmet minibar snacks has been thoughtfully customized to provide a unique luxury experience and reflect the hotel’s style while also creating additional souvenir purchasing opportunities for guests. Win-win.

 

There are a million ways to create optimal guest experiences, but COMO The Treasury hotel is right on the money when it comes to developing an in-room minibar amenity program that leads to increased brand awareness, higher satisfaction ratings, repeat guest stays, and generally happier (and well fed) travelers. Oh, and internationally recognized industry awards. Because who doesn’t like those? Congrats again, COMO.