Heavenly Bed, Now Heavenly Service?

Starwood Hotels is building on its product marketing -- like the Westin Heavenly Bed -- to offer new levels of service that build relationships After all, it's all about connections and lifestyles, not simply promises, says Starwood's new marketing executive vice president in an interview with Brandweek. Starwood's idea of taking call center operators to the various hotels (St. Regis, for example) for intensive training that lets them actually visualize the customer experience makes a lot of sense -- they can be more knowledgeable in their information and answers. Business travelers, especially, have many hotel choices these days, and while brand dependability is great (the same slipcover, desk and wallpaper in every room in every city), having unique and personalized options in destinations outside the big cities is also very appealing.