Alternate accommodation a challenge to hospitality bigwigs? We ask the Chairman of The Claridges, Suresh Nanda

When planning a getaway or the next travel destination, visitors are often torn between choices to stay. With the hospitality sector brimming with experiences people would love to indulge in, at the back oftheir minds, people also tend to wonder if the money spent on a fancy stay is really worthy.

While the alternate means of accommodation such as Airbnb are cheaper and more personalized, what they lack is the ability to provide an experience of outré care and luxe that one receives in a hotel.

Hotels provide a great juxtaposition of luxury and comfort; they have the ability to provide not only a strong sense of comfort and trust of authenticity that they have earned over the years, but also the opportunity to engage with guests on a more professional level.

”An attitudinal shift and the willingness of any hotel brand to provide superlative stay has made the industry transcend beyond being just a safe haven, butalso a short yet vibrant experience of the city where they extravagantly situate,”says Suresh Nanda, who has been leading The Claridges Group of Hotels, India, as its chairman.

Being in the industry for almost two decades, he has experienced the change in modern hospitality offerings and customer sentiments over the years.

Remarking upon the competition posed by alternate accommodation, the hotelier believes that the hospitality industry is ahead of the curve inexplicably. “Needless to say that a hotel is a holistic experience of comfort, fine dining, and warmth expression. Besides the unassured safety and standards, alternate accommodations often see the guests complaining of the certainty of stay, and the reality being completely different than the images posted online,” adds Suresh Nanda.

Also, the customer service of a hotel is matchless. Such top-notch upkeep cannot be expected out of alternate accommodations.

For today’s travel generation, hotels try to recreate their fanciest imagination. Want to stay underwater? Up high where you can actually touch the sky? Or just a small retreat away from the city within the city? Hotels of today havegot everything covered.

The opportunity to sleep at the most quirky, luxurious or frankly odd places in the world, is something no one would want to miss, and most certainly cannot be brought through alternate accommodation.

Hotels are usually situated in the perfect locations for sightseeing, business meetings and of course the restaurants and bars.

So, will alternate accommodation pose a challenge to hospitality bigwigs? Most certainly not, believes Suresh Nanda, and quite fittingly most peoplewould agree. We love the comfort a hotel room can give us, which is unmatched!

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