Once again I am participating in the Bathroom Blogfest. As I have mentioned before, if you have a physical presence, whether you are B2C or B2B, your bathroom is an important part of the customer experience. What does it say about your brand?
I have been on the road A LOT these past few months since my book launched, so I have had the opportunity to stay in many different hotels across the country (and at a variety of hotel brands). I thought it would be fun to post photos of some of the bathrooms I encountered during my travels (mostly in my hotel room). Which bathrooms do you think belong to which brands? The following are some of the brands where I stayed: Marriott, Westin, Ritz-Carlton, and a boutique hotel, Paramount Hotel in New York City. (Answers are at the end of the post.) Do they say would you would have expected about that brand?
Be sure to check out the list of all the participating bloggers, also at the end of the post. A big shout-out to CB Whittemore for leading the charge again this year!
Bathroom 1
Bathroom 2
Bathroom 3
Bathroom 4
Here are the list of Bathroom Blogfest bloggers (answers afterwards):
| Name | Blog Name | Blog URL |
|---|---|---|
| Susan Abbott | Customer Experience Crossroads | Customer Experience Crossroads |
| Paul Anater | Kitchen and Residential Design | http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com |
| Shannon Bilby | From the Floors Up | http://fromthefloorsup.com/ |
| Toby Bloomberg | Diva Marketing | Diva Marketing Blog |
| Laurence Borel | Blog Till You Drop | http://www.laurenceborel.com/ |
| Bill Buyok | Avente Tile Talk | http://tiletalk.blogspot.com |
| Jeanne Byington | The Importance of Earnest Service | http://blog.jmbyington.com/ |
| Becky Carroll | Customers Rock! | http://customersrock.net |
| Katie Clark | Practical Katie | http://practicalkatie.blogspot.com/ |
| Nora DePalma | O’Reilly DePalma: The Blog | http://www.oreilly-depalma.com/blog/ |
| Paul Friederichsen | The BrandBiz Blog | http://brandbizblog.com/ |
| Tish Grier | The Constant Observer | http://spap-oop.blogspot.com/ |
| Elizabeth Hise | Flooring The Consumer | http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com |
| Emily Hooper | Floor Covering News Blog | http://www.fcnews.net/category/blog/ |
| Diane Kazan | Urban Design Renovation | http://blog.urbandesignrenovation.com |
| Joseph Michelli | Dr. Joseph Michelli’s Blog | http://www.josephmichelli.com/blog |
| Veronika Miller | Modenus Blog | http://www.modenus.com/blog |
| Arpi Nalbandian | Tile Magazine Editors’ Blog | Tile Editor Magazine Blog |
| David Polinchock | Polinchock’s Ponderings | http://blog.polinchock.com/ |
| Professor Toilet | American Standard’s Professor Toilet | http://www.professortoilet.com |
| David Reich | my 2 cents | http://reichcomm.typepad.com |
| Victoria Redshaw & Shelley Pond | Scarlet Opus Trends Blog | http://www.trendsblog.co.uk |
| Sandy Renshaw | Purple Wren | http://www.PurpleWren.com |
| Bethany Richmond | Carpet and Rug Institute Blog | Carpet and Rug Institute Blog |
| Bruce D. Sanders | RIMtailing | http://www.rimtailing.blogspot.com |
| Paige Smith | Neuse Tile Service blog | http://neusetile.wordpress.com/ |
| Stephanie Weaver | Experienceology | http://experienceology.blogspot.com/ |
| Christine B. Whittemore | Content Talks Business Blog | Content Talks Business Blog |
| Christine B. Whittemore | Smoke Rise & Kinnelon Blog | http://smokerise-nj.blogspot.com/ |
| Christine B. Whittemore | Simple Marketing Blog | http://www.simplemarketingblog.com/ |
| Ted Whittemore | Working Computers | http://www.kinneloncomputers.com/ |
| Chris Woelfel | Artcraft Granite, Marble & Tile Co. | http://www.artcraftgmt.com |
| Patty Woodland | Broken Teepee | http://www.brokenteepee.com/ |
| Denise Lee Yohn | brand as business bites | http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites/ |
Answers: Westin, Marriott, Paramount, Ritz-Carlton – how’d you do?
Subscribe in a reader
Becky, thanks for taking us on the road with you! I love how you’ve integrated us with your book tour.
By the way, Bathroom 3/Ritz Carlton looks the most unusual from your photos. How was the rest of their hotel experience? I would expect similarly remarkable.
Thanks for being part of Bathroom Blogfest and making it rock!
Best,
CB
It’s amazing the effect that a bathroom can have on the customer experience. Thanks for the insights!
CB, thanks for inviting me to the blogfest again this year; it is a great reminder for people about the overall experience. Bathroom 3 was the Paramount (not the Ritz-Carlton), and the entire hotel, while older, has been remodeled and modernized to be very colorful and modern-looking. It was pretty interesting! The Ritz-Carlton was totally amazing – as expected.
Christine, thank you for coming out to the blog – yes, the bathroom can have a tremendous impact!
Seriously! The bathroom makes or breaks a business. We work with Dental practices and they should realize that if their bathrooms are not fresh and pleasant their patients will feel less than comfortable with the dentists hands in their mouths. Great post!
What a hoot! Thanks for sharing. Missed you again at NACCM again this year – I was checking out as you were checking in. The Disney Contemporary bathroom experience was a pretty nice one – loved the magnifying mirror (that should become a staple at hotels). The dual sinks were fun although sink #2 provided the only empty space for my stuff.
Sounds like that book tour is fun! Keep up the great work!
JoAnna
Comparing specific features like a bathroom on a side by side is such a good idea. Would be fun to see the breakfast buffet next. This could be a great tool to help customers chose their hotel. Pick 5 or 6 criteria, and allow people to rate each purely on a comparative basis
It’s amazing the effect that a bathroom can have on the customer experience. Thanks for the insights