Blog 7: Signature Services

Satisfactory services can make or break a hotel stay, extraordinary services can make a good stay a great stay, but unique services can make a stay unforgettable. With growing competition and a race to provide distinguishable services, most hotels are identifying ways of pleasing guests with rememberable services.

In addition to super lux amenities, good food and great interiors of the hotel, it is the memories made at the venue that make a guest return. Below is a list of some of the most unique services provided by hotels these days.

1- As an experimental PR stunt, visitors to Ibis hotel locations in Geneva and Zurich had the option to buy a room package that includes a hired Instagram influencer to ostensibly let the vacationers take a break from social media, while still maintaining a jealousy-inducing presence online. The $90-and-up service is called 'Relax We Post'. Are we ready to visit the very Instagram-able Switzerland and not have to worry about Instagram-ing (and the dilemma of which filter and caption to use)!

An Instagram sitter taking photos to post

2- Do you often skip getting in your work out session on a vacation? If you visit the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort, Thailand, you can practise yoga atop an elephant. Instructors will be on hand to guide and help you balance on these magnificent creatures and practice some simple yoga positions. The Golden Triangle Elephants Foundation, owned by the hotel, takes in abused elephants and cares for them while guests can experience how beautiful these creatures are!

A guided yoga session at the resort

3- If you're spending some time at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort, remember to take your furry pet along because the Coronado Surf Academy at the hotel can teach your dog how to surf the waves of the Pacific Ocean! If that's not insane enough, they also host an annual surf dog competition with over 40 dogs.

Dog training in progress

4- A casual front-desk question at the Four Seasons Prague is, 'May I confirm your private booking at the Opera for tonight, ma'am?'. Yes, through an exclusive arrangement with Four Seasons Prague and the Estates Theatre, you can bring up to five guests and enjoy a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at one of the most beautiful theatres in Europe. Oh also, you get chauffeured back in a vintage Rolls-Royce.

The Estates Theatre

5- Bathroom singers- I've found the perfect hotel for you! At Nhow, Berlin, not only are you staying at one of the hippiest hotels, but you can also record your next single. The hotel has a river-facing recording studio fully equipped for mixing, pre and post-production and recordings. Nhow is Europe's only musical hotel.

The recording studio at Nhow, Berlin

6- If you don't fancy recording your own music, then across the globe in California, The Goodland offers a record concierge. Lea Sindija, the in-house record concierge, has an impressive collection of rare records in the library. On request, she’ll create personalised playlists for your stay.

The musical lobby at The Goodland

6- At Montage Deer Valley, Utah, you can ask their in-house constellation concierge to show you around the sky and constellations. They possess advanced Celestron-Skyscout gadgetry to make the experience special.

Montage Deer Valley

7- Hotel Erwin, California provides an in-house tattoo artist to its guests as a part of the 'Ink and Stay' package. Guests are treated to a $100 tattoo voucher towards any design of their choosing, a bottle of Lubriderm lotion to numb the pain, an ice-pack, and a complimentary bottle of Tequila. This experience will surely leave a mark on you!

Ink and Stay package ad

I don't know about you, but I am definitely enduring a case of vacay-sickness. I can't wait to visit one of these places and be pampered at the hotel, tour the area and come back home with a lot of happy memories and maybe get a tattoo while I'm there!

Let us know in the comments if you've experienced any unforgettable services at hotels you've visited.

Till I see you again,

Anubhuti