HOTELS

Derek Gale

Loews Hotels’ Wine Line Fails To Deliver
December 26, 2007

While the holiday season is supposed to be a time for good spirits and cheer, for many, it is a time of great stress thanks to the required shopping, traveling and cooking.

I commend Loews Hotels for attempting to relieve some of that stress by offering expert advice from sommeliers on which wines best complement certain holiday meals or make great holiday gifts. A hotel company that can make people’s lives easier, even when the people are not hotel guests, is sure to hold a desired place in those people’s minds and hearts.

Unfortunately, this attempt to drive affinity and loyalty may have failed—my own experience with Loews’ “Wine Line” has left a sour taste in my mouth.

Loews marketed its Wine Line service in this way:

“Before the holidays send you over the brink, put down the corkscrew, take a deep breath and send an e- mail to: wineline@loewshotels.com. Wine help is also available by calling 407.503.WINE (9463). Knowledgeable, warm, and yes, unpretentious wine experts will help guide you through your wine pairing or wine gift giving dilemmas, no matter your budget. Loews Hotels ‘Wine Line’ is our way of sharing the vast wine and food knowledge among our sommeliers and chefs with everyone. We are delighted to take some of the stress out of the holiday season.”

But I e-mailed the Wine Line on December 19 with a question about alcohol-free wines (made for pregnant women, designated drivers and others who either can’t drink alcohol or prefer not to), and I’ve still yet to hear back. That’s not much help for someone who has been hosting guests for meals nearly every day since December 21.

I understand that holiday time is busy for everybody, and that many people, including sommeliers, take well-deserved time off at this time of year. But shame on Loews for marketing a service that fails to deliver. That company should know better than anybody that “Chocolates On The Pillow Aren’t Enough.”

Here was a great opportunity to easily connect with potential guests and surprise and delight them without even having them on property, and it seems that Loews may have missed it.

Of course, mine could be an isolated incident in which one individual failed to respond to one question, but negative word-of-mouth can be very powerful, as is evidenced by my writing this blog post. With this kind of press, perhaps Loews will learn the lesson that it is better to do nothing at all than to over-promise and under-deliver. On the other hand, hotel companies who go the extra mile and over-deliver are sure to enjoy a prosperous 2008.

Posted by Derek Gale on December 26, 2007 | Comments (1)